Passaic County Historical Society, 3 Valley Road, Paterson, NJ (2026)

02/08/2025

Beautifully written by The Paterson Museum, in memory of Edward A. Smyk, Passaic County Historian 1945-2025

"Edward A. Smyk, Passaic County Historian has passed away on February 6, 2025. We owe so much of the preservation of our county history to Ed. He was an Honorary Life Time Trustee of the Passaic County Historical Society.

Edward A. Smyk was born, raised and educated in the Paterson public schools. While in high school, he stumbled across a collection of glass plate negatives detailing the construction of Paterson’s hydroelectric and steam plants at the Passaic Falls. The discovery brought him to the attention of the Passaic County Historical Society, which he joined the Society in 1962, and has served ever since in various capacities, including second Vice-President, Historian, and chair of the publications committee and other panels. He was elected an Honorary Life Trustee of the Society in June 1994. Mr. Smyk holds degrees in political science and sociology from Fairleigh Dickinson University, Rutherford, New Jersey, where he was a Dean’s and Honors List student. In 1968, he received the social science faculty award “for excellence and writing ability in the social sciences.” He served as associate editor of the undergraduate social science quarterly.

Mr. Smyk has been affiliated with Passaic County government since November 1970. He became Public Information Officer for the county’s social service agency, retiring in 2004. In that capacity, he was responsible for the agency’s public information program, including the production of inhouse publications, newsletters, the annual guide to agency services, and liaison with the print and electronic media. He also served as a job developer for improving the lives of low income people, and in in his spare time, researched and wrote the agency’s administrative history. In tandem with his work, Mr. Smyk was appointed the Passaic County Historian by the Board of Chosen Freeholders in 1975. In the last four plus decades, he has published more than 150 articles on county history, some of which were re-edited and published in book form, Historic Passaic County: An Illustrated History (2004). Mr. Smyk served as a columnist for the North Jersey Herald News, writing a popular series titled Tales of Our Heritage. In August 1997, he authored a 48-page commemorative history of the newspaper and its predecessor publications. He has an unquenchable zeal for researching and writing historical essays, taking immense pride in bringing together historic images and the written word for the express purpose of arousing interest in the heritage of Paterson and Passaic County.

Mr. Smyk has played a significant role in the preservation of historic Lambert Castle, once the exclusive residence of Catholina Lambert, one of Paterson’s more famed silk manufacturers; the Dey Mansion, General George Washington’s military field headquarters for three months in 1780 and the Passaic County Courthouse, and adjacent Northern Mannerist, Flemish-style annex building. In recognition of his efforts, Mr. Smyk has received historic preservation awards from the State of New Jersey and Paterson’s Historic Preservation Commission. In March 2001, he provided testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands for placing the Great falls Historic District under the aegis of the National Park Service.

Mr. Smyk has been keenly interested in preserving historic documents and images for research purposes. In December 1985, he negotiated the transfer of 889 documents and plans generated by John Philip Holland (1841-1914), inventor of the first practical submarine, to the Paterson Museum. The documents, comprising 5,000 pages, were collected by Edward M. Graf (1896-1982), local historian and author. They were donated to the museum by the historian’s daughter, Ruth Graf Staudinger (1920-1999) in memory of her father’s achievements. Two years later, Mr. Smyk was responsible in obtaining for the Paterson Museum the Paterson News’ central photographic archive of approximately 150,000 negatives, in short, the newspaper photo legacy of Paterson and nearby municipalities. North Jersey Newspapers, Inc., the donor, was pleased that the archive had found a proper depository. In October 2008, he was the chief negotiator on transferring a large collection of original documents detailing the business and philanthropic activities of Peter Cooper and Abram S. Hewitt, iron manufacturers, from the Passaic County Historical Society to Cooper Union in New York. The collection had lain dormant and mostly unseen at the historical society for decades. In the words of Cooper Union Library Director Ulla Volk, “The research you took on to find out how these papers came into the possession of the Historical Society was true detective work and your quest to establish who should have the legal rights to the collection was exemplary.” Mr. Smyk was also responsible for negotiating the transfer from North Jersey Newspapers, Inc., to the Paterson Museum. the Paterson News’ central photographic archive of approximately 100,000 negatives.

