By Margret Brady
“Place plays a part in helping the poor live longer,” read the headline of a recent article by Washington Post reporter Emily Badger.
She cited extensive data used to study the income and ages of everyone living in the United States between 1999 and 2014. The results were clear. Poor people living in communities with many parks and services enjoyed a healthier lifestyle and that resulted in better health and increased longevity.
Not long ago, a group of Franklin Corners residents met to discuss issues they felt were most important in their neighborhood.
As they reviewed the impact of changes in the last half century, it became apparent that although new ratables and a tax settlement with the hospital promised to help stabilize municipal finances, not enough attention was being paid to the fact that, bit by bit, more and more green space in their neighborhood had been sacrificed to development.
Their community required open space to remain healthy and vibrant. That fact was often ignored or overlooked, as planners and developers sought to maximize the profit on every piece of property in the neighborhood, already one of the most densely populated in Morristown.
A box of documents recently was discovered at the Passaic River Coalition headquarters at the historic Willow Hall, on Speedwell Avenue in Morristown. The box had been placed there by Ella Filippone, the late executive director of the coalition.
Labeled “Save for Morristown,” it was packed with letters, reports, news clips and other documents from the the late 1960s and early ’70s. They traced the development of the Speedwell Avenue urban renewal project and the construction of Rt. 287 through Morristown.
They not only documented the progress of those projects, but also the politics and debates involving both. Each election cycle had brought changes and differing opinions regarding the projected impact of those developments on surrounding neighborhoods.
Ella had been involved in assessing the environmental impact of those projects. Reviewing those old files confirmed that her worst fears had come to pass. Both projects had suffered long delays and then, in the rush to hasten their completion, prior plans and decisions were set aside to expedite the process.
As a result, significant portions of the urban renewal project became a giant wall separating lower income neighborhoods from the rest of town, which was exactly what the original design was intended to prevent.
The Rt. 287 highway divided the First Ward down the middle, and the predicted loss of green space, increased noise, worsening air quality and other negative impacts only have increased since that time.
Just as predicted, the fine George Washington School was sacrificed in the name of progress, when the noise, pollution and loss of their playground made it no longer a suitable environment for educating young students.
Today, architects, planners and elected officials still are attempting to find ways to make the barren, windswept open space at HQ Plaza function.
The historic Washington’s Headquarters Museum also continues to suffer from the impact of the noise and pollution from the highway, when that impact could have been prevented by the proposed cover over the entrance ramp next to the National Landmark.
SOWING SEEDS OF SUSTAINABILITY
A century earlier, in Stephen Vail’s time, little thought was given to providing any kind of green space or parkland in a community.
The wealthy had their own large landscaped estates. They gave little thought to the living conditions of slaves, immigrants and workers. The workers often tended to live with their families, in crowded conditions, in the section of Morristown near the intersection of what is now Spring Street and Martin Luther King Avenue. Industry and profit were considered more important than providing for their needs.
Stephen Vail, the father of Alfred, George, Sarah Cutler and Harriet Canfield, was part of that wealthy class.
He was proud of his success in expanding the large industrial complex he had created with his family on Speedwell Avenue. He was proud of his industrial complex spewing smoke and sparks in the air and continued to expand his business, so his factories could produce more and more products to be sold nationwide.
He was not happy when his children began support another viewpoint. At that time, Stephen blamed it on the influence of religious zealots preaching in the area.
His son, Alfred, while studying theology in New York had met and befriended Samuel Morse. Morse, an artist, was teaching classes about some revolutionary landscaping and design theories, which today would be called sustainable design.
When Morse came to Morristown to work with the Vails to improve his design for the telegraph, it would have been likely that his ideas about landscape design and architecture were discussed. As Stephen’s children became more involved in changing the design of the complex and their homes, it was obvious that Alfred, his brother George and their sisters shared those views.
By 1846, George was constructing a home based on a design from one of Andrew Jackson Downing’s best selling publications. Those books and articles promoted a new romantic and picturesque landscape and design for America.
To create his Downing landscape, George had to remove a mountain of sand to create a plateau overlooking the lake.
The lake had been formed by damming the Whippany River, which flowed through the property. The name Whippany was taken from the Indian term Whippanong, meaning willows growing on the river bank. George named his new home, with the Olmstead landscape, Willow Hall.
Stephen lamented the lack of effort Morse put into the telegraph project, in his diary. He chose to ignore Morse’s other activities at the time. Stephen and other members of the family labeled the design of George’s new home as oddly formed.
Yet the Cutler homestead, where his daughter lived, soon also was remodeled in the Downing style. A diary kept by one of Stephen’s employees told of nights that the brothers would meet at their sister’s home after Stephen had retired, rather than continue arguing with their father about their activities.
Correspondence between Alfred and George indicates they they remained in close touch during the period when Alfred and Morse were traveling the country promoting expansion of the telegraph.
CEMETERIES FOR THE LIVING
In 1849, Downing published Public Cemeteries and Public Gardens. In it, he discussed the need for cemeteries to be more than simply a place to bury the dead. They also were a place of beauty where families could stroll and respect the memories of their loved ones in a natural setting.
