Merry Christmas - 2009

I would like to wish everyone that has supported and enjoyed my site a very Merry Christmas.

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. I wish all of you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy and Healthy New Year, may God Bless you all.

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Gary

The Mill at Crosswicks

This is the mill at Crosswicks, New Jersey, The mill was powered by the Crosswicks Creek, There is no sign of a Water Wheel or the type of Mill Race that would power and external wheel, by these deductions I presume the mill was driven by a water turbine.

These arches not only were the support of the mill they were the out flow of the water that powered the mill.

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I have searched for the exact date of the first mill on the Crosswicks Creek at Crosswicks, but could not locate one. The best I could come up with were references to a mill at Crosswicks in the late 1700’s. The dam at Crosswicks is registered with the State of NJ Historical Society Historic Register as “The Old Eagle Dam”, this and the present foundation of the mill are registered as one of the oldest in the state.
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The Crosswicks Creek has powered several mills and contributed to the growth of several towns along its path, Timmins Mill, Ocean County, the former name of New Egypt, which just happens to be the approximate Geographical Center of New Jersey, Waln’s Mill, in Walnford, Monmouth County, The mill there built in the 1800’s, The mansion 1774. The Mill at Crosswicks and the mills at Groveville, Mercer County, all of these mills were Grist Mills, with the exception of the mills at Groveville.

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The Crosswicks Creek was a hub of transportation from Groveville, South. With Ships picking up and delivering goods to the mills at Groveville and the docks of Houston and Green in Yardville, connecting these companies with Philadelphia, via the Delaware River and New York and north via the Delaware - Raritan Canal.

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There were also Grist Mills that dotted the area along Doctors Creek, one at Grovevlle and also a Saw Mill, two at Allentown, and one at Imlaystown. Marlene Donnell mentioned that there was also a prominent mill in Cream Ridge on the Miry Run. The Miry Run was a branch of the Crosswicks Creek, just up stream from Walnford and Waln's Mill. The mill was originally owned by Judge Lawrence. Joseph Holmes purchased it in 1873 and sold it the next year. He again purchased it and it remained part of the farm for almost a century. The mill was a red 5 story clapboard structure. Farms brought grain to the mill to be ground. The building was torn down in the early 40's. The feed house and millers home are still on Holmes Mill Rd. The milling stone remained on the property for many years. During the restoration of Walns Mill, the stone was transported to that mill, where it remains today.

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I was fortunate to have the last owner of the Mill at Crosswicks find my web site and contact me. His story was very interesting; the photos he sent me were great.
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What I have found is that the Mill at Crosswicks was originally built as a Grist Mill, at the time this area of New Jersey; Monmouth, Burlington, and Mercer County, were large producers of grains. Like any good business they must produce year round, when the Mill Ponds froze and there was no flowing water to run the mills, without the possible damage to the mechanism of the wheel, they cut ice from the pond and stored it and sold it for use in the summer, this was the case with the Crosswicks Mill.
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A separate building was constructed to store ice. The ice in the pond was cut into “Cakes”. “Cakes” were more or less standard size, 22 inches by 12 inches, weighing about a hundred pounds. After the cakes were cut, they were poled through the water to shore. Here a long plank sloped into the water; the trick was to give the cake of ice enough momentum so that its weight would carry it up where someone with a pair of tongs could snag it..... The ice was hauled to the ice house on two-horse bobsleds. Layer by layer the ice house was filled. A sprinkling of dry sawdust was scattered between each layer of cakes. This made them easier to separate when they were taken out. A two-foot-wide layer of sawdust was tamped lightly between the ice and sides of the building. After the last layer was pushed up the long, oak plank, the whole heap was covered a yard deep with sawdust.
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If a family were cutting ice for personal use it took an average of three hundred cakes to last a family through the summer.

Harvesting the Ice from the Mill Pond

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As time changed the growing of grains diminished as farms changed to growing vegetables and dairy, lessening the need for Grist Mills, but with the invention of equipment to commercially produce Ice, the entire facility was changed from a Grist Mill to an Ice House, manufacturing Ice and a Cold Storage facility
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The facility changed hands over the years, in 1920 the new ice producing equipment was installed and Ice was sold to many commercial companies in the area including the Hildebrecht Ice Cream Company, of Trenton. At this time in the 1920’s it was owned by Charles W. Brick, Also during this period a large fire destroyed a large portion of the original mill.
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The last owner purchased the mill and the entire 22 acre parcel of land in the 1980’s, with the hopes of continuing the manufacture of ice, restoring the buildings and the dam to their original condition. The plan was to produce Hydro Electric power; “Old Eagle Dam” had been registered as a utility company, to power the Mill Facilities and the surrounding community with electric power. Due to government restraints as to what could and could not be done with the structures, as time passed the building fell in to such disrepair that they were not able to be restored and had to be demolished. This was a great loss not only to the owner, but the community and the history of the community.

