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    Ramsey
    Ramsey
    Ramsey
    Ebook180 pages1 hour

    Ramsey

    By Ron Kase

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    About this ebook

    In 1848, farmer Peter Ramsey sold part of his land to the Paterson and Ramapo Railroad for a right-of-way and a station. The Ramsey family had been local landholders since the 1740s, and the railroad timetables called the stop Ramsey's Station. A town developed around the station, and Main Street, which bisected the railroad tracks, became a bustling hub of commerce that supported a growing population. Hotels, general and specialty stores, blacksmithshops, and other businesses offered goods and services to the residents of this center of rural life. Ramsey's Station became the shipping point for strawberries grown throughout the area, making it the nation's strawberry capital until the late 1800s. The fields are gone, but photographs and stories of that era are included in Ramsey, many published here for the first time. Discover Ramsey's past and the pride felt by generations who have called Ramsey their home.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 18, 2012
    ISBN9781439628225
    Ramsey
    Author

    Ron Kase

    After a teaching, administrative, and grant-writing career spanning more than four decades that included positions at the New York City College of Technology (CUNY), Fairleigh Dickenson University, Empire State College (SUNY), Mercy College, and Ramapo College of New Jersey, Ron Kase now writes daily. His recent regional history books, Bill Miller’s Riviera (with Tom Austin) and New Jersey Meadowlands (with Robert Ceberio), were favorably reviewed and enjoyed brisk sales. His earlier novels, Fiddler’s elbow, Fiddler’s Revenge, and the compilation Fiddler’s Return, developed a cadre of loyal readers. The novels were optioned for motion pictures. As a sociologist, Dr. Kase is intrigued with the national political process and the influence of religion on elections, which is contrary to the Constitutional guarantee of the separation of church and state, in which the state is protected from religion. He also believes that the second amendment clearly does not guarantee anyone the right to be armed except for “members of a well ordered militia.” Ron Kase’s new writing project retells the tragic real-life tale of the 1957 murder in Ramsey, New Jersey, of a fifteen-year-old cheerleader and honor student by the psychopathic killer Edgar Smith, who is serving a life term in a California prison. Coauthor attorney Anthony Iannarelli has carefully researched the case along with the amazing events that allowed a convicted murderer to go free, write books, and go on a two-year university speaking tour all with the help of William F. Buckley, editor of the National Review. The story is ready to be exposed again as one of the most serious perversions of our justice system. ronkase@rocketmail.com

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      Book preview

      Ramsey - Ron Kase

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      INTRODUCTION

      What had been a part of a rural commercial center with historic ties to English, Dutch, Scottish, and German settlers from the pre-Revolutionary period has become, in the new millennium, an outstanding family community. The Borough of Ramsey, located in the northern part of Bergen County, New Jersey, is a successful combination of stable neighborhoods, an active business district, excellent schools, and competent local government. Significantly, the lands that include present-day Ramsey were part of the large parcel owned by Englishmen Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley. The noblemen framed a constitution for those settling on their lands that secured equal privilege and liberty of conscience to all (in other words, the rights of Englishmen) 100 years before the formation of America’s constitution.

      Settlers on the lands conveyed to Carteret and Berkeley by the Duke of York were immersed in title disputes, since the land had been purchased from Native American tribes, Dutch companies, and English proprietors. While deeds and bills of sale existed, many of the landmarks that were used to determine boundaries were trees, rocks, walls, and streams that over time changed or disappeared. The proprietors tried to collect rent from those who were settled in East Jersey and who were occupying and farming the land. Some had leases from other landlords, while others squatted in remote places where they built houses and cleared the land. Some of the early families involved in the strife over leases were farmers claiming between 100 and 200 acres. They included Nicholas Maysinger, Dietrick Wanamaker, Hannis Pulis, Adolph Shuart, and William Ramsey.

      In 1741, William Ramsey helped persuade the farmers to take leases from the proprietors. In gratitude he was given land rent-free, the first Ramsey to settle in the Ramapock Tract. William, a Scotsman, was one of the first English-speaking residents among settlers who spoke Dutch and German. Other Scots, fleeing religious persecution because they were part of the tiny minority of Scotland’s Quakers, also found their way to the provinces of East and West Jersey.