Mr. Smyk was awarded, in 1987, the Local Historians’ Award of Distinction, conferred by the New Jersey Historical Commission, New Jersey Historical Society and League of Historical Societies of New Jersey, “for outstanding contributions to New Jersey History.” The City of Paterson, through Mayor William J. Pascrell II, proclaimed Edward A. Smyk Day, 24 March 1995, “for twenty years of productive and exemplary service to community, county and state.” He has served as a trustee for the Great Falls Preservation and Development Corporation, a member of the Board of Governors and Historian for The Hamilton Club of Paterson, and Secretary for the Passaic County Bicentennial Commission. He has received awards from the Passaic County Freeholders (now County Commissioners), the Canal Society of New Jersey, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Grand Jurors’ Association of Passaic County.

In May 2009, Mr. Smyk was awarded a “certificate of profound appreciation” by the county historical society. The citation summarizes what continually replenishes his abiding interest, a “unique and devoted passion to history, to the history of Passaic County, and to the Passaic County Historical Society that began in his youth, and has continued throughout his life – the fruits of his thorough and expansive research, and a wisdom he has willingly shared, to promote the aims of the Society as Trustee, Honorary Life Trustee and as County Historian.”

Beloved brother of David. Loving brother-in-law of Linda. Dear uncle of Brian and Stacy. Great-uncle of Ethan, Hayden, Cooper and Nate. Cherished cousin of Jane Muratti.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend the funeral services at the Festa Memorial Funeral Home, 111 Union Blvd, Totowa, NJ.

Visitation at Funeral Home

1:00 pm - 4:00 pm, Sunday, February 9, 2025

Festa Memorial Funeral Home

Funeral Service

10:30 am, Monday, February 10, 2025

Festa Memorial Funeral Home

Interment to follow at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Totowa."

09/11/2024

Holland Namesake to Lecture at The Paterson Museum

On Friday, September 27th , at 6pm, the Paterson Museum will host a very special guest. Irish designer and sculptor Shane Holland will present "Stories of the Submarineocurraplane" as a part
of his tour of the East Coast.

"Stories of the Submarineocurraplane" is both the story of Shane Holland and his distant relation and namesake, submarine inventory John Phillip Holland. Shane will share how the life of John Holland inspired him in his artistic endeavors and other projects. Shane’s presentation explores the theme of success through failure, and shares stories from Ireland and the USA involving aviation, marine design, traditional currach boating, education, science and the resilience required to make things happen.

The presentation will be in-person at the museum and will last approximately an hour and thirty minutes, followed by a question and answer session and open discussion. The lecture is approved
by the National Museum of Ireland and the Design and Craft Council of Ireland.

The Paterson Museum, located at 2 Market Street (on the corner of Market and Spruce Streets) is in the heart of the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park. For more information about this event, or to learn more about the Paterson Museum, visit their website
https://patersonmuseum.com/, follow them on Facebook and Instagram!

08/20/2024

Passaic Falls Bridges

By E. M. Graff
Passaic County Historical Society Publication, October 1944

"No part of Paterson holds a more interesting past than does the section around the Passaic Falls. A complete record of events near the Falls would fill many books.

The first record known of white men to visit the Falls is given in an account of two Labadist missionaries in March 1680, who with an Indian guide came up the Passaic River to the present city of Passaic and then on foot to the Falls. It is quite possible that others had seen the Falls before this, for the Acquackanonk tract was secured from the Indians in April 1678, and probably some of the patentees were over the ground which extended up to the Falls.

The basin was the hunting grounds for the Indians who came here to fish, for at times the basin was thick with fish of all kinds. During the spawning season large numbers of shad and sturgeon, up to 200 pounds have been recorded, would leave the ocean to spawn in fresh water, and not being able to pass up above the Falls would mass together in great numbers in the basin. Early accounts say that the Indians could pick all they wanted out of the water from their canoes.