The Dam at Crosswicks, forming the Crosswicks Mill Pond

These two boys are fishing at the entrance to the Mill Race. The Race is to the left. The walk-way is to allow the cleaning of the wooden screen that blocks debris from entering the Race and damaging the Wheel or Turbine.



The Dam at Crosswicks, registered with the State Of New Jersey as "The Old Eagle Dam".




Everyone benefited by the pond, even the livestock.







The interior of the mill.





The Mill, the Ice House, and the Cold Storage Facility

Work being done on the restoration.

The Cold Storage Facility.

Groveville's Water Supply

This is a photo, taken in 1947, this is Gary Lippincott (me) and my cousin and next door neighbor, Janice Rollings. This photo was taken in front of the water tower belonging to the Groveville Water Company, operated by George Rollings, Janice's Grandfather, Gary's Great grandfather, this was Groveville's water supply.

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The tower was located at the top of the hill at the edge of the woods across from the Groveville Elementary School, behind the Rollings home, which is no longer there.

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The four concrete pillars that supported the tower are still there on the property now owned by Chuck and Joann Elliott and located next to their house.

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My mother has told me the switch that controlled the pump that filled the tower was located in the Rollings house cellar. The pump would be turned on and allowed to fill the tower, there was no automatic switch. When the tower was full, someone would yell "The Tower is Full" as the water tower overflowed. Someone, would run to the cellar and pull the switch. Mom said not only was the cellar of the house "Scary", long, dark, & narrow, like a tunnel, but the switch you had to throw was a "Knife" Switch, she said like the kind in the horror movies, and when you threw the switch big sparks came from the switch.

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The tower, the pump, and the pump house were removed in the 1950's by Bob Heaton, long time Groveville resident, Groveville Fire Company member, who's business was tearing down buildings and salvage.

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The concrete reservoir still remains at the base of the hill on the edge of the swamp, still filled with water, the roof over the reservoir and the long wooden steps that extended from the base of the tower, down into the woods to the Reservoir and pump house are long gone also.

Groveville, from "The History of Mercer County".

This is not my writting, this is from the "History of Mercer County, I want that understood, I don't want that "Plagiarism" thing raising it's ugly head again, like it did in Mr. VanAllen's 11th Grade History Class, HHS, how was I to know that someone had writen about the "Civl War" before me, using those same words, earned me a failing grade for that "Mistake" . ;-)

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History of Mercer County

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GROVEVILLE. - Settlements were made at a comparatively early date south of Doctor's Creek, about half a mile from the central portion of Yardville. This place is now known as Groveville. In 1821 there were here a small woolen- and grist-mill, a saw-mill, and a store, all the property of John Longstreet, and fifteen dwellings.

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At the date mentioned George S. Green and Churchill Houston purchased of Longstreet all of this hamlet except two or three houses, and built new manufacturing establishments elsewhere referred to, and the place entered upon an era of growth.

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The hotel here has been kept open most of the time for many years. The present occupant is Mrs. Elizabeth Allen.

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There are two stores in the village, which were formerly kept by the successive proprietors of the mills. The merchants at this time are E. A. Beaumont and Randolph Rider.

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The first blacksmith was William Chitty, who opened his shop about 1845. He had several successors, the last of whom was John Gamble, who, in company with William Gamble, manufactured augers about two years.

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Groveville consists of two stores, a hotel, a school-house, a warp-factory, a Methodist Episcopal Church, and sixty dwellings, a good share of the population depending on the manufactory mentioned for employment.

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Educational. - The history of the public schools of Hamilton does not differ materially from that of other townships in New Jersey similarly circumstanced. The early schools were select schools, kept in log houses. These were followed by pay schools, very little different in organization or operation, in houses which were no great improvement on the first ones.

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The public school law of the State brought about a systematization of the educational facilities of the township, and school districts were formed, and one after another better school-houses were built. There are now nine school districts, known as Washington District, No. 26; Mercerville District, No. 27; Hamilton Square District, No. 28; Edge Brook District, No. 29; Groveville District, No. 30; Yardville District, No. 31; White Horse District, No. 32; Friendship District, No. 33; and Farmingdale District, No. 35.

