People fill the pews for the annual service Sept. 17 at the Old Clove Church in Wantage. (Photo by Bill Truran)
Over the years I have been asked about what I feel are important, unique distinctions of Sussex County.
Cows in the fields, horses running across green grass behind a white wooden fence, giant sunflowers bursting before us like a welcoming smile with many rows of sisters behind them, and the light blue hue of the Kittatinny Ridge in the distance.
Corn in the summer and pumpkins in the fall, white snow in the gray woods - these are certainly the cherished views of Sussex County that bring newcomers here. These are also reasons why many families have stayed here through the centuries.
The human factor has impressed and intrigued me for quite some time. This was driven home to me at the annual service Sept. 17 at the Old Clove Church in Wantage.
The building’s history stretches back to some of the first groups who settled in our county: the Dutch who worked their way down here from the Hudson River via the Wallkill River (a Dutch name).
A number of the people present that day had a keen interest in history. Their families could be traced back in time here in the county.
In particular, there were several churches represented at this event whose lineage stretched back to the Revolutionary War or shortly thereafter.
Churches here have recorded that the faithful were tended to by peripatetic pastors who traveled between several congregations on horseback. Early groups got together in “meeting houses” that would basically be the home of a farmer who welcomed neighbors.
My great-aunt, Mary Coddington Garrity, had come from a family who had a meeting house for Presbyterians.
Permanent churches grew in the early 1800s and the buildings are still among us. While some have burned, they were mostly rebuilt. As a whole, this represents a continuity pretty much from the time of the Europeans who came here - from frontiersmen to settlers to farmers and miners to those of us who walk the streets today.
Why have people stayed here for so long?
Perhaps moving from historical to philosophical, I think the opportunities that abounded here: the wide open land, mining, logging and charcoaling were ways of living that would support growing families and survival.
These occupations also required earnest work and the discipline to keep at it every day to make the livelihood successful. People who came here were looking for a better life and willing to give their labor and energy to make it.
Some of the families who have been here a long time, stretching 200 or more years, have genealogies recorded in family histories or in places like Snell’s or Honeyman’s books of the late 1800s.
These stories generally show serious and strong work ethics. It may be true that these families needed others to survive in the rural life, like a tanner or leather worker depended on the farmer’s livestock, and they benefited from each other.
The dependence and longevity of relationships created long-term friendships and certainly fostered marriages among them. These broad families have been the backbone of Sussex County over the centuries.
From a historical viewpoint, I find it fascinating to understand these human bonds, those of the Edsall, Rude, Decker or Fowler families to just name a few. There are those who arrived with the mining opportunities in the late 1800s and the Italians and Irish who labored in the strenuous job of moving earth and mountain for railroad construction.
One song that was sung in the Clove Church was “Faith of our Fathers” and this made me think. The continuity of the religious faith, and the faith handed down from our fathers and mothers in the homestead by the fireplace after a hard day in the cold air, has over the generations provided Sussex County a distinct and strong identity that goes hand in hand with the rolling hills and the rocky ridges.
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Next weekend, Oct. 7 and 8, is the annual Heritage Weekend, when many historical places in the county are open. This is a great time, believe me, for history buffs to take their children to learn about our common local history. The weekend is organized by the Sussex County Arts and Heritage Council. For information, go online to https://www.scahc.org/Events
Contact Bill Truran, Sussex County historian, at billt1425@gmail.com