NJ History – Page 6 – IDYLEASE: A HISTORIC LANDMARK

Idylease Blog, Idylease History, NJ History, West Milford

Dr. Edgar Day: Original Owner of Idylease

June 8, 2017 No Comments

idylease edgar day — Image of Dr. Edgar A. Day: Courtesy of Beth Willis from the Strait Family Photo Collection. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced.

For many years I have conducted research on Dr. Edgar Day who was the original owner and operator of Idylease. He had built the structure in the summer of 1902, realizing his dream of creating a country escape where cheerful hospitality reigned for persons “wearied or worn with the ceaseless turmoil of the city.”

Unable to find references on the internet, I had resigned myself that I had exhausted all efforts in finding any information about his past.

Enter Beth Willis – a relation to Edgar A. Day. Beth is an historian who has compiled a 638-page manuscript entitled, “The Inhabitants of the Neighborhood…… A Pictorial History of Snufftown, now Stockholm, Hardyston Township, Sussex County, New Jersey and its Vicinity”.

While a former resident of Ogdensburg, New Jersey, Beth had many of her ancestors and relatives who had lived in the area at Snufftown and its area. Much of the information was from the photographs and written family histories her grandmother meticulous preserved. She had also conducted many interviews with relatives of the former residents who had lived in the area. The manuscript has detailed and highly interesting information about local history.

The manuscript contains over 900 photographs that include family portraits, business advertisements, photographs of the homes and business of the area including many scenic views of the community. Many of the photographs were taken during the acquisitions of lands for the Pequannock watershed. Beth has donated a copy of the manuscript to the West Milford Public Library where it may be accessed as a reference resource.

In addition, her 3rd great Aunt Martha Strait and a distant cousin, Elizabeth S. Day both compiled their family histories. Another relative, Joseph Percy Crayon (nee Crain), wrote numerous articles about local history that appeared in the area’s newspapers. Crayon also wrote “Rockaway Records of Morris County, N.J. Families” which was published by the Rockaway Publishing Co. in 1902. The book contains many of the area’s family genealogies.

Beth contacted me last month via the Idylease website and we had a wonderful conversation on the phone. She has since shared several excerpts from her manuscript about the Day family, photographs and family memorabilia about Idylease with me. Included in the items she had sent was an obituary of Dr. Edgar Day that appeared in the Butler Argus in 1906.

EDGAR ARTHUR DAY, M.D.
1853 – 1906

The funeral service of Dr. Edgar A. Day was held at Idylease Inn Thursday, May 17th, his death occurring on the previous Tuesday. Interment was made in the family plot at Oak Ridge Cemetary.

Though born in Brooklyn, N.Y., fifty-three years ago, his boyhood and most of his early manhood were spent on his father’s farm at Paradise, near Newfoundland, N.J. He laid the foundation of his education at a private school at Oak Ridge and followed with a course of study at the State Normal School at Trenton, where he prepared himself for teaching. For a time he was principal in the public schools at Jersey City, N.J., also at Hastings, N.Y. Later, after taking a medical course at the Long Island College Hospital, Brooklyn, he practiced for some years in that city.

Conceiving the idea of establishing somewhere near the great cities an institution where people in broken heath might rest and recuperate, Newfoundland suggested itself to him as an ideal spot for its location, and about four years ago he matured plans for its establishment. A year later “Idylease Inn” was opened, and here he has lived and continued to labor and plan for the accomplishment of his ambition. Although not actively practicing medicine since the opening of the Inn, the Doctor’s work had included many instances of medical aid, which have contributed largely to the success attained.

While living in Brooklyn, Dr.Day was an influential member of the Lewis Avenue Congregational Church, an active worker in the “Congregational Club” of Brooklyn, and a member of the Royal Arcanum.

His entire life has been spent in unselfish devotion to the welfare and uplift of his fellows. In developing his plans for the Inn, it was his ideal to have it stand in influence for spiritual as well as physical health and rest. To this end he early instituted the practice of holding religious services on Sunday afternoons in the parlors of the Inn, and not only the guests but neighbors were invited to attend. These services were usually conducted by the pastor of the Oak Ridge Presbyterian Church. The Doctor sought, too, to permeate the institution with a strong moral atmosphere.

He was the prime mover in the organization of the North Jersey Poultry Association and the Village Improvement Society of Newfoundland, both established within a few months. His constant thought and purpose were the advancement and improvement of Newfoundland, and his removal from the life of the village will long be felt.

THE BUTLER (N.J.) ARGUS, May 25, 1906.

Idylease Blog, NJ History, West Milford

The West Milford Argus Newspaper

June 3, 2017 1 Comment

idylease — James L. White was the Editor of The West Milford Argus from 1915-1947

“The West Milford Argus actually dates back to 1893 when is was called The Pequonnock Valley Argus”

Some will remember the West Milford Township Argus. It was the official legal advertising newspaper for the Township of West Milford for many years before it ceased publication. Before the West Milford Argus existed it was preceded by the Pequannock Valley Argus that covered the many villages that dotted the area over 100 years ago. In 1915, The West Milford Argus was purchased by Princeton University graduate James White, who served as editor in chief until his death in 1947. Below is an article printed about him posthumously in the The Princeton Alumni Weekly.

JAMES WHITE: CLASS OF 1912

On the 26th day of November 1947, It is said, “Jimmy White died.”

In the physical sense this is true, for on that day his great heart stopped beating. But the spirit of Jimmy White will never die as long as those who knew and loved him still live.

His death was unexpected. He had recently undergone a medical examination which indicated that he was in good health. A heart attack brought about his death at Ardmore. Pa., where he and his wife had gone to spend the holiday weekend with his son-in-law and daughter, Colonel and Mrs. Justin Duryea, and to celebrate the birth of their son, Jimmy’s fourth grandchild.

He was born on January 30, 1891, in Bloomingdale, N.J.. where he resided all his life. Jim prepared for Princeton at Paterson Grammar School and entered Blair Academy. On August 22, 1912, he married Miss Clara Marie Kampfe.

Within two years of his graduation from Princeton he entered into his life’s work. In partnership with Judge Alexander McLeod he purchased The Butler Argus. Soon thereafter he became sole owner. Under his leadership his beloved Argus became an institution, With it, and his four other weeklies. The Bloomingdale Argus, The Pompton Lakes Ledger, The Wanaque Borough News, and The West Milford Argus, he demonstrated the influence of hometown newspapers in a suburban area. To this community he was sage and philosopher whose editorial preachments were followed with regularity. He was a true American of the richest cracker barrel tradition, and all his neighbors believed in him.

Not content with being a country editor, Jimmy took an active and ardent interest in community affair. For a quarter of a century he was President of the Bloomingdale Board of Education, retiring in 1945. For more than twenty years he distributed Christmas baskets to needy children in Bloomingdale, with the recipients never knowing whence they came.

He was a member of the Butler Methodist Church, The Silentia Lodge. A.A.N., of Butler. Butler Rotary Club, Elm Club and Triangle Club of Princeton University, and a member (and past president) of the Pica Club, a newspaper organization.

He glorified in his civic responsibilities, and was proud of his membership In the local fire department and the Butler Band. Our own feelings are best expressed in the heart-felt eulogy prepared by the editorial staff of The Butler Argus;

Jimmy is gone. To some he may have been James White, but to us on his staff and to hundreds of others, he was Just Jimmy or Jim.

It’s hard to believe. but his genial smile is gone and his ready laughter has been stilled. No more the witty tale to bring a hearty laugh; no more the boundless humor that always could look on the bright side of life. It’s hard to believe but there it is.

There will be those who will lay muck stress on