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In 1880 the school statistics of Hamilton were as follows:
Amount of appropriation from the State fund, $2950.27; total amount received from all sources for school purposes, $3025.27; value of school property, $9650; number of children of the school age, 817; number enrolled in the school registers, 540; estimated number who attended private schools, 57; estimated number who attended no school, 248; number of teachers employed, three males, seven females, average monthly salary, males, $36.60, females, $29.77.

Buckley's Tavern and Restaurant, Yardville, New Jersey

Buckley's Tavern and Restaurant ~ Route 130, Yardville, New Jersey






This ashtray is just a little Memorabilia
I have from Buckley's
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Buckley’s Tavern, a Yardville institution for many years. I really wish I could find more about the history, I have been told it was the Buckley Family Homestead and became The Buckley family’s tavern and restaurant.

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Buckley’s was the place to go, back when it was a rural and out of the way Tavern and Restaurant, back when Route 130 (AKA Route 25) was a two lane highway, back when the only thing between Yardville and Robbinsville was Buckley’s Tavern, Edgebrook School, Sadley’s Apple Farm (now Hamilton Market Place), and another small farm north of where I-195 crosses.

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The food was home cooking at its best. Almost everyone that worked there was a Buckley or Buckley family, everyone knew everyone by name, the waiters & bartenders wore black pants, white shirts, sometimes an apron, the waitresses wore black skirts and white blouses, it was the time before casual dining, no one wore shorts or jeans, it was a place where you went for Sunday Dinner, the men wore jackets and ties, the women wore dresses, it was a place where you felt comfortable, people would have a drink, an appetizer, their meal, then coffee and desert, people would chat with friends at other tables and share a drink at the bar before leaving. Buckley's was not a place where you rushed through your meal, because you had to be somewhere in a hurry, it was a place where you sat and took your time and enjoyed a meal and conversation.

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During the week they had the "After Work" crowd. Saturday nights there was music, Marlene Donnell mentioned that her Mom and Dad Spent many a Saturday night listening and dancing to the Chubby Britton Band, Chubby's wife was also a Buckley.

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When you sat in one of the dining rooms you were actually sitting in what was the living room or the dining room of the Buckley Homestead, it does not get much homier than that. Except for the large bar on the back of the building it could have been someone’s house, it was, it was the Buckley’s house.

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I believe it was in the 1980’s the Tavern left the Buckley family and became “Casey Jones Restaurant”, along with that name came seventy five feet of Railroad Track, a Railroad Box Car and a Caboose, just to boost the new theme of the restaurant. You could dine in the Rail cars or in the dining rooms. At that time the kitchen was expanded.

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That name lasted a few years then it became “Spikes”, I guess what you would call a “Fun Eatery”, part of the Railroad Box Car became a game room for kids, with prizes. The menu was geared toward kids with lots of fun and finger foods, to attract a more family group, with children.

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Around 2000 it became Savoy’s, geared to a twenty to Thirty year old crowd, with live bands, and outdoor deck was added and they featured “Lawn parties”, this kind of went with the ban on indoor smoking.

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Savoy’s closed about two years ago and the building has sat vacant ever since, rumor has it the building has been slated to be torn down, a sad loss for the area.

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The building and its charm was lost when it left the Buckley Family, it was the end of an era, when men and women dressed up to go out for Sunday Dinner, it was an era where people spoke to the people at the other table, not hidden in their own little booth. It was when food was prepared in the kitchen, not thawed and reheated from some kitchen in Tennessee or Texas.
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That is when the Tavern closed back in the 1980’s, when it was no longer Buckley’s.

Groveville Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary~ 1950

Groveville Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary, at the New Jersey State Fireman's Convention in Atlantic City.

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Left to right (standing), Helen Bell, Noma Bell Eades, Stella Sellers, & Emma Lommason. (seated) Jean Bell Mushinski, Lillian Brooks, Katharine "Kate" Johnson (my Grandmother) and seated on the Running Board is Betty Senf. I notice Grand Mom has her hat on backwards, the ladies must have been trying to keep up with the Firemen and stopped at at Tavern or two.

J.P. Golden and Son, Yardville Roller Mills

I received this from some one that has had this around the house for the last 90 years and now has decided to part with it, so glad it came to me. The part scratched out after the name is "DR.", not sure what that might be for.

