Franklin High School Class of 1947. Stella Hall Truran is on right
My mom passed away a few weeks ago. This sad occurrence has prompted me to the speak about the following topic – family history.
A core reason for this column is to convey the importance of our local history, our Sussex County history. We all should know the background of where we live.
More poignantly, we all should be aware of our own family history. Where did we come from? Why did our ancestors come here? What country did they come from? With this information we might find out more about our family.
This research and documentation may be important as information that we can convey to our offspring. We might be able to trace some health concerns that are useful for our kids’ well-being. It can make our children more appreciative of their heritage.
I offer my personal history from Mom’s perspective in honor of her and also as this study can inform the reader of our local history, in that many of my family have lived in the Sussex County area for a long time.
Family names from Mom’s side include Roleson (or Rolison), Ramage, and Hall. The Roleson branch was here before the Revolutionary War. They resided in Elizabethtown, N.J. (now Elizabeth). At the time, many key families were from Elizabethtown. A Roleson had been active with the state legislature. Those who leaned toward the Patriot cause, such as the Ogden family, or the Morris family from Morrisania, were harassed by the British and many moved to Sussex County to avoid problems. Sons of the Roleson family moved after the war. From records and the 1860 Hopkins map, they were located in Beemerville near the mountains, in Colesville where one had a store, still existing, and one in Mount Salem. Another Roleson, Mom’s side, lived along today’s Stanhope Road in Byram; the foundation of which still exists. Mathias was born in 1810 along Lubbers Run and probably worked at the Columbia Forge which processed iron ore. His son Decker A. served in the Harris Light Cavalry in the Civil War. He was wounded in the largest cavalry battle in the Western Hemisphere, crossing the railroad tracks at Brandy Station as opponent General Robert E. Lee looked on from a nearby knoll.
Due to being wounded, with his horse being shot out from under him, there are pension records available for researchers. So, I know his height, weight, hair color and many other details. He worked the Morris Canal on a canal boat. He later worked as a miner at the Stickle Mine, where today’s St. Kateri is now located.
Sarah Elizabeth Roleson married John Ramage in the 1870s in the Methodist Church still standing along Route 15 South near today’s JTown Diner. As I was always a history buff, my Aunt Stella (whom Mom was named after), daughter of John Ramage, pointed out the multiple family house where she was born, right across from Smitty’s Marina (now Stonewater) alongside Lake Hopatcong.
John Ramage worked in the Hurd Mine on the Union Turnpike coming up from Dover. The owner’s mansion was also alongside the railroad, Edison Railroad, coming from Ogden/Edison’s iron mine to the Morris Canal for shipment to Newark. Mines near Hurd’s were recently in the news and contributed to the closure of Route 80 in both directions.
Up to the 1880s, New Jersey was among the top producers of iron in America. Better locations out west resulted in closure of most New Jersey iron mines. But about this time, the giant and world-recognized zinc mining was building to a peak in Franklin (Furnace), drawing to it miners. The Ramage family moved to the Franklin-Ogdensburg area.
The hard rock mining required skill of Cornish miners, an area mined for copper since ancient times. This brought from Cornwall England my father’s father Harty Truran and also Mom’s dad Sydney Hall. Sydney married John Allen Ramage’s daughter Sarah “Sadie” Elizabeth.
We were of an ethnic group in a company town, in a small enclave on the north end of Franklin amongst 40 or so identical company houses.
The Ramage family came from Ireland as Scots Irish to Philadelphia and to Branchville, the Hurd Iron Mine and then to Franklin.
As a student of Sussex County history, one could see that there was a significant influx of immigrants that happened during the 18th Century and forward, that some old dwellings or churches still exist from then. We have those amongst our ancestors who have contributed to protecting our freedom and strengthening our nation through hard labor mining the resource rich soils and minerals of our Sussex County, along with their wives and family to encounter cold winters, food scarcity, and outhouses; and over time were recipients of more modern means as technology progressed. Although some of the restless moved out West to the Ohio territory in mid-19th century, many remained here to fulfill an appreciated life in Sussex County.
Go find your own family history.
Bill Truran, Sussex County’s historian, may be contacted at billt1425@gmail.com He is the author of “Mohawk Along the Delaware: A Story of the Sewards.”