The wonders of the Falls was advertised by Abraham Godwin in the New York newspapers as early as 1770 in which he stated that he ran a stage from Pawles Hook to the Falls and also maintained a good inn nearby. It was considered quite a wonderful spot to visit until Niagara Falls was made available to visitors by easier modes of transportation.

In this short report of the Falls, it is intended to give a short record of the bridges thrown across the Chasm.

By deed of August 14, 1827, the property around the Falls came into the hands of Timothy B. Crane, who immediately set to work placing a bridge across the Chasm and improving the grounds for visitors. He also built a building for refreshments which for many years was known as the “Cottage on the Cliff.”

The bridge was placed across the Chasm on September 30, 1827, but was not completed and opened to the public for some months later. He named this first bridge the “Clinton Bridge,” being a great admirer of DeWitt Clinton of New York. Crane held the Falls grounds until 1839 when it was sold to Peter Archdeacon.

Archdeacon greatly improved the property and placed the second bridge over the Chasm in 1844. This bridge, somewhat similar to the first, did not have the arch shape at the bottom.

The property next came into the hands of John Ryle who placed the third bridge. This was a paneled bridge, open at the top, the first two bridges being covered over. All three bridges were built of wood.

This bridge remained until it was declared unsafe by Mr. Ryle in March 1868. Mr. Ryle stated that the bridge would be replaced by an iron bridge and open so that not to hide a view of the Falls.

The first iron, and fourth bridge to cross the Chasm was placed there July 2, 1868, was eighty-five feet long and was built by the Watson Machine Company, builders of the Post Patent bridges.

This bridge remained until the present (1944) or fifth bridge was set in place during 1888 and was opened to the public in December 1888. This bridge is 125 feet long.

For many years it was the amusement center of this section. Here fireworks were first displayed by Crane in 1829, and for many years the 4th of July displays were celebrated from the Falls. Many thousands came from far to witness many tightrope walkers who would walk from the bridge to Morris mountain over the basin with over one hundred feet of air below them. Many risked their lives jumping from the bridge and a few were killed in the attempt. The balloon “Queen of the Air” was sent up from the Falls and landed near Eighty Avenue at Sixty-third Street, New York on August 6, 1858.

It was a fine place, summer or winter, for many years, but today (1944)………. WELL possibly someone with a little civic pride will again turn this interesting spot back in a condition it deserved."

07/22/2024

Saint Joseph Orphanage For Girls- Paterson, NJ- 1853

Taken from
The New Jersey Sisters of Charity– Our Missions
1859-1933 Volume III

by Sister Mary Agnes Sharkey, A.M.,Longmans,
Green and Co., New York: 1933.

"Founded virtually in 1853, some years before the New Jersey Community took charge of the work, Saint Joseph Orphanage was first opened by Father Dominic Senez, and directed by the Sisters of Charity from the New York motherhouse, Mount Saint Vincent, under Sister Anastasia. The original orphan asylum was situated first on Oliver, then on Church Street in a large dwelling adjoining the public library, with our Sister Mary Catherin Nevin in charge. On the removal of the orphanage to its new home above the Passaic Falls by the late beloved Dean McNulty, the first building on Church Street was remodeled as a private Academy for the children of the City of Paterson and called Saint Aloysius. This Academy, over which Sister Mary Catherine Nevin first presided, later Sister Mary Pauline, before her transfer to the care of the parochial mission at Oliver Street. Both the Aloysian School and the public library referred to, were totally destroyed in the great fire of 1902; the academy was not reopened by the Community.