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The top lines of the receipt are for Rye, it's difficult to read, but the bottom line is for Corn. $191.12 that is a lot of money in 1919, and with our current economy its a lot of money now.

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Back in September 9, 2007 I posted a copy of a bill from this company. I received that as a copy, by Email and was told by the sender that this was at one time the name of the Grist Mill, on Church Street, powered by the water power of the Groveville Pond on Doctor's Creek

HamiltonSpace.com

I was honored to have been contacted by Kimberly Baldwin and the staff of the Hamilton Post Newspaper and HamiltonSpace.com. of the Community News Service, LLC. They had read my Blog, I guess found it interesting, and asked if I would be interested in an interview. Seems they felt there were some folks out there that had not read my blog (bet there is a lot of people that have not read my blog) and they felt it was something worth sharing. I proudly consented to the interview and here is the result. Someone You Should Know: Gary Lippincott - HamiltonSpace

The Van Kannel Estate on Church Street ~ Revisited

We are revisiting the Van Kannel Estate on Church Street. Most people living today do not realize what a beautiful estate this was. Many stories and rumors have been told, many are interesting, but most are lore.

I have been fortunate to have been contacted by Mr. Jack Van Kannel, nephew of Theophilus Van Kannel and been given some wonderful photos and some interesting facts about the man and the estate. I would love to have met this man; he must have been quite interesting.

One misconception, earlier I found that Mr. Theophilus Van Kannel was of Dutch ancestry, then today while researching him on Wikipedia; it stated that he was a Swiss-American inventor. The truth from Mr. Jack Van Kannel is that we are not of Dutch ancestry, but Austrian. Our original name was von Kanel. A spelling mistake was made when Abraham came over. Much to the dismay of his relatives in Europe, he kept the new name for "good luck in America.

Jack Van Kannel stated that Theophilus Van Kannel was a great uncle of his. Jack's father, Dr. Harvey Van Kannel, was mentored by Ben Van Kannel, the man Theophilus lived with before he died in 1919. The papers, documents and mementoes came down to him through that line. Jack's father was especially involved in those papers and published two books that chronicled Theophilus's journals.

Jack Van Kannel said that Theophilus Van Kannel kept notes, letters, drawings and almost anything of interest to him, these papers were saved by Ben Van Kannel who was a mentor for Jack's father, Dr. Harvey Van Kannel. Jack's Dad organized and published some these documents into two volumes called T. Van Kannel, The Inventor: His autobiography and Journal. Unfortunately, the journal itself does not take us up past the 1870's, long before his moving to New York in 1899. There are a number of personal letters and notes that have come down to me. For example, He wrote a letter to his wife in '06 finishing with "I hope all is well at Vanhurst with the farm and park, this was the first reference to the name “Vanhurst”, Jack states he does refer to the estate as Vanhurst several times after that.

In doing some research on my own, I found that the word “Hurst” translated into German or could be Austrian, it’s just over the border and spelled “Hyrst” means “Wooded Hill”, if this is right it would be quite appropriate.

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A little note about Mrs. VanKannel on July 21, 1939 Mrs. Elizabeth Van Kannel celebrated her 96th birthday at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Adelaide R. Powers of Reeder Ave, Bordentown. She was born in Salem, NJ in 1843 and spent 50 years of her life there. In 1893 she moved to New York City and remained there until 1911. Since 1911 she has resided with her daughter in Bordentown. Her late husband, Theopholis Van Kannel, was the inventor of the modern revolving door. The company in New york City is still doing business. There are four children, 3 daughters and 1 son: Mrs. Paul Miller of Philadelphia, Mrs. George House of Salem, Mrs. A. Powers of Bordentown, and Mark Fowler of Trenton.

The following are the photos that Jack Van Kannel sent to me, they are fantastic, quite an addition to this chronicle of history for our area, I can’t thank him enough,

This is the man that invented, among other things, the “Revolving Door”, something seen in every large building, I think of the joy he gave children, just spinning in a revolving door, who has not done that.

The following photos appear as snap shots, not posed, but if you notice in each of the photos, except one, there is a discretely placed white sign, leaning against the base of a tree. I could not read this sign and was about to inquire as to what was on it, when I received a set of photos with the sign visible if I enlarge the photo, it states “Sep 22, 1917”. Guess these photos were not as “Spur of the moment” as I thought.
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This entrance is on Church Street, the pillar on the left is the only surviving remnant of the Estate. At some later date a Pump House was erected blocking this drive, about where the men are standing. The Main Entrance was about fifty yards to the left and climbed the hill you see in the left side of this photo.

