An interesting article in THE KEARNY OBSERVER, Arlington, New Jersey, December 24, 1925. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Why Kearney Township Seceded From Town of Harrison in 1867 What were the causes that lead to the Town of Kearny being set off from Harrison in 1868? This question may have occurred to many citizens of the town, and so far as The Observer knows, there is no man now in public life better qualified to tell the story than Edward Kenny, former town attorney of Kearny, and for many years, mayor of East Newark. Replying to a request for information, he responded as follows: When Hudson County was set off from Bergen County in 1840, the Township of Harrison included the present municipalities of Harrison, east Newark, Kearny, North Arlington, Lyndhurst, and Kingsland. In 1844, the territory which included the last three named places, was set back into Bergen County, and Belleville Turnpike was made the boundary line between the two counties. In 1867, the Township of Kearney (as it was then spelled) was set off from Harrison, and in 1875 that part of the Township of Kearney south of the Newark and Hudson Railroad was set off as the Borough of East Newark. There was not much fuss made over the latter setting off - the people of that section just voted themselves out, and after a few futile fights in court, Kearney acquiesced. In the case of the setting off of Kearney from Harrison, however, there was a fierce fight in the Legislature, which lasted for several weeks. It is said that the Harrisonians, believing they won the fight, grew careless, and that one night, the Kearneyites, led by General N. N. Halstead, had the bill brought up unexpectedly and had it passed under suspension of the rules, and that the next day they had the Governor sign it. The Governor at that time was Marcus T. Ward of Newark, an intimate friend of General Halstead. The senator from Hudson was Charles H. Winfield, and the assemblyman from this district, Charles F. Ruh. How Kearny Avenue Came to be Twisted At that time, there were only two roads running through the territory, the River Road, now Passaic Avenue, and the Back Road, now Schuyler Avenue. In 1865, commissioners were appointed to construct a road, eighty feet wide, and along the crest of the ridge (now Kearny Avenue) from the Belleville turnpike road straight through to the Turnpike bridge to Newark. Feelings of antagonism, because of the separation, ran so fiercely in Harrison, however, that the commissioners found it necessary to give the road a short turn to the east at the Jeroloman property, and join it with the northerly end of Fourth Street, Harrison. The Spelling of the Name Changed At the time of the separation and until the incorporation of the Town of Kearney in 1898, the name of the township was always spelled "Kearney" (with two e's), and that is, I think, the proper spelling, as is shown by numerous official documents; and it may be considered certain that General Halstead, Stephen K. Jeroloman, John Boyd, Colonel Josiah Conley, and the others who were active in the formation of the Township of Kearney, and who were the neighbors and contemporaries of General Phil, must have known that the latter spelled his name with two e's, and so spelled the name that way in the "Act to Incorporate the Board of Township of Kearney." Nobody seems to know why the second "e" was left off in 1898; but after all, the spelling of names is a matter of taste. That Crooked Line The separation of the town was brought about by the owners of the large farms and the owners of the fine estates along the River road. The division lines followed the lines of the farms, with one exception, and so we have the crooked lines that now exist: First, the lines of the Williams farm were followed to the northeasterly line of the Dukes farm, whence it ran straight to the back road, then straight to the turnpike, whence the line was run west to take in the Ogden farm, the line of which it followed to the Passaic river. The line, however, was extended from the Williams farm, along the Mulock farm to the middle line of Reynolds avenue, to the easterly line of River road, thence to the D. L. & W. Bridge and the river. Likewise, the line was run along the westerly line of the Back road. The reason of that was because the farms and River road residents, being obliged to travel big farm wagons and carriages, were afraid that the Harrison authorities would not keep the roads in good order. A general law passed since that time fixes the dividing line in the middle of the road, whenever the road is the dividing line. One exception, in following the farm lines in the division, was in the case of Hiram W. Davis, a turnpike tavern keeper, who had acquired several small farms, and who was anxious to have his farms included in Kearney. But Davis was greatly disliked by the farmers, and he and his farms were left out. Why the Separation - One Reason One reason given for the setting off of Kearney was that the Turnpike road (now Harrison avenue) and the neighboring streets were being thickly built up, and the people were desirous of having the streets improved. The farmers, being fearful that they might be taxed for the improvements, conceived the idea of separation, and carried it out. The Other Reason Another reason is given for the separation, which is probably the true one. At that time, the Midland Railroad of New York (now the Susquehanna) and the Midland Railroad of New Jersey (now the Greenwood Lake) were being built, both by the same set of promoters. Those promoters were out to make a fortune for themselves, which they did, the railroad-building being but an excuse. One of their schemes was to induce the municipalities along the route of the railroad to issue bonds of the municipality in exchange for a similar amount of railroad bonds. Some of the towns were allured by the proposition and issued the bonds, but some of them refused, and the railroad promoters attained that project in another way. Belleville refused to issue bonds, and the legislature set off the southerly part of it as Woodside township. The new township of Woodside immediately issued $100,000 of township bonds in exchange for railroad bonds of a similar amount. The Harrison township committee turned down the proposition, and next year, the Township of Kearney was created by the legislature. Shortly afterwards, the Kearney Township Committee voted to accept the proposition of the railroad promoters, and issued $100,000 of the township bonds in exchange for $100,000 railroad bonds. The railroad went bankrupt, and its bonds were almost worthless. Most of the towns, including Kearney, refused to pay the bonds or the interest thereon, alleging that the bonds were based on fraud. The towns were sued by the bond-holders, the case remaining in the courts for several years. The decision of the United States Supreme Court finally was that because the bonds had gotten into the hands of innocent holders, they were sacred obligations, which should be paid. Even then, Kearney refused to pay, and negotiation looking to settlement dragged on until 18887 or 1888, the town finally agreeing to issue new bonds for $148,000 in exchange for the old bonds. Incidentally, the town obtained $14,000 for the railroad bonds. Those bonds and the long extended litigation thereon, embarrassed Kearney for a long time; for the township being regarded as a defaulting municipality, could not borrow money for any purpose, anywhere. Kearny All Right Now However, the wonderful development of the Arlington section as a desirable place for fine homes, the establishment of the great Clark Thread Works, and other large factories in the southerly section, and the incomparable building up of Port Kearny, coupled with good enterprising, progressive government, backed up by a public-spirited citizenry, is now going ahead in true American fashion, and is considered to be in the front line of the most progressive and prosperous towns in the state, with a credit reputation, second to none. The building of the cantilever bridge from Arlington to Woodside would greatly help the good class of people over here too. Hudson County's share of the cost of that bridge would be much less than the county tax paid to Hudson in two years by West Hudson towns. The first Township Committee of Kearney consisted of General N. N. Halstead, John Boyd, John Van Emburgh, John L. Hewes, and Francis Newbold. The Harrison Township Committee of that year (1867) consisted of Peter Arneson, George Hutchinson, Terrence O'Donnell, John Patemen, and Aaron Whitehead.