From 1855 to 1867, the orphanage, as stated, occupied the site on Church Street but on the advent of Father McNulty, a more favorable environment for the orphaned children of the parish was sought in the purchase of the old Sheppard Farm near Lincoln Bridge. A residence on the farmland was used for some time as the orphan asylum proper, and in later years, other frame structures were erected by the pastor. These historic buildings stood back from the road on the banks of the Passaic, pleasantly situated on a picturesque knoll overlooking one of the prettiest reaches of the river. As years went by, the original buildings were much enlarged and improved. By the will of the late Charles O’Neill, a lifelong benefactor of the institution and of the parish of Saint John, a sum of money was bequeathed to the asylum by which an extension was made possible, containing dining rooms, school rooms, workrooms, sleeping quarters, and a chapel. His daughter, the late Mrs. John Agnew and her sisters, were also generous providers for the institution, a charity which Mrs. Agnew’s daughters have maintained with filial devotion to this day. A bequest of fifty thousand dollars from the late Senator John Hinchliffe was used in furthering the development of the orphan asylum on an adjoining site as the property on which the orphanage was located was needed for the extension of the cemetery of the Holy Sepulchre, the parish burial ground. Father Edward Quirk, who succeeded to the pastorate of Saint John’s, on the death of the revered Dean McNulty, still further matured plans for the new institution.

The Sisters who during the past sixty years have ministered to the wants of the orphans form a noble line of selfless Religious. Among the names of those who from the first served the institution we find, besides Sister Mary Catherine, who labored for the children even before she severed connection with the New York Community to become one of the Founders of the New Jersey Congregation, Sister Mary Joseph, one of the Cincinnati band of Founders, Sister Baptista of true religious zeal, Sister Thais, earnest provider for the little ones, Sister Immaculata, gentle mother of the distressed, Sister Gonzaga, with sixty-three years of Religious life to her credit; Sister Assissium, the whole-souled, self-denying orphan mother, and Sister Annina, who took Sister Assissium’s charge while the latter sought renewal of health at the recruiting home for the Sisters at the old Villa, Convent Station.

In addition to those who had direct care of the institution, however, there were other earnest laborers who strove to build up the work, and whose service made possible continuance of the great charity dear to the parishioners of old Saint John’s. With comparatively few conveniences even in our time, what must have been the fortitude of those who suffered real want of necessaries in the first days at the orphanage when, we are told, they had to carry water, pail by pail for every household purpose, providing for the Sisters of the home and for one hundred children of their charge as well? Others who shared in these hardships, most of whom have passed to their eternal reward, must not remain unmentioned in a list designed to commemorate the efforts of the founders of the now defunct Saint Joseph Orphanage: Sister Mary Bernard, Sister Innocentia, Sister Romana, Sister Teresa Francis, Sister Francis Xavier, Sister Laurentia, Sister Phillipine, Sister Anne Francis, Sister Angelica, Sister Basilissa, Sister Febronia, Sister Julia Agnes, Sister Martina, and Sister Marietta."

(Note: Researcher Betty Pruzinsky was fortunate to receive this article from Sister Elizabeth McLoughlin of the Sisters of Charity of New Jersey. Betty’s mother and her two sisters became residents of Saint Joseph’s Orphanage in 1911, following the divorce of their parents.)

07/09/2024

Mount St. Joseph's Home For Boys and Girls- Paterson (Totowa) 1908

Taken fromThe New Jersey Sisters of Charity – Our Missions 1859-1933 Volume III by Sister Mary Agnes Sharkey, A.M.,Longmans,Green and Co., New York: 1933.

"The unflagging zeal of Dean McNulty found its last outlet in the establishment of a Home for Boys, in Totowa Borough, not far removed from the site of the orphanage for girls at Lincoln Bridge.

In 1908 occurred the golden jubilee of the Dean’s priesthood. His people at Saint John’s thought a fitting gift on the occasion – for the revered follower of the Crucified refused to accept a purely personal offering – would be the founding of a home for his boys, a class of parishioners in whom he was particularly interested. To this end, therefore, twenty-five thousand dollars were subscribed by the many friends of the Dean and presented to him, as a testimonial of his half-century of sacerdotal service, at a public celebration in his honor on the date of the jubilee. Ground was at once purchased for the new Home, and the late Thomas Edward O’Neill, a son of Charles O’Neill, directed the construction of the building, giving his time and means to the promotion of the work.