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If you enlarge this photo by clicking on it and look the the left of the two men, you will see a tree, a very Dark tree. If you look near the top of this tree you will see a set of steps coming down the hill, these steps led from the upper drive, near the garden, to the lower drive. I do not know what purpose these steps served as they were not near any of the houses, I do know we spent a lot of time running up and down these steps. These were very long and sturdy, decorative concrete steps.

This photo shows the Carriage House to the left, the main house is at the end of the straight drive in the trees past the car. This photo would have been taken if you were standing on the property with your back towards Bordentown and facing Church Street, Route 130 (if it was built) would be behind the Carriage House.

This is the main house on the hill, the porch seen in the left of the photo is the Carriage House, once again you would be standing with your back towards Bordentown and facing Church Street.

This is the Carriage House, the right side would have been the Chauffeur's quarters, the upper right side would have been for the stable help, the center and the lower right would have been for the carriages and horses,and later cars.

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I believe the horses would be in the far left, judging by the stable like windows and it would be best to have the horses as far from the Chauffeur's Quarters as possible

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Behind this building was the log cabin, Doctors Creek and later Route 130. When I was younger I was always amazed by the clock tower, visible from Route 130 and Route 156, protruding high above the tree tops. Its hands were still at that time, but at one time it was operational, visible then only to the Estate and the South Amboy - Bordentown Road

Carriage House, with log cabin in view behind, this taken facing south, towards Bordentown.

This is the log cabin behind the Carriage House, this was used as a "tenant House" for the hired help. This was build on a large stone structure which extender over the hill to "Doctors Creek". The lower floor served as the "Pump House"

This is the Log Cabin showing how high the stone structure was that supported it. You can see the rear of the Carriage house in the upper left of the photo. .

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Story has it there was a tunnel from the cellar of this building to the cellar of the main house to be used as an escape tunnel, should the house be raided during the thirty's when there was a large illegal liquor operation here during Prohibition, long after it left the Van Kannel's ownership.

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Most likely this was used to carry pipes to the main house to refill the water storage tank in the attic. I really like the escape tunnel story better. When I saw this building the Log Cabin had collapsed and had fallen in to the stone cellar, guess this is why I didn't see the tunnel.

This is the spring we all drank from, the pipe was shorter when we saw it. The spring was located along Doctors creek about fifty yards from the Church Street Bridge on the Groveville side of the creek.
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The girl is holding a glass and the boy is drinking straight from the pipe, as he should, that's the way we did it. When I was young people came for miles to fill their jugs at this spring. My Grandfather Fred Lippincott moved from Groveville to a farm in Georgetown, past Chesterfield, he still came back to fill his drinking water jugs.
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The Spring photo would be taken if you were standing with your back to Church Street, with Doctors Creek to your right. The bridge in the background is the Bordentown-South Amboy Turnpike, now State route 156, the State Route 130 bridge was not built till around 1950.

This photo was taken with the people in the photo either looking through an opening in the trees facing Yardville or Bordentown, my guess is Yardville due to the high hill in the distance.

Some Groveville People & Family

My cousin Carol Jones found some old family photos and thought I might like to have them. Carol is now retired and living on the cost of Connecticut. Carol grew up in Groveville living with her Mother Edith Rollings Jones and her Father James Melvin Jones, along with her Brother James Melvin "Jimmy" Jones, on Church Street in the big house that used to be across from the Groveville Elementary School. All that is left of the house is the large Sycamore Tree and the Boxwood Hedge.

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When we were kids, Carol was just ten years older than me and she would come to our house, next door, get me pinned under my mothers piano and tickle me until I could not stand it anymore, guess that is what older cousins do.

Carolyn Jones, age 10, Memorial Day, 1944, in Groveville Cemetery

Katharine Anna Rollings Johnson - Naomi Rollings - Edith Rollings Jones

Here is a photo of Kate, Edith and their Mother Naomi, standing behind the large house that used to be across from the Groveville School.

Kate and Edith were life long Groveville residents, Naomi was born in South Wolverhampton, England.

