Local History
Jenny Jump 1. Jenny was a nine year old girl who lived generations ago. The small white house where she lived stood far below a high cliff. One day the child was picking berries or playing on the rocks when an Indian surprised her. In great fear she called to her father for help. He cried, "Jump, Jenny Jump!" The obedient child jumped from the high rocky cliff to her death. 2. One day Jenny and her father took some home-brew on his cart over the mountain to sell near the Great Meadow. Jenny sat on the top of the load and attempted to keep the barrels in place. As the farmer and his daughter neared the mountain crest, they spied several Indians. The men were almost upon them when her father called frantically, "Jump, Jenny Jump!" Instantly the girl leaped from the cart and ran away. 3. Long ago in a small log cottage near the foot of the mountain, Jenny Lee, an attractive young girl, lived with her aging father. Jenny was in love with Dr. Frank Landis, who practiced medicine in the village. Arthur Moreland, who wanted Jenny's attention, offered her half his fortune if she would marry him. She told him not to come see her again. On the day of her wedding to Frank, she visited her favorite spot, a mossy area between steep jagged rocks on a nearby mountain. She unexpectedly met Arthur there. Jenny became upset and frightened when he asked her again to be his wife. She backed toward the edge of the precipice. Arthur called to her to come bacK. "I'll jump"
"You'll be killed"
"Death would be preferable to dishonor.
If you come one step nearer...."
The young man stepped forward and Jenny Lee jumped from the high cliff.
In the moonlight Frank found her lying below the rocks, bleeding. He refreshed her with water from the stream and a loving kiss. Then he carried her home. She was badly bruised, her shoulder was dislocated and her arm broken. Her life had been saved by a limb of a sapling which broke her fall. Source: Backround of the Township of Independence, Warren County, New Jersey.
Independence Township, N.J.: Bicentennial Committee, 1976. Shades of Death
The road that edges the Mucklands in Great Meadows is known as the
"Shades Of Death". It is an old road of the Township that probably
existed in Revolutionary times. Starting at the Hope Road it terminates
in Allamuchy. The unusual name has long fascinated visitors. More
than one hundred years aga a traveling peddler and his horse were
mysteriously slain on the road and since that time the road as been
known as "Shades of Death". The road has long been associated with
death. There were a number of murders, people were killed along the
road by wildcats. Others, including many Indians, died of malaria
before the Mucklands were drained. Many Delaware Indians, who lived
around these parts, were killed in battle with the Iroquois tribe.
Folklore tells that many years ago a colony of squatters living on the
roadway kept to themselves and ignored the law. There were in the
group many women. The men often fought over a certain female and
usually someone would be killed. The road was lightly traveled. It was not advisable to use this winding
road at night. There is a rugged stretch of this roadway bordered by
steep hills. Indians camped in the vicinity around Ghost Lake. Several
of their caves have been discovered. When the fog would raise above
the water of the lake, the Indians, who were very superstitious, thought
that the ghosts of the dead were raising. The terrain becomes nearly
level as you approach Allamuchy.
Source: Backround of the Township of Independence, Warren County, New Jersey.
Independence Township, N.J.: Bicentennial Committee, 1976. Tillie SmithTillie Smith was the victim of a murder. On the morning of
April 9, 1886, her battered remains were found in a field behind
Centenary Collegiate Institute (also called the Seminary and later
to become Centenary College). Tillie, 18, was a kitchen maid at the Institute, and lived in a room
there. Contemporary reportings did not offer much information about
her origins, except to refer to her surroundings as sordid. In the hours preceding her death, Tillie had gone to a performance at
an assembly hall located on Main Street in Hackettstown.Tillie reportedly expected
to return after the 10 p.m. curfew and discussed with janitor James
Titus the possibility of his letting her in if she were locked out. After the entertainment was over, as she walked back down Main St. and
turned at Church St., Tillie met some other young women who had been
at the show. With them were two travelling salesmen, who had
given false names when introducing themselves to the women. One of the men, whose real name was Charles Munich, strolled with
Tillie. After a few minutes, she became concerned about the time.
Munich told the police what happened next. "...she asked me what time it was and I looked at my watch; it was 10
minutes past 10; she looked at the watch too; she said she would have
to go and went around to the rear of the Seminary..."
Suspicion fell on Munich. An outsider who had given a false name, he
was an easy target. His discription of the events, however, was
substantiated by the others in the group, and he further proved to have
a solid alibi. James Titus was later convicted of the murder of Tillie
Smith. Physical evidence, paint and wood chips found on the body, indicated
that the crime had been committed indoors and the body moved to the
spot where it was found. It was reported that the cause of death was
by strangulation during an attempt at rape. Much began to be said of the character of Tillie Smith. She became a
symbol of feminine virtue. A movement was begun to construct a
monument in her honor. She had been buried in a pauper's grave, but
funds began to pour in to the newspapers and to the town officials.
A white marble monument now stands at the top of Union Cemetery in
Hackettstown. A graceful classical figure is seen holding a wreath.
It bears the inscription, "She died in defence of her honor."
Source: The Star Gazette, 5/4/89
Additional Reading: Sullivan, Denis: In Defence of Her Honor., Flemington, N.J., D.H. Moreau Books, 2000
| 