This was the first time the concept of providing open space for public use was proposed in the United States.
The dual use of cemeteries as public parks would become a desired objective in many communities. As George Vail and his siblings began to envision new types of sustainable buildings and landscapes for their own homes, they began plans to expand that vision, and include all the town inhabitants in their plans to promote the benefits of the beauty and practicality of sustainable design.
Downing’s publications provided a framework for their vision of what Morristown could become.
A public cemetery could present an opportunity, not just to create open space, but also to help meet the growing demand for more places to bury the dead.
Now married, Alfred had returned to Morristown with his wife and children to live in a house his father had purchased for him on South Street.
Feeling he could better control his children by keeping them close by, Stephen also gave control of the Iron Works to George. He knew the venture’s success depended on George’s superior skills and management. He hoped that if George owned the complex, he would become more interested in focusing on profits.
Until that time, most burials were in churchyards. But the expanding population of Morristown and its churches had resulted in a shortage of space for additional graves. The value of some of the older church cemeteries had increased tremendously due to their locations in the prime business areas of town.
Samuel Morse thought a new cemetery could be a good business and he joined Alfred in attempting to find a location. They thought a new cemetery in a park-like setting would be an attractive alternative for people of all faiths.
The battle lines between Stephen Vail, who was a judge, and his children had been drawn when Morris County moved the courthouse and jail from the Green to Washington Street.
Morristown’s judges had received title to the property on the Green as a gift from the Presbyterian Church, where George was a member. There was a stipulation that the land be used for public purposes.
When the judges, including Stephen, decided to subdivide the space on the Green into commercial lots, church members, including members of Stephen’s family, objected to the proposal.
A compromise was reached when the land was sold to a group of trustees, who agreed to restrict its use to a public common forever. The idea of a public purpose for land in Morristown had its start.
Although Alfred Vail and Sam Morse were able obtain a charter for a cemetery, they soon discovered the project was not likely to become profitable. Morse lost interest and returned to his new home, Locust Grove in the Hudson River Valley of New York.
Soon, interest in the project was renewed when George Cobb joined forces with Vail family members. He shared the view that the Town would benefit from a new park-like cemetery in a congested part of town, and he donated funds to purchase a plot in that part of Town. Cobb, a Democrat, was an associate of George Vail and Augustus Cutler in the local Democratic party
Here again, George Vail, appears to have been the enabler, bringing together people to find a way to offer green space in Morristown. The fact that this came at the height of the industrial revolution makes his accomplishments even more amazing.
In addition to running the Iron Works and other industries crowded along Speedwell Avenue and the lake, George, a leading Democrat in Town, was serving in Congress.
Further downstream, another dam had created Pocahontas Lake, where additional factories had been built. Often others would build new factories and purchase equipment from Stephen on credit. When his customers were in default, Stephen would take over their factories.
Stephen Vail could not afford to alienate his son completely, because he depended on George to run the Iron Works and manage the business.Yet he feared George’s changes would result in financial ruin. Nonetheless, George and his associates continued striving for changes to benefit the entire community, and not just the property owners.
PICTURESQUE PUDDINGSTONE
In A History of the Evergreen Cemetery in Morristown, New Jersey (2000), author James Elliott Lindsley describes the choice of the location, on what is now named Martin Luther King Avenue.
After noting how many famous and prominent people are buried there, Lindsley wrote:
“And there are two areas in the cemetery, arguably the most beautiful, that were long ago set apart for those who would have no one to remember them, and no one to mark or care for their graves ….”
This park-like oasis in the poorest section of Town was created in 1855. From the start, it was planned as a place where people could stroll and enjoy scenic vistas as they mourned the dead.
Alfred Vail had obtained a charter from the state legislature in 1853. It was not until the Vails and Cutlers began their collaboration with fellow Democrat George Cobb that the means to obtain the site for their enterprise became possible. According to Lindsley, no one knows what led George Cobb to become involved in the project.
Connecting the dots between activities and relationships of Cobb and Vail family members, it’s not hard to see how their common interest in creating a better place for all Morristown residents must have been a contributing factor that brought them together.
The Methodists, the Presbyterians and the Episcopalians were not not in need of burial plots for themselves. Their motive simply was to create a park-like cemetery for those of all faiths and levels of society.
Another connecting link is the material used for the cemetery wall and gate, Willow Hall and Cobb’s new Methodist Church.
It was the same puddingstone quarried locally for construction of Willow Hall. Easily recognized by its unique purple coloration, any place you see that stone today is a reminder of that sustainable picturesque period of design.
Today, Evergreen Cemetery remains the loveliest of all the cemeteries in the region, thanks to George Cobb and the Vail brothers and their friends, who proved that Morristown could be developed in a sustainable manner for the benefit of all.
Morristown continues to be a pleasant, picturesque destination for many, due in large parts to those early efforts.
Margret Brady is a trustee of the Passaic River Coalition, headquartered at Willow Hall. The PRC is continuing its ongoing efforts to protect the water resources of the Passaic River and preserve the history of Willow Hall and it occupants. Brady and her husband are longtime residents of the Franklin Corners neighborhood, and have been active in several efforts to preserve the history and character of Morristown and its neighborhoods.