Kate was married to John A. Johnson, they had two children Alfred Rollings "Al"Johnson, who had one daughter Cindy A. Johnson Landholt, now of Rochester Hills, Michigan. Kate also had a daughter Dorothy Naomi "Dot"Johnson Lippincott, who had one son, Kenneth Gary Lippincott (me)

Groveville Fire Co. ~ Our 1957 Ward LaFrance Comes Home

Groveville Fire Company's 1957 Ward LaFrance came home to the Fire House, August, 2009. It is not the shining beauty of a truck that left, so many years ago but it will be. It may never fight another fire or save another life, but once again we can all be proud of the beauty of a classic.

The following is a little history of the 1957 Ward LaFrance, the color Gray and the color Yellow, and how they came about.

Memorial Day ~ 1967 ~ Gary Lippincott, Driver

Memorial Day ~ 1967

1957 Ward LaFrance, followed by 1947 Ward LaFrance, followed by

Ladies Auxiliary Chevrolet Canteen Truck

1957 Ward LaFrance ~ 1947 Ward LaFrance ~ 1958 Ford Utility Truck

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In 1956 the Groveville Volunteer Fire Company had two pieces of apparatus, a 1941 Ward LaFrance and a 1947 Ward LaFrance, both 500 GPM pumps. The company decided it was time to replace the 1941 Ward LaFrance. New equipment and new technology along with the age of the equipment prompted this decision. There was also discussion of the purchase of a utility truck, something to carry a portable pump and portable generator, lights, and something that this new technology in firefighting was coming into use, Masks, to breathe fresh air while fighting a fire, older Engines or Pumpers did not have compartments for such frivolous equipment, so the discussion of a third piece of apparatus meant the need for another apparatus bay.

The fire company had purchased the home next-door where the Mickshultz family lived, this by the way was one of the homes that had the capability of receiving fire calls, the fire calls when you called for help came into the fire house (sometimes someone was there) or the Mickshultz home, or the Post Office on Church Street to Jim and Betty Stackhouse, all three had the capability to activate the siren.

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Jim and Betty Stackhouse, also received emergency calls and dispatched the Yardville First Aid Squad. They were also a second radio base for both organizations, should there be no one at either building, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, there was no charge for their service, this was the way they served the community, they also ran the Post Office & store, were active members of both organizations, and their auxiliary. What spare time?
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The Mickshultz family moved to a new home on Main Street, a brick house just past Richbell Road, and the fire company demolished their home to make room for the new apparatus bay.

The new Engine arrived, a 1957 Ward LaFrance, 750 GPM, 3 Stage, High Pressure Pump, state of the art for 1957, the color, a special gray blend, know as “DuPont Groveville Gray”. This truck was housed in the “New Bay” and a new 1958 Ford, 1 ½ ton, Reading Body, Utility Truck, DuPont Groveville Gray, was housed in the vacant bay in the old part of the building.

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The 1957 Ward LaFrance, served as our first run piece of equipment until 1968 when it became necessary to replace the 1947 Ward LaFrance, only because of its age, at the time the Fire Underwriters deem a piece of fire Apparatus (Pumpers or Engines) at the end of their serviceability after 20 years. The 1947 Ward LaFrance was sold to the Crosswicks Volunteer Fire Company to be used as their second run or back up piece of apparatus. It was at this time The Groveville Fire Company purchased a 1968 Hahn Engine, Gasoline Powered (Diesel was an expensive option in 1968) and the 1957 moved to be our second run piece of apparatus.

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It was at this time that the Fire Commissioners decided to change the Fire Company’s color from DuPont Groveville Gray to DuPont Chrome Yellow, After a study back then in the mid '60's by the National Safety Council, studies had shown that Chrome Yellow was the safest and most visible color especially at night. But the 'icing on the cake' for Chrome Yellow came while the Fire Commissioners & Fire Company officers (I was fortunate to be there) were at the Hahn factory checking on Groveville's new 1968 Hahn just prior to painting, there was new Chrome Yellow Hahn fire truck destined for Honolulu, Hawaii and another going to Mount Bethel, Pennsylvania. There it was at this time at the Hahn factory, the Fire Commissioners decided to change the Fire Company’s color from DuPont “Groveville Gray” to DuPont “Chrome Yellow”. It was the birth of the “Nick Name” “Groveville’s Yellow Birds”.

In 1974, while returning from a fire call the 1957 Ward LaFrance was involved in a motor vehicle accident at the intersection of Route 156 & South Broad Street. The apparatus returning with all lights on entered the intersection, a car coming from the Crosswicks direction failed to heed the stop sign, hit the truck in the drivers side just ahead of the pump panel, the operator of the car was thrown from the vehicle, under the apparatus and subsequently lost his life. The truck ended up on the grass, by the large house across from the old Yardville School (apartments).

