1798 First Store in Orange
The Reynolds and Day families figured
prominently in the founding of Orange, New Jersey. Judge Stephen
D. Day (1771-1856) was a direct descendant of George Day, one of
the founders of Newark, New Jersey. He was born in Camptown (now
Irvington), New Jersey. Day settled in Orange, New Jersey in
1798, and with his partner, John Lindsley, became one of the
first merchants in that town. His other business activities
included the organization of the Orange Bank, and the formation
of the Morris and Essex Railroad Company. Day was also a member
of the first Orange Town Committee, a judge in the County Court
of Common Pleas, and was a New Jersey State Senator. Day married
Lindsley's sister Sarah, with whom he had six children, of whom
three survived: Robert Patton (b. 1799), Eliza (b. 1805), and
Charles Rodney (b. 1808). After Sarah's death Day married Mary
Lindsley, the sister of his first wife. James Everett Reynolds
was also a descendant of one of the founding families of Orange,
New Jersey. He was the son of Daniel D. Reynolds and Eliza
Gurnee, and was a leading businessman and attorney in Orange, and
later East Orange, New Jersey. Much of his wealth was derived
from earnings on real estate deals. On March 3, 1868, one of the
buildings erected by Reynolds on Main Street was destroyed in a
fire, which also destroyed the home of Charles Day. The total
damage was estimated at forty thousand dollars, which was quite a
large sum for the time. Reynolds married Phebe Day, the
granddaughter of Stephen D. Day. They had three sons and five
daughters. Clinton G. Reynolds, the brother of James Everett
Reynolds, was born in 1835. Also an attorney, Clinton's business
activities were mostly in real estate; most notable of these were
his dealings on lands available in the West under the Homestead
Act. He was shot dead in his New York office on May 20, 1890.
Stephen D. Day, son of David and Elizabeth
(Lyon) Day, was born at Camptown, now Irvington, July 1, 1771. On
March 30, 1798. he purchased a lot on the southwest corner of
Main and Cone (today called Day Street)
streets, and built a two-story house, on the first floor of which
he opened a country store. He subsequently formed a
co-partnership with John Morris Lindsley, whose sister he married
some years later. The partnership was dissolved in 1811, and Mr.
Day built a new store on the site now occupied by the Orange
Savings Bank, the easterly corner of Main and Cone streets. Mr.
Day bought out Mr. Lindsley in 1811, and in 1813 he sold all his
property on the south side of Main street, taking in part payment
the northeast corner of Main and Day streets, on which he built a
fine house which he occupied until his death, the lower part
being occupied by him as a store. At the time of this purchase
Day street was not opened. This building was destroyed by fire on
the night of March 3, 1866.
Judge Day was the first and the most successful
merchant in Orange and prominent in public affairs throughout the
county. He invested largely in real estate in different part of
Orange and sold at a very small advance over the cost in order to
encourage settlement. He was a man of great liberality and when
the third meeting house in Orange was built he subscribed $300
towards it.
During the War of 1812-15 he raised and
commanded a company of infantry which was mustered into the
United States service. He was a leader in and a promoter of
nearly every public enterprise in this locality. He assisted in
the organization of the Orange Bank, in which he was a large
stockholder, was its first president, continuing in office for
twenty-four years. He was for many years one of the judges of the
County Court of Common Pleas. He was twice elected to the State
Senate. He was a director and for a time temporary president of
the Morris and Essex Railroad Company.
A man of decided convictions, when his mind was
once made up nothing could swerve him from the course he had
marked out for himself. Early in life he became a strong advocate
of temperance at a time when intoxicants were freely used as a
beverage in almost every family. He gave up the sale of it, which
was a source of great profit and formed a part of the stock in
trade of every country merchant. He never clung to any of the
old-time prejudices which were so common in his day, but was
always ready to adopt any real improvement. He bought a piano for
his daughter, said to be the first ever brought to Orange. It is
claimed that he laid the first sidewalk in front of his own
premises ever laid in Orange. It is also claimed that he brought
the first load of anthracite coal to Orange, but as the stoves of
the day were not constructed for its use it did not prove a
success.
Judge Day was twice married. His first wife,
Sarah Lindsley, was a daughter of Judge John Lindsley, whose old
homestead was in South Orange. The children of this marriage were
six, of whom three died in infancy. Those who lived were: Robert
Patton, born December 16, 1799; Eliza, born October 8, 1805,
married Rev. George Pierson; and Charles Rodney, born November 6,
1808, died August 19, 1870. Judge Day married (second) Mary
Lindsley, a sister of his first wife. Of the
second marriage there was no issue.
John Morris Lindsley was one of the first
general merchants of Orange, and like his father, a leading man
of his community. He was in
business with his brother-in-law, Stephen D. Day, until 1806,
they building a store on the site of the Orange Savings Bank.
Their firm dissolved in 1806, but Mr. Lindsley continued business
under his own name and became one of the most enterprising
merchants of his county. As his sons. Nelson and George, came to
man's estate, they were admitted as partners, the firm trading as
John M. Lindsley & Sons. In 1850 the brothers established the
coal business, and later specialized in hardware in connection
with this business; they established the first coal yard in
Orange. John Morris Lindsley, born in South Orange, April 25,
1784, died in Orange, October 19, 1863, continuing in business
until his retirement. He took no part in political affairs, but
did his full share toward advancing the business interests of his
town.
Mr. Lindsley married Charlotte Taylor, born
September 23, 1787, died August 25, 1857, daughter of Daniel, son
of Daniel, son of Rev. Daniel Taylor, the first pastor of The
Mountain Society in Orange, son of Daniel Taylor, of Saybrook,
Connecticut. John M. and Charlotte (Taylor) Lindsley were the
parents of six children : 1. Nelson, born August 23, 1808, died
July 1, 1888, one of the most influential men of his day. He
married Ann Harrison and left issue. 2. Romana A., married
(first) Philip Kingsley, the first lawyer of Orange; (second)
Locke Cattin. 3. John Philip, born October 3, 1813, died June 19,
1884. 4. Ann Eliza, married Edward Truman Hillyer. 5. James
Girard, born March 19, 1919. 6. George, of further mention.
George Lindsley was born at the Lindsley
homestead in Orange, corner of Main and Cone streets, August 23,
1821, died in Orange, February 24, 1886. He was educated in the
public schools and Orange Academy, and was early inducted into
mercantile life in his father's general store. Later he was
admitted to a partnership with his father and brother, Nelson,
trading as John M. Lindsley & Sons. About 1850, Nelson and
George Lindsley started a coal business in Orange, and after the
retirement of the father, they discontinued the dry goods
department in the general store, continuing the grocery, hardware
and coal departments. Their store was for years on the southesat
corner of Main and Cone streets, but about 1860 John Morris
Lindsley made a division of his property, the west corner coming
into possession of Nelson and George Lindsley, who on the site of
the old homestead erected a brick building, where they conducted
business as N. and G. Lindsley until failing health caused the
retirement of the elder brother. Nelson. His place in the firm
was taken by his son, John Nicol Lindsley, uncle and nephew
continuing in business until the death of George Lindsley, in
1886, when the latter's son, Charles Alfred Lindsley, succeeded
his father. The cousins divided the business in 1889, John Nicol
Lindsley taking the hardware department, Charles Alfred Lindsley,
with his brother Stuart, the coal business, under the firm name
of S. & C. A. Lindsley, which was later incorporated under
the same name.
We welcome any old photos of East Orange or its
businesses. E-mail Jim Gerrish at [email protected]