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BRIEF HISTORY OF RAMSEY, Bergen County New Jersey
Information located at http://www.rootsweb.com/~njbergen/
On a USGenWeb/NJGenWeb Web site
TRANSCRIBED BY JANICE BROWN, County Coordinator in 2006
Please see the web site for my email contact.
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The original source of this information is in the public domain,
however use of this text file, other than for personal use, is
restricted without written permission from the transcriber (who
has edited, compiled and added new copyrighted text to same).
SOURCE: History of Bergen County, New Jersey, 1630-1923;
by Frances Augusta Johnson Westervelt; New York: Lewis Historical
Publishing Co., 1923, 1229 pgs.
page 402
RAMSEY--The most important place in the township of Hohokus
was Ramsey, so named from Peter J. Ramsey, the original owner
of the land. It was sold after his decease, about the year 1854,
at commissioner's sale to William J. Pulis, the tract disposed
of embracing sixty acres. Mr. Pulis resold twenty-two acres
to John Y. Dater, of Hohokus township, with whose advent an era
of enterprise dawned upon the locality. Mr. Dater at
once began the erection of buildings, and opened a general merchandise
store, adding to this an extensive supply of coal and building
material. The earliest structure was of brick. A hotel was erected
about the same time by David W. Valentine, which was burned,
and the Fowler House was afterward built upon the site, August
Schroeder being the owner of the property after 1885. Mr. Dater
next erected a building for the manufacture of sleighs, and did
a thriving business for a long period, finally leasing to M.B.
Deyoe. William J. Pulis then built a store, of which his son
subsequently became the proprietor, he dying in 1895. His son
J.W. Pulis and his grandson, W.H. Pulis, each opened stores in
the place. A station had been established on the completion
of the Ramapo and Paterson (now the Erie) railroad, which was
called Ramsey, and a post office was located here by the government,
with Albert G. Lydecker as the first post-master and John Y.
Dater as his successor. As the location became more favorable
known, capital flowed into the embryo village, residences were
erected, business increased, and Ramsey took its place among
the growing towns of the county. In 1876 the Reformed Dutch
Church was erected at Ramsey on land which had been donated by
Mrs. William Halsted.
William Slack was a prominent merchant here for about forty
years. He first came to Ramsey in 1849, and at that time there
were only two or three houses in the place. He followed the cabinet
business, and after a few years at Haverstraw, New York, pursuing
his trade, he returned in 1860, and after that time for many
years was the principal undertaker not only for Ramsey, but for
the surrounding sections. When Mr. Slack first came to Ramsey
he was honored with the office of constable, and one of his
first duties that fell to his lot was the arrest of Ben. Moore,
a notorious character, for stabbing a man in Fowler's Hotel,
taking him to the county jail at Hackensack. Moore was a bully,
and Slack was a slight young man, not particularly skilled in
ruffianism, but he succeeded finally in landing his man in jail,
though it was a Hurculean task. The victim of the stabbing died
nine days after the sad event, and Moore got ten years in the
State Prison at Trenton.
James Stuart, a man well known in Bergen county, came to Ramsey
in 1870, and built his home here in 1871, and subsequently built
a half dozen other houses. Mr. Stuart conducted a meat market
and enjoyed a large trade. It was not unusual for him to kill
one hundred sheep and a half dozen steers in a week. Although
a Democrat in politics, Mr. Stuart on November 17, 1888, celebrated
the election of Benjamin Harrison as President over Grover Cleveland
by treating the people of Ramsey and of the surrounding country
to a barbecue. For the occasion he roasted an ox that weighed
750 pounds, provided three barrels of the cream of ale, and 400
loaves of bread, and fully 1,500 people partook of the banquet
the like of which had never been seen before in this part of
New Jersey. Mr. Stuart was born in Hohokus township on August
19, 1844, a son of Henry A. Stuart, and
grandson of Adolphus Stuart, who found in the Revolutionary war,
while Mrs. Stuart's maternal grandfather, John Sutherland, was
in the war of 1812. Mr. Stuart's son, Harry A. Stuart, was the
last clerk of the old Board of Freeholders.
When Ramsey was organized as a borough in March 1908, James Stuart
was chosen mayor. Other mayors of the borough have been: E.F.