The driver, Bob Simpson and the officer on the truck were not injured, but Roy “Smut” Champion was thrown from the Tail Board of the truck to the street and received minor injuries.

Gary Lippincott drove the Apparatus back to the fire house where it remained, out of service, until it could be evaluated by the mechanic. The mechanic found that the pump had been moved out of alignment and there was some slight frame damage, this all could have been repaired, but the Fire Commissioners were not comfortable with returning the Engine to service, they felt this was something that lives depended on and determined that replacement of the engine was the best route to take.

The 1957 Ward LaFrance was sold to the mechanic, to be used as a temporary replacement Engine, should he have to place someone’s Engine out of service for repair. It was then that the Fire Commissioners purchased the 1975 Hahn, Detroit 6-71 Diesel, 1000 GPM Pump.

After some time the 1957 Ward LaFrance was acquired by former Groveville Fire Chief Lyle Mushinski, and recently donated back to the company for restoration, a restoration back to the original color of DuPont Groveville Gray. When I saw this truck again it brought back so many memories, mostly good, it was like seeing an old friend again, the kind that gives you that old lump in the throat.

The story of the DuPont Groveville Gray color, as told to me was when the 1941 Ward LaFrance was in service during World War II, it was necessary during blackouts to have all reflective items painted a dull color, so even the Bumpers, fittings and light housings were painted Gray so as not to reflect.

Lyle heard a somewhat different story about the color, Groveville Gray. There was a 'G' in the paint code which had meant something else and not gray but the master painter in Wards paint dept. thought the 'G' was for 'gray' paint. And thus Groveville Gray was born. After the war someone had a slight accident with the '41 Ward's front bumper and scratched some of the gray paint off the bumper reveling the chrome underneath. That’s when someone decided to scratch the rest of the paint off and well, there you go, a shinny chrome bumper!

Just like every good story at the fire house, they all have different versions and get better each time they are told, somewhere in all the different versions lies the truth, I just hope the truth is as interesting as the others or it won’t be told.


The bulk of the restoration will take place at the Groveville Fire Company, by the Volunteers and the Career Staff; we are lucky to have George Meyers as part of our Career Staff, George has the knowledge and the love of old fire equipment that is needed to undertake a job like this, George and his group of restorers of old fire equipment will direct this giant undertaking. Believe me George will have this truck looking like 1957 again. I know trucks, I have been a truck mechanic, but if I looked at this, my first words would be “Where Do I Start”, that’s what is good about George, he knows where to start, he’s even happy about this.

We all wish we had that car we had in our twenty’s, this is the fire company’s chance to get back the apparatus it had when it was a mere thirty years old.

To me this looks like an “Old Friend” holding on, waiting for the miracle that will bring them back to health. That “Miracle” is here.

This is what they have to work with; George said it will look new again.

John C. "Jim" Donnell

John "Jim" Donnell seated on left, others in the photo,

including the dog, unknown. Location of photo,

unknown also.

Jim Donnell & Wilbur Reynolds, next to the house

on Church Street next to the Cemetery.

Jim during his time in the US Navy, during WW II , next to the house

on Church Street, next to the cemetery .

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Jim was a life long Groveville resident, he was life long active member of the Groveville Volunteer Fire Company, he was employed as a fireman at Fort Dix and was extremely knowledgeable of fire fighting techniques, he like his friend Wendell Fisher, also a fireman at Groveville and a fireman at Fort Dix could teach you the practical side of firefighting, the stuff that in a pinch could save your butt. Jim, like so many of the men of the fire company, would be there no matter what the emergency or the need, you could count on him.

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After Jim's retirement he had a small produce stand in front of his house, during the summer, most of the produce was grown in his garden. It was nice to buy fresh produce from Jim, the only problem I would be there almost an hour telling stories, good interesting stories, if Jim was still around today Jim it would make writing this blog a lot easier, he would have a lot of the answers to my Groveville questions. Jim passed away several years ago, he has been missed by many.

Three Crosses Along the Highway

This has nothing to do with Groveville, but I found it interesting. I just returned from a vacation that took me through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland.

I had seen these crosses in years past, but never knew their meaning, this time I had my laptop and looked it up one night and found it quite interesting.

The story goes;

Have you ever been driving down the highway and wondered about the three crosses you've seen along the roadside?