In 1911, the institution, popularly known as the “Dean’s Home,” was ready for the reception of boys. Sister Melania was appointed first Sister Servant. The number of applicants for admission to the Home was at first limited to forty, the age prescription being between six and fourteen years: the boys are then sent either to the industrial institution at Arlington or permitted to enter commercial pursuits for which they may be fitted. The complete grammar school curriculum is followed in the school for the boys, who at the completion of the course, are able to enter the State Examinations each year for the elementary certificate awarded by the Department of Public Instruction. In some instances, the call to the higher life has been responded to by the inmates of the Home, one being at the moment, a candidate for the priesthood at Saint Joseph College, Princeton; three have become Christian Brothers, one a Franciscan, so that aspirations to the sacred calling have not been discouraged among the wards of the Dean’s Home.

Too much praise cannot be accorded to the generous parishioners of Saint John’s who have for so many years helped to maintain these extramural institutions out of parish funds, or, at times, by special subscriptions. The other hospices founded by the late Dean McNulty, embrace the Home for the Aged, directed by the Little Sisters of the Poor, Saint Francis Home for Working Girls, Saint Joseph Hospital. These, however, are all self-supporting institutions and do not, therefore, come under the list of dependencies of the parish of Saint John. They owe their origin to the tireless pastor of the early days; their prolonged activity and ever-increasing usefulness to city and State attest to the wisdom of the zealous priest who brought them all into being.

Because of the diminishing number of boys who applied for admission to the new Home of the Dean in Totowa Borough, Father Quirk formulated a plan by which that special work of charity might be discontinued in favor of the orphanage for girls, as the Lincoln Bridge institution had grown beyond the limits of accommodation for the girls then comprising its registration. Father Quirk’s plan was the forerunner of what in the process of evolutionary changes, has since come to full realization, but in a modified history that makes the story of the Home embrace both boys and girls. On the removal of Father Quirk to the Cathedral rectorship at Newark, when the honor of Domestic Prelate was conferred upon him by the late Bishop O’Connor, Father James Delehanty took charge of the parish of Saint John.

One of his first concerns was the management of the Home at Totowa, and he, as Monsignor Quirk had found before him, saw that the number of boys did not fill the institution. He then planned to make it an institution for both boys and girls, with distinct quarters assigned to each division, all under the zealous care of Sister Agatha and her corps of workers. At the same time, the orphanage at Lincoln Bridge was found to be unsafe, and the ground on which it stood sorely needed for the extension of the cemetery of the Holy Sepulchre, so that the original orphanage for girls was razed and the girl inmates transferred to the hospitable shelter at the Totowa Home.

The improved conditions in the cemetery more than justified the action of Father Delehanty, and rewarded, in many advantages gained, the removal of the girls to the institution in honor of the late Dean McNulty. Spacious grounds permit of recreation so necessary for both boys and girls, and building facilities compensate fully for the change from the old to the new. The ladies of Saint John’s have not withheld their generous aid from the Home; rather, they have extended their beneficence to meet the dual claim upon their bounty. Christmas and other festivals of cheer find them ready, as heretofore, to minister to the wants and needs of those less fortunate in life; a general spirit of amelioration, engendered by the Dean himself in the building-up days of his old parish, makes itself manifest at all times.

To single out names of benefactors in this story of the noble work would be to run the risk of omitting many whose laudable efforts are most deserving of commendation. To the angel of reckoning, therefore, we commit the honor of recording the list of true worthies; they all labor in secret, doing good in the altruistic spirit that marks Paterson’s hosts of good women; God, Who seeth in secret, will repay.

Not less prominent in the work of beneficent ministration for the poor and needy are also the male members of the parish of Saint John, and indeed of all local organizations, whether of the household of the faith or not. Annually, the Knights of Columbus, the Elks, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, joined by the fraternal organizations of the city generally, form an army of helpers for these charities of the parish. Without them, the work of the Sisters would be often handicapped, and the orphans’ provision suffer correspondingly.