      Sir George Carteret’s estate sold the 42,000-acre tract known as East Jersey to a group of investors headed by William Penn. Penn and his associates divided the land into 24 proprietorships that were divided again and sold or leased as smaller tracts. Four parcels that had been conveyed to Richard Penn were later sold to Peter Ramsey. Richard Penn was a grandson of William Penn and served as lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from 1771 to 1773. Hence part of the land that makes up the present Borough of Ramsey can be traced directly to the Colonial founder of Pennsylvania, William Penn. The next century saw slow but steady development in the region. Agriculture became the dominant industry. Farmers grew corn, fruit, grain, and chestnuts, and the distillation of apple liquor was a favorite local enterprise. Most farms also kept a small herd of dairy cows.

      The area surrounding the Franklin Turnpike, called Mount Prospect, became an early center of commerce. Gristmills for the grinding of corn and wheat opened along streams near the present Lake Street, as did a saw and bark mill west of the turnpike. Mount Prospect boasted an inn and stagecoach stop. The Demarest Inn was also the first place where farmers could pick up mail that was dropped off by mail stage. Franklin Turnpike remains today an important north-south road that had originally run from the New York state line south to New Prospect. Of particular interest to Ramsey residents is the fact that the original road—really a trail—was surveyed by Robert Erskine at the request of George Washington. The Franklin Turnpike Company was charted in 1806 to construct an improved road that would open up the area to commerce. The turnpike became a public highway in 1854.

      The mills, tanneries, and other businesses around the Franklin Turnpike provided services to the growing rural community and flourished, as did Westervelt’s Tavern (opened in 1799). The building survives today as Ramsey’s Old Stone House. It is a fine example of the early Dutch architecture that was so prevalent in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut.

      Mount Prospect might have remained a commercial center if the Paterson & Ramapo Railroad had not selected a place about one mile west of the Franklin Turnpike for its station stop on a new line operating between Jersey City and Suffern, New York. Railroading was a highly competitive enterprise in the 19th century. The new Paterson & Ramapo line brought passengers close to the New York & Erie Railroad’s station in Suffern. The operators of the Paterson & Ramapo believed that they could attract the New York & Erie passengers traveling to New York City because the new line was one hour faster than the New York & Erie line that terminated in Piermont, New York. Passengers on the Paterson & Ramapo line traveled to Jersey City and took a short ferry ride across the Hudson River to Courtlandt Street.

      Passengers flocked to the new railroad line that made a stop at a place called Ramsey’s Station. In 1848, the Paterson & Ramapo Railroad purchased land for a right-of-way for its tracks and a station to be situated on the Wyckoff Road. The property was bought from Peter J. Ramsey. At that time, the Ramsey family had lived in the area known as Franklin Township for more than 100 years. Shortly thereafter, the Paterson & Ramapo Railroad was merged into the New York & Erie Railroad, and Ho-Ho-Kus Township replaced Franklin Township as the political home of Ramsey’s Station.

      As a pioneering railroad, Erie’s steam locomotives reached upstate New York, Chicago, Boston, and St. Louis, with a stop in Ramsey. The first railroad sleeping cars were found on the Erie line years before Pullman entered the field. Erie dining and parlor cars were the standard of railroad comfort. As the Erie Railroad grew, so did the town it created. In 1889, Ramsey’s Station changed its name and became the Town of Ramsey. In 1908, it separated from the Township of Ho-Ho-Kus, and the Borough of Ramsey was incorporated.

      A school was built on land donated by Peter Ramsey in 1838. A teacher born in Ireland who had migrated to New York was hired to teach in a one-room schoolhouse located on what is now Main Street. The first free public school was built by Ho-Ho-Kus Township in 1874 on School Street, south of Ramsey’s present-day municipal building. Ramsey’s first high school was built under the leadership of John Y. Dater, who served as president of the board of education from 1912 to 1948. He also planned the present high school that served students from seven surrounding communities. It was constructed in 1936 as

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