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They were put up by a man named Bernard Coffindaffer, who was born in Craigsville, West Virginia. At 42 years of age, Mr. Coffindaffer became a Christian and had a vision to "plant crosses".

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He raised and spent $3,000,000 planting 1,864 trios of crosses in 29 states, Zambia and the Philippines. West Virginia has 352 sets of crosses, the most of any state.
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The crosses are for everyone, he said. Not for saints or sinners, but for everyone, just a reminder of Jesus as you drive by.

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You can't see it from the highway, but the crosses have three nails in them, symbolic of where a body would be.

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Mr. Coffindaffer died at his home in 1993. His crosses are now cared for by the people who own the land, or by nearby churches who "adopt" the crosses.
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Almost anywhere I drive, I pass crosses. I am inspired that one person could present such a strong reminder to the world in such a simple way. With just a glance as I whiz by at 70 miles per hour along the Interstate, I receive a gentle message.

Minutes of the First Meeting, Groveville Vol. Fire Co.

August 20, 1919

20 Men in Attendance

G. Rollings
A.J. Simpson
Robert Rogers
Louis Cook
W. Vogts
C. Berkeyhieser
E. McClure
C. McClure
C. Gravatt
Frank Whitman
Sam Pancoast
C. Doughty
A. Griffiths
Walter Dwier
William Trickett
Charles Fisher
William McEmoyle
J. Bougeault
George Borden
William Henry Sr.



William Tricket elected President
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Charles Fisher elected Secretary
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Frank Whitman elected Treasurer
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Committee set up to write By-Laws
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Maurice Doughty elected Chief
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Walter Dwier elected Assistant Chief
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Committee to get prices on Apparatus
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Meeting Adjourned

The Storm, July 26, 2009

Sunday, July, 26, 2009, I was driving home from Hightstown around 6:45 PM, I could see the dark skies to the South East, as I passed through Yardville I could see straight line lightning.

As I got home as it started to rain, I double checked the windows in my daughters room, sometimes they are left open. As I came down stairs I heard the wind picking up and could hear hail hitting the house. On my back deck I have a roll up awning, I went out on the deck to roll it up, it was too late, the wind and rain was picking up, if I loosened it now the wind could catch it and I would most likely be seen "Hang Gliding" over Yardville on my awning, I decided to take a chance, it survived.

As I stood on the deck under the awning surveying the situation, I noticed a tree I have next to the deck and 8" across and 20' high really starting to move, I looked to my left and my neighbors, Joe & Donna, have an over 100 year old Buttonwood or Sycamore Tree in their yard about 40' high, which was whipping in the wind, but standing strong. All of a sudden the Buttonwood began to move towards me, there was a large crack and the tree toppled over the yard and into my pool, just 10 feet in front of me, The water splashed out of my pool and onto my truck, I stepped back into the house, then ventured back out. I called two of my neighbors to tell them, only to find that an eighty foot Poplar, five back yards away had uprooted and fallen over into the Buttonwood and taking most of the Buttonwood down and covering the backyards and my pool. In the process the Poplar Tree crushed a van owned by Bob and Brenda and their Starlight Dry Cleaners, and trapping three of their other vehicles in their yard.

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A large tree fell on Church Street near the Ray Dwier Center, taking down the top PSE&G Wires, 28,000 Volts to the ground and arcing on the ground, with all of their calls it was almost and hour before the power was shut off, the only damage there was too the road way.

In the darkness everyone gathered on Church Street, flashlight in hand to discuss the situation in the total darkness, as we all stood on Church Street, lit only by the arching wires over the hill, the eerie thing was it was so dark it was hard to see each other's face, but the emergency lights of the Groveville Methodist Church shown through the stained glass windows with a strange glow, it gave us the feeling that someone was watching over us.

As the sun came up this morning we saw the extent of the damage, several trees had fallen on the property behind Church Street, a large tree uprooted on Main Street, and lay behind a new Ranch Style house along the creek. and a large limb had fallen from a tree on to the roof of a finished garage and family room, next to the Sunday School Building, owned by Beta Chappel, this had crushed the roof and blown out the back wall. This is Beta's Garage below.

Today the town of Groveville and a lot of the surrounding towns was filled with the sound of Chain Saws and Chippers, Mr. Herdt from Crosswicks giving a lot of fence estimates and people calling their homeowners insurance.

As far as we know, in Groveville there was a lot of property damage, but no one was injured, so just as the town stood in total darkness with only the light from the church, someone was watching over us. God Blessed us all.