Sister Assissium, who for so many years directed the orphanage at Lincoln Bridge, was superseded at Totowa by the late zealous Sister Agatha, lovingly known among the boys and girls as their second mother. Sister Agatha passed away at the recruiting home for the Sisters of Charity, the New Villa at Convent Station; her work has been since ably furthered by Sister Laurentine, who had charge of the scholastic work of the Home since it was opened. Others of the old band still continue the noble work for the orphaned children of the parish: Sister Mary Patrick, Sister Fabronia, Sister Laurentine, and others, who find their work a daily joy and a constant blessing. May God give them the reward, even in time, of their holy labors, and make of their heavenly crown, and that of all who are know in Paterson as the “orphans’ friends” – its brightest diadems.

The boys at the Home, skilled in athletic prowess, boast of a 'Can’t -be-beaten' baseball team, a boast that has warrant in the unbeaten record of their encounters with outside would-be Ruths. The girls enjoy sports suited to their age and s*x – but all alike have a home spirit at Saint Joseph’s that recalls the splendid attitude of the late Father Senez of Jersey City toward the training of orphan wards of the diocese. The good Sisters at Totowa must have been tutored in the Senez school of love, kindliness, and Vincentine charity."

04/16/2024

“Paterson, O’Paterson – How Glorious Was Thy Past!”

A Historical Sketch on the Life and Times of Robert Hamil (1818-1880), one of Paterson’s former great silk industrialists.

extracted from Passaic County Historical Society Publication, Volume 1970 – No. 4

"This scene of the northwest corner of Broadway and Summer Street (c.1881) looking north shows the stately residence of Robert Hamil, one of Paterson’s famous silk pioneers of the past. The name of Hamil and likewise that of his business partner, James Booth, have left their stamp in the annals of Paterson’s great industrial history.

The photograph depicts the spirit, dignity, and tranquility of old Broadway, then a noble thoroughfare lined with tall shade trees and encompassing during those later decades of the nineteenth century, the industrial nobility and prominent citizenry of “Silk City.”

Robert Hamil, born near Belfast, Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day 1818, emigrated to the United States about 1840. Working for a short time at the Belleville Paint Works, he soon removed himself to that then rising “Industrial City” of promise – namely Paterson, N.J. In those pre-Civil War days, silk was yet in its infancy with no foreshadowing of the golden age of pre-eminence and distinction that was in store for “Queen Silk.” Silk and Paterson were to become synonymous and names of the proud Paterson silk establishments were to become household words, known and respected across the nation.

hamilHamil soon found employment with John Ryle, “Father of the Silk Industry” in that veritable “cradle of industry” the old Gun Mill after a short sojourn at the Franklin Mill on Mill Street for $1 per day. The world famous Gun Mill, which still remains in the lower race, gave birth to and sheltered many industrial endeavors beginning with the organization of the Patent Arms Company in 1835-36. It was in this ancient mill that Robert Hamil learned and mastered all aspects of silk operation under that great, venerable patriarch of the silk industry – John Ryle. After eleven years Hamil found himself superintendent of the hard silk department at $9 weekly. Mr. James Booth at this time, also in the employ of John Ryle, was superintendent of the finishing department at $6 weekly. The association of the above two gentlemen, coupled with their energy, skill, and thrift, culminated in the formation of the partnership of Hamil and Booth in 1855 as a silk throwing plant but with 20 operatives. Little did they realize that in the decades to come they would live to see their joint efforts cause them to become head of one of the most important silk manufacturing establishments in Paterson, which in those days meant among the first nationwide, offering employment to more than 1200 persons.

