NJ History Nerd Tour #3 ... Bergen County 22May-19

NJ History Tour #3 ...

Jim Aupperlee, Bill Bogertman, John Dyksen, Gary Link... Thursday, May 22, 2019, from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm (when it started raining)

This is my 3rd installment on our NJ "History Nerd" Tours...  

Our initial plans today were to visit sites and markers for:

1. Wyckoff Reformed Church (1806), Wyckoff, NJ
2. Baylor Massacre Site (1778), River Vale, NJ
3. The Hermitage (1768), Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ
4. Rev. John Henry Goetschius (1718-1774) Grave site, Bergenfield, NJ
5. Hackensack Green, Hackensack, NJ (including First Reformed Church-1686), General Enoch Poor's (1736-1780) Grave site, Archibald Campbell Tavern (1765), Peter Zabriskie Mansion House (1751) and Courthouse and Jail (1780))
6. John Zabriskie-von Steuben house (1752) at New Bridge Landing (1744), River Edge, NJ, the site of the Bergen County Historical Society.

What We Actually Accomplished:
1. Visited and toured the Wyckoff Reformed Church and Cemetery (1806), Wyckoff, NJ
2. Visited and toured the Baylor Massacre Site (1778), River Vale, NJ
3. Visited South Reformed Church and Cemetery, finding the Rev. John Henry Goetschius Grave site, Bergenfield, NJ.
4. Visited and toured grounds of John Zabriskie-von Steuben house (1752) at New Bridge Landing (1744), River Edge, NJ, the site of the Bergen County Historical Society.

The Wyckoff Reformed Dutch Church (1806) and Cemetery, Wyckoff, NJ

Rev. Andrew Kadzban guided us through a one (1) hour tour of the Wyckoff Reformed 
Church, inside and outside, including cemetery grounds.  

In 1805 the Church bought land (Oldest legible grave stone is 1796?). This church and Ponds Reformed Church, Oakland, NJ, were part of the same Classis?

Probably designed after other "local" Reformed Churches, likely the Old Paramus Reformed Church. The Church now sits on 10+ acres with Church, cemetery and Parsonage on 2 acres.  The Cemetery is still active.






















The present NJ Reformed Church in America (RCA) has four (4) Classis': 

1. Passaic Valley Classis includes churches in Wyckoff, Midland Park (Faith), Mahwah, Glen Rock, and Paramus;  
2. Palisades Classis 
3. New Brunswick Classis
4. Delaware Raritan Classis

This Church was built in 1806 and renovated in 1953 when part of cemetery was needed for expansion. Wyckoff Reformed Church is an historic building site. The graves-gravestones were relocated to the Church basement. The old building front originally had one door and now has two doors;  

Church Basement; Note the gravestones in walls. 
The floor slab says, "Re-interred 1953."

The cornerstone (picture of "A + D 1806") as well as the "corner stones" are brownstone (sandstone) and the rest is made of local field stone since it was less expensive.  

The walls are 3 foot thick, mortared with crushed seashells and stone. The original church was likely built with slave labor.  Pastor Andy took us for a tour of the building itself, including the basement where bodies were re-interred in 1955 to clear the back for the addition.

From back to front.

John Dyksen is friendly with a few of the RCA churches in the local Classis due to his status as Interim Pastor at Living Word Reformed Church in North Haledon, NJ.  He may also have a connection to  Old Paramus Reformed Church (1725) in Paramus, NJ., a potential Nerd Tour option.

Baylor Massacre Site (1778), River Vale, NJ

This site is unknown to many in NJ, but during the Revolutionary War, even George Washington knew of his Aid de Camp's death during this massacre in 1778. We wandered through this small County Park, reading the monument plaques and being awed by what happened here 230 years before.

The "Baylor Massacre" was a surprise British attack on September 27, 1778, against the 3rd Regiment of Continental Light Dragoons under the command of Colonel George Baylor. Baylor, a 26 year old Colonel, who had served as an aide to General George Washington before he was given command of the 3rd Regiment of Continental Dragoons. He died in 1784 at age 32 from complications of bayonet wounds received during the fight.

