New Jersey State Button Society

    A display of George Washington Inaugural clothing buttons was featured Sunday, March 21, at the historic Steuben House at New Bridge Landing Park, 1209 Main Street, River Edge 07661 (Exit 161 off the Gardenstate Parkway).

    Talks about collectible buttons, from Colonial times to present day, were featured as part of Women’s History Month discussions by the Bergen County Historical Society (BCHS).

    Throughout the day, button trays from the Bergen Button Club (BBC) were on display, as well as button trays assembled by Elsie and Ralph Heiss.  The Heiss button collection was donated 25 years ago to the BCHS.  

    Pam Muzio presented a talk, “An Introduction to Buttons,” while two talks were given by Ann Wilson about brass buttons made to commemorate George Washington’s 1789 Inauguration as first President of the United States, when he took the oath of office at Federal Hall in New York City.

    Interestingly, the Steuben House, itself, played a role in Washington’s life.  Nine years before his Presidential Inauguration, Washington had been headquartered at this building, in September 1780, when he served as general of the Continental Army and his troops were encamped on the Kinderkamack Ridge.  

    At the time, Washington’s chief of staff was Major general Baron von Steuben, who also served as drillmaster to the troops.  By the war’s end, the State of New Jersey confiscated the house from its Loyalist owner, and presented it to Baron von Steuben for his war service.      


HISTORY of the STEUBEN HOUSE

Zabriskie’s Mills.  According to the Bergen County Historical Society (BCHS), beginning in the 1640s, the Dutch settled and farmed the valleys of Bergen County, along the Hackensack, Saddle and Passaic rivers.

 
    --In 1745, Jan Zabriskie and his wife, Annetie Ackerman Zabriskie, purchased a 60-acre farm and mill from Johannes Ackerman.  Seven years later, the Zabriskies built a five-room stone house as their new home.  It was enlarged in 1765 into 12 rooms with seven fireplaces.

    --Through the years, property became known as  Zabriskie’s Mills.  Besides the stone  house, it contained a tidal gristmill “with two pairs of stone,” a river dock providing “water carriage to and from New York,” a garden, two orchards and 40 acres of  meadowland (wetlands).   Outbuildings consisted of a bake house, smoke house, coach     house and two large barns, reports the BCHS.  

Tidal Gristmill.  Zabriskie’s Mills had a tidal gristmill built on the Hackensack River. It was powered by an artificial millpond: high tide waters were trapped at the outlet of Cole's Brook by a dam, with a special drop-gate suspended from a horizontal timber.  Twice daily, artificial pond waters drove the gristmill waterwheel, as the tides flowed out of the Hackensack River and the tidal millpond was slowly released.

 
    --Thus, the gristmill operated only when there was a sufficient rush and fall of the water     to drive the waterwheels, explains the BCHS.  

Drawbridge.  A wooden bridge with sliding draw was built in 1744 at the narrows of the Hackensack River.  It was called the “New Bridge” to distinguish it from an older crossing several miles upstream.  

New Bridge Landing.  A mill landing, known as “New Bridge Landing,” was also built in 1744.  Made of log cribbing, it could accommodate the 50-ton sloops which pulled up to Zabriskie’s Mills.

 
    In time, the mill and landing became a major business center of the upper Hackensack Valley, says the BCHS, adding the site had a major advantage: the wide Hackensack meadowlands (wetlands) were downstream, making New Bridge Landing the closest river crossing to Newark Bay until 1790.

    Thus:  
    --Iron made in stone furnaces along the Ramapo Mountains was carried by ox-carts to  New Bridge Landing where it was loaded onto boats for shipment to market.

    --Flour and animal feed were shipped from the mill while all kinds of wares arrived on     boats returning from New York City.

 
    --Overland traffic, including farmwagons and stage coaches, traveled back and forth to  New York City, crossing the Hackensack River at this spot, en route to interior parts of  the country.

AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR Issues. 

 
New Bridge Landing.  During the American Revolutionary War, New Bridge Landing became General George Washington’s “first objective” in New Jersey, as he retreated across New York.  The withdrawal of Washington and his troops across the drawbridge at New Bridge Landing saved the Continental Army from entrapment on the narrow peninsula between the Hudson and Hackensack rivers.

    In the “American Crisis,” Thomas Paine described the retreat:  “Our first object was to secure the bridge over the Hackensack.

    “General Washington arrived in about three quarters of an hour, and marched at the head of the troops towards the bridge, which place I expected we should have a brush for; however, they (General William Howe and his British forces) did not choose to dispute it with us, and the greatest part of our troops went over the bridge, the rest over the ferry, except some which passed at a mill on a small creek, between the bridge and the ferry, and made their way through some marshy grounds up to the town of Hackensack, and there passed the river. We brought off as much baggage as the wagons could contain, the rest was lost.

    “The simple object was to bring off the garrison and march them on till they could be strengthened by the Jersey and Pennsylvania militia, so as to be enabled to make a stand (which the Patriots did on Christmas Day 1776, with the march to Trenton and surprise attack on Hessian mercenaries stationed there).

 
    ...”The British failure to capture the American garrison at Fort Lee, and perhaps defeat the American rebellion, was a consequence of self-confident British officers not realizing, despite reminders from local Loyalists, that ‘New Bridge was the key to the peninsula between the Hackensack and the Hudson,’" concludes Paine.

Zabriskie Stone House:

Serves as military headquarters.  The strategically-located Zabriskie House was occupied as military headquarters by the Continental Army throughout the American Revolutionary War.  General Washington, himself, headquartered here in September 1780 while his troops were encamped along the Kinderkamack Ridge.

Confiscated  by State of New Jersey..  During the  eight-year war (1775-1783), Jan Zabriskie remained a Loyalist, supporting the British cause. Ultimately, he fled to New York City for refuge, since New York remained under British control throughout the war.

    --In 1781, the State of New Jersey confiscated the Zabriskie property.

 
    --In 1784, at the war’s end, Jan Zabriskie, “now a refugee in the City of New York,” filed  a claim for compensation with the British government, says the BCHS.

Given to Major general Baron von Steuben.  Having confiscated the Zabriskie property, the State of New Jersey on December 23, 1783 presented the entire Zabriskie property to Major general Baron von Steuben for his service to the Continental troops.

    --A Prussian aristocrat and military office, Baron von Steuben had come to America to     serve in the Continental Army.  He was appointed Inspector general and Major general,     later becoming drillmaster to the troops.

 
    --In the final years of the war, Baron von Steuben also became General Washington’s     chief of staff.

    --Baron von Steuben is credited with teaching the Continental Army the essentials of     military drill, and guiding them to victory.  He wrote the Revolutionary War Drill  Manual, which became the standard United States drill manual until the War of 1812,     according to Wikipedia.

 
    --Only five years after acquiring the Zabriskie property, Baron von Steuben went     bankrupt, and was forced to sell.

 
    --The new purchaser was none other than Jan Zabriskie, Jr., son of the Loyalist, who had begun operating the gristmill under a rental agreement with Baron von Steuben.

 
    --Zabriskie descendants retained ownership of the property until 1909.

Purchased in 1928 by State of New Jersey.  In 1928 the State of New Jersey purchased the Zabriskie Stone House and one acre of ground for $9,000.  
    
    --The State of New Jersey then re-named the house the Steuben House.

    --The building was renovated and opened in 1939 as the museum headquarters of the    BCHS.  Today, the house displays Bergen County Dutch artifacts belonging to the BCHS.  

    --The building house is now listed on the New Jersey and National registers of Historic  Places.