In 1862, after approximately seven years as tenants of John Ryle in Ryle’s “Murray Mill” on Mill Street, Hamil and booth bought the old “Passaic Mill” on Ward Street, a portion of which remained standing until May 1970, with “1862” inscribed upon its façade – the first year of Hamil and Booth’s occupancy. The jaws of progress and the wrecker’s machinery at its gates, the building fell victim to the Ward Street widening project and has been razed. The boom period of the post-Civil War days caused the er****on of numerous additions and various improvements as business expansion necessitated until Hamil and Booth ranked among the first of Paterson’s “silk empire.” In those days, Messrs Hamil and Booth lived simply at numbers 26 and 28 Ward Street respectively, within walking distances of their mills, this being common practice for bosses and superintendents during those embryo days of the silk industry.

In 1872, to satisfy an ever-increasing need for more space, the old “Godwin Mill” on the hamilmill2lower race was purchased, which in its pristine form remains to this day at Market and Mill Streets. The Godwin Mill had been built in 1858, its product at that time being cotton goods, for Paterson during the two decades following the War of 1812 had deservedly earned the sobriquet “Cotton Town of the United States” – this being another industrial epoch and story. Amid impressive ceremonies, this mill was rechristened the “Hamil Mill.” An iron plate bearing witness to this fact is yet visible, being attached to the rear of the mill at the peak formed by the roof. (For the interested historian, across Mill Street from the present Passaic Street site of the Board of Health Offices is an arched stone bridge. Crossing this bridge and gazing upward one can see this ancient marker symbolizing one of Paterson’s great former silk giants.

The raceways today are a sad and depressing view, now in a state of decay. Once Paterson’s raceways were a source of true beauty, visitors in that bygone era being greatly impressed with their power, their picturesque spillways, their rapid motion – dash and sparkle – as they pursued the course made by man, close to the mills.

Now, with the increased facilities of another mill, Hamil, and Booth during the 1870s ventures into ribbon goods, fringe silks, weaving on Jacquard looms, handkerchiefs, scarves, and one of their famed specialties, fancy black dress silks. In 1882, the looms of Hamil and Booth produced a black silk dress with a graceful spray of delicate flowers for Mrs. James A. Garfield during the period of her bereavement. Mrs. Garfield was not the first nor was she the last first lady to adorn herself with a produce of the Paterson looms. These were great years of growth for silk in Paterson when from countless local mills a stream of beautiful silk velvets, braids, tassels, and flower brocades poured forth in nearly endless profusion.

Into this picture of success and abundant prosperity stepped an event of sadness. On September 11, 1880, occurred the demise of Robert Hamil at his Broadway residence, 247 Broadway. Robert Hamil had been an ex-president of the Paterson Savings Institution (now New Jersey Bank & Trust Co.), an ex-director of the Second National Bank, a long-time trustee of St. John’s Catholic Church, former president of the Paterson Silk Industry Association, and an honorary member of the Silk Association of America.

The honorary pallbearers on the say of the funeral, September 14, 1880, included John Ryle, long associated with the silk industry; John J. Brown, president of the First National Bank and a former Paterson Mayor, John J. Reynolds, president of the Paterson Savings Institution and other notables. Employer and employee, banker and laborer alike passed through the Hamil house that late summer’s day as Patersonians paid final tribute to one of its very first citizens. Paterson lost a noble soul and the silk industry one of its strong pillars.

When not laboring in the silk mills, Robert Hamil enjoyed his Broadway home and the magnificent gardens surrounding it, the photograph not doing justice to this fact. The choice plants on his grounds became quite famous as many thronged to see the flowering marvels of horticultural art. Robert Hamil’s widow, the former Bridget Bannigan, passed from the Broadway scene in the early 1890s, as did James Booth, Hamil’s long-time partner, and neighbor.

The Booth mansion, being at 240 Broadway, stood on the southeast corner of Broadway and Auburn Street, where the Danforth Memorial Free Public Library building is today. The wrecker’s machinery soon obliterated Hamil’s residence, trees, shrubbery, hot houses, exotic plants and fountains, and with it all, a generous piece of Paterson’s magnificence and history."

By: Vincent D. Waraske

Passaic County Historical Society

02/08/2025

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