On the night of September 27, 1778, British Major-General Charles "No-Flint" Grey mobilized the light infantry, grenadiers, as well as the two other British regiments, totaling 650 red coats, and during the early hours, approached a small collection of homes, barns and farms, including that of a suspected Tory Cornelius Blauvelt.  Of a company of 116 Continental officers and men, 69 were killed, captured, or wounded. The dead, all bayoneted, tallied 15. Those troops who survived the night were brought to a makeshift hospital and prison at the Reformed Church of Tappan in Tappan, NY. (see our Nerd Tour #4)

The Circle consists of Plaques describing the context
and actual events of the 1778 Massacre

News of Baylor's Massacre quickly spread around the colonies and back to England, inspiring outrage and revenge on the American side, and shame on the British side. What incensed the Americans was the news that most American solders had surrendered, yet they were brutally bayoneted, despite their cries for quarter. 

Originally the site of a tannery, the property had eventually lain fallow for nearly 200 years, its history forgotten once a commemorative marker and the mill stone were removed. The remains of some of the murdered dragoons were said to have been entombed in tanning vats on the property, but their exact location was unknown. It was an unfortunate end for patriots who'd given their lives for our young country, but at least their final resting place was a placid one, near the meandering Hackensack River.

Note the stone gristmill wheel in the background.

The site was threatened in the late 1960s, when a builder made plans to subdivide the tract for a housing development. Local citizens raised the alarm, and the county hired three college students to research the claims, interview older residents who remembered accounts of the massacre, and dig within the site for any evidence that would support the assertion that soldiers were buried there. The team ultimately found six skeletons, a belt buckle and other artifacts, confirming the importance of the site.

Standing at the center of the park is the famous millstone from the Haring farm - moved first to the Holdrum School in River Vale and loaned by the school to the county in 1972 to become part of the historic site.

Grave Site of Rev. John Henry Goetschius (Johannis Hendricus Goetschius) at the South Reformed Church (1728) and Cemetery, Bergenfield, NJ (1718-1774)

Original 1728 Building

SOUTH CHURCH is descended from the first Schraalenburgh congregation established in 1723. The first church building was constructed beginning in 1724, and fully completed by 1728. This was approximately 36 feet square with a Dutch hip roof ascending to a central belfry and steeple.

The Church itself wasn't open, but we wandered through the cemetery and eventually found what we searched for.

In Dutch, "The
House of the Lord
Built in the year 1799
I Samuel 7:12, 
Has assisted us again
Psalm 84:2
How sweet
Are Your Homes
O Lord of Hosts
Rebuilt 1866"

One of the older Dutch Reformed Churches in NJ and USA, this being the SOUTH church, which split with members building in Dumont, NJ the NORTH Reformed Church. 

Bill wanted to view this church cemetery to visit Goetschiu's grave. Ancestry.com claims him as a distant relative of William Bogertman through his paternal grandmother, Zwaantje "Sadie" Kooistra. 

Also of interest to Bill was the contrast of the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut Dutch Reformed and English Presbyterian churches response to 1) the Great Awakening (1730-1740) and he 2)American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). 

     ..."The war was brought home with a shock when Washington, in retreat from Fort Lee passed before their very eyes, and from that time on, their lands were to lie between the opposing forces. It was soon evident that, in Schraalenburgh at least, the people who were willing to stand up and be counted for America were the members of Domine Goetschius' old church, and that the Tories, now that the British army had arrived, were the members of the opposing conferentie church." --from Adrian Leiby The Huguenot Settlement of Cchraalenburgh. The History of Bergenfield, New Jersey.

While never a pastor of South Reformed Church, Goetschius's was a very influential Pastor and leader among the "English" Presbyterian and Dutch Reformed Churches throughout NY, NY and CT. 



His appeal lay in his charismatic demeanor, his preaching skills, and his pietistic theology. In Reformed circles on both sides of the Atlantic, a rift had developed between the urban, orthodox traditionalists on the one hand, whose theology, according to their critics, had grown scholastic, and pietists like Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen on the other hand, who called their members to a life of godliness and spiritual fervor.



Controversy surrounded Goetschius throughout his career in the Middle colonies, and the factionalism he engendered sharpened the divisions between revivalist and non-revivalist factions during the Great Awakening (1730-1740 with major leaders such as George Whitefield, John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards) and articulated a theology of revival and salvation. 

John Henry Goetschius, then, though lesser known to historians than Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen (1691-1747), or Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764), was a pivotal figure in the Middle colonies during the eighteenth century. At a time when more and more Dutch congregants became enamored of pietism and revivalism, Goetschius railed against the formal, dead orthodoxy that characterized the opponents of the Awakening



He was one of the original trustees of Rutgers College, and a leader in the forward movements of his denomination. "He was below the middle size, of a vigorous constitution, abrupt in speech, but his language was clear and expressive." One of his pupils, Dr. Solomon Froeligh, describes him as "a gentleman of profound erudition, a thoroughbred Calvinist, and an accomplished theologian." 

The flat Gravestone Memorial says...

Goetschuis Grave stone. Inscription at left

"Sacred to the memory of John Henry Goetschuis, DD, born c 1718 in Zurich, Switzerland; died Nov 14, 1774. Principal founder of Queens College (now Rutgers). His wife, Rachel Zabriskie, born circa 1729 and died circa 1771.

Solomon Froelich, DD, born May 29, 1750 at Red Hook; died Oct 8, 1827. Founder of the True Dutch Reformed Church in 1822. His wife, Rachel Vanderbeek, born at Hackensack; 1743 and died 1813.

The Rev. Charles Hardenbergh, and others whose names are unknown to us.

In 1750, John Henry Goetschuis built a family vault near this spot. By 1866 it had fallen into such disrepair it was torn down by the order of the Session and the remains were removed to a new site.

This gravestone is to honor those buried here and in memory of Adrian Leiby who greatly loved this Church 1982."

Froeligh, Goetschuis and Hardenburgh were each influential Pastors in Bergen county and at the North (Schraalenburgh, now Dumont) and South Reformed Churches. Froeligh and Goetschuis were controversial in that they were both influenced by the Great Awakenihg's pietistic and anti-clerical positions. 



John Zabriskie-von Steuben house (1752) at New Bridge Landing (1744), site of Bergen County Historical Society, River Edge, NJ

The four of us walked the grounds and outside of the old Dutch brownstone buildings. None of the buildings were open to visitors. 

We also crossed over the Hackensack River on the New River Bridge from River Edge into Teaneck along the road used as Washington's Retreat of November 20-21, 1776. 

Sandstone marker reads, "12 miles to Hoboken"

In the American Revolution, New Bridge served as a battleground, encampment ground, military headquarters and intelligence gathering post in every year of the war. The Steuben House served as Gen. Washington's headquarters in 1780. NJ presented the war damaged house in 1783 to Baron von Steuben for his services during the war.

von Steuben House (1752)

On the grounds, the Steuben House (1752), Campbell-Christie House (1774) and Demarest House (1794) are landmarks of Bergen Dutch sandstone architecture, popularly called "Dutch Colonial" and frequently seen and admired throughout northern NJ. Famous visitors at New Bridge include Washington, Paine, von Steuben, LaFayette, Wayne, Greene, Cornwallis, Clinton, Franklin, Andre, Hamilton and Burr.

Demarest House (1794)

Plaque reads, "The Zabriskie House. Erected 1752 and presented
to Major Gen von Steuben by the State of New Jersey in 1783
in recognition of New Jersey's share of the debt which the nation
owed the General. Bergen County Historical Society 1937

Plaque reads, "Old Demarest House
erected in 16XX in New Milford,
removed to this site 1955 by Hiram B.D. Blauvelt
DAR 1955"

New Bridge was a prosperous mill hamlet, centered upon a bridge strategically placed at the narrows of the Hackensack River. In the American Revolution, New Bridge Landing was the site of a pivotal bridge crossing the Hackensack River, where General George Washington led his troops in retreat from British forces. The current Draw Bridge at New Bridge was built in 1888 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 5, 1989. The area is now a NJ historic site in portions of New Milford, River Edge, Hackensack and Teaneck in Bergen County, NJ,

The Steuben House (1752) was at the center of activity at New Bridge. Home and store of Jan & Annetje (Ackerman) Zabriskie. The house grew in size as the family became wealthy with their tidemill, store and in trade shipping on the Hackensack River. Sloops of 40-ton burden would navigate to and from city markets. The bridge was the first crossing above Newark Bay.

History of Baron von Steuben at New Bridge

Zabriskie-von Steuben House 

The Steuben House is an artifact of the Revolution that memorializes the "Drillmaster of the American Revolution," Major-General Baron von Steuben, whose valuable wartime services have been described as being second in importance only to those of George Washington.  His actual name was Major General Baron Friedrich Wilhelm Augustin von Steuben

In 1777, Steuben volunteered his services to Benjamin Franklin to advise the ill-trained American army. At Valley Forge, he converted the ragged, starving army into an effective fighting force. His training manual still remains a reference for military training and organization.

Major General Baron von Steuben
Charles Willson Peale, 1783

After the war, Congress granted von Steuben a life annuity and New Jersey gifted him the Steuben House in appreciation for his contributions to the American Cause. (The house had been confiscated from Jan Zabriskie, a Loyalist, in 1781) Steuben "thoroughly rebuilt" the war-damaged stone house on Main Street, River Edge, that now bears his name, forever marking his association with one of New Jersey's most beloved landmarks. This is largely the house on the grounds, and is the only extant house he owned.

Plaque reads, "New Bridge Landing, site of the Zabriskie Grist mill and
wharf near the head of the navigation of the Hackensack River. Farm Produce
and iron from the Ramapo Mtns. were shipped from here to market. The mill,
once powered by the tides, burned in 1852 after a century of service."

Plaque Reads, "New Bridge Inn. Built in 1739-1740 by Peter P. Demarest.
In 1766, he received a license from a local court, "to keep a tavern or public
house" here. The old inn witnessed many stirring events during the American
Revolution.  in November 1776, Washington led his retreating Continental army
past its door enroute from Fort Lee to the Delaware River.  On May 30, 1964,
the old tavern was destroyed by fire, ending 198 years of service."

New Bridge Inn, 1739-1964

Washington's Retreat Marker, looking
towards the New River Bridge, from Teaneck
 into River Edge.

Hackensack Indian Village, Early Colonial Settlement, George
Washington's Bridge
The "Great Indian Field" was the boundary between the
Tappan Indians and Hackensack Indians and part of the 2,100 acres deeded to
Sara Kirksted in 1669 for her services as translator between the Dutch
and Hackensack Indian Chief Oratam. The land eventually passed in 1697 to
Peter van Buskirk, holding 356 acres in the vicinity."

Campbell Christie House (1774)

Hackensack River New Bridge Landing, looking over
the Hackensack River, from River Edge into Teaneck, NJ

All in all a very full, eventful and fascinating RevWar day!

MISCELLANEOUS:

CONTEXT: In the early morning hours of November 20, 1776, Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis led a British and Hessian army of about 2,500 soldiers across the Hudson to New Dock into New Jersey for an attack against Fort Lee, then defended by about 900 soldiers. Washington led his 2,000 troops in a retreat through present-day Fort Lee, Englewood and Teaneck across the Hackensack River at New Bridge. The hasty withdrawal of the American garrison across the Hackensack River at New Bridge preserved them from entrapment on the Bergen Neck, the narrow piece of land between the Hudson and Hackensack Rivers. British troops under Major General Vaughan attacked the American rear guard on November 21, 1776 and seized the New Bridge, which American engineers were dismantling.

Retreating American troops continued westward, crossing the Passaic River on the Acquakanonk Bridge, which was dismantled.

Washington continued his retreat through early December, passing through Princeton and Trenton on the way towards and across the Delaware and again on December 29, 1776, Washington recrossed the Delaware River into Trenton, soundly defeating British and Hessian troops in two battles.  On January 3, 1777, Washington again beat the British in Princeton, NJ.

Tour #4 Plan Options Include:
1. Hackensack Green, Hackensack, NJ
2. Fort Lee, Fort Lee,NJ
3. John Andre's Monument, Tappan, NY
4. Old Paramus Reformed Church, Paramus, NJ
5. West Point Military Academy and Cemetery, West Point, NJ
6. Pompton Reformed Church, Pompton Lakes, NJ