Carpenter, J.F. DeBaun, F.W. Gertzen, and the present mayor is
F. W. Storer. The territory of Ramsey borough was enlarged by
the addition of a portion of Waldwick borough by act of the Legislature
which was approved March 31, 1921. The boundary of the annexed
territory is as follows:
"Beginning at a point in the northerly boundary line
of the borough of Allendale, in the county of Bergen, and in
the southerly boundary of said borough of Ramsey, and in the
middle of the public road leading from the Franklin turnpike
at the Gate House hill in the borough of Allendale to the residence
formerly of Henry A. Winter, in the borough of Ramsey, known
as Hillside avenue, and running from thence (1) along the said
northerly boundary line of the borough of Allendale south fifty-three
degrees and thirty minutes east to the westerly boundary line
of the borough of Saddle-River, in the county of Bergen; thence
(2) along the same and the westerly boundary line of the borough
of Upper Saddle River, in the county of Bergen, in a northerly
direction to the center line of Lake street and the easterly
boundary line of the borough of Ramsey; thence (3) along the
easterly boundary line of the borough of Ramsey, being the center
line of Lake street and Hillside avenue in a westerly and southerly
direction to the place of beginning, is hereby set off from the
borough of Waldwick, in the county of Bergen, and annexed to
and made a part of the borough of Ramsey, in the county of Bergen.
Two years after the borough was formed, the census of 1910
showed Ramsey had a population of 1,667 and the number of inhabitants
in 1920 had increased to 2,090.
Ramsey also has a bank-First National of Ramsey-of recent
establishment, of which E.F. Carpenter is president. There is
a municipal water plant, a public school of the eighth grade,
a volunteer fire company, equipped with two chemical engines,
a weekly newspaper-"Ramsey Journal"--of which Assemblyman
John Y. Dater is proprietor and publisher. There are four churches--Catholic,
Episcopal, Lutheran, and Presbyterian. Odd Fellows, Red Men and
American Mechanics represent the fraternal orders.
Besides garden farming, which is carried on quite extensively,
a fine quality of stawberries, peaches and plums are grown. Being
situated in a very healthful and picturesque region in the Ramapo
mountain district, Ramsey is a fine residence town. In addition
to good train service on the main line of the Erie, the North
Jersey traction line also runs through the borough.
In 1840 the first school was erected in this district, a frame
structure, 16x20 feet in size, which was used for school purposes
until 1874. The building was then condemned by the county school
superintendent, and a more commodious school was erected in its
stead, which was 23X45 feet in dimension, one story high, with
belfry; attractive and well furnished. It cost $5,000. The next
school building was erected in 1892 at a cost of $10,000.
The True Reformed Church at Ramsey was organized on May 24,
1824, and was the outgrowth of a separation from the Reformed
Church (Dutch). During the year 1826 a church building was erected
one mile from Ramsey station on the road leading to Darlington.
Here regular worship was maintained until 1868, a period of forty-two
years, when the inconvenience of the location caused a change
to be suggested. Ground was partly purchased, and the remainder
donated in Ramsey, and an edifice erected, which together with
furniture, cost $5,000. This was dedicated in the year of its
completion. Rev. James D. Demarest, the first pastor, labored
alternately between this church and the one at Monsey, New York,
and at a ripe old age retired from the ministry. Rev. John Y.
DeBaun next received a call from the same churches, and continued
as pastor four years and six months, when a larger field opened
to him at Hackensack. The church was then served by supply and
by stated supply, the Rev. Isaac J. DeBaun officiating until
1875. In April 1875, Rev. Samuel I. Vanderbeck accepted a call,
continuing his ministrations here fourteen years, followed by
Rev. Jacob N. Trompen in the spring of 1891.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Redeemer at Ramsey
was organized under the auspices of Rev. E. DeVoe on February
1, 1867. A building lot was next secured on which to erect a
church edifice, and the contract for the building was awarded
in March 1868, but owing to delay in securing the lumber, work
was not started until the fall of that year. The cornerstone
was laid September 12, 1868. In 1869 services were held in the
basement of new church. The church was dedicated September 6,
1871. Rev. E. DeVoe who was from the beginning the pastor of
this little flock, continued in that relation until February
1878. Rev. L.A. Burrell became pastor in October 1878, succeeded
shortly after by Rev. J.W. Lake. Next came the Rev. S.H. Weaver,
followed by the Rev. Carlton Bannister.
With the exception of Oakland and Alpine, Ramsey has a larger
area than any other borough in the county, comprising 3,114 acres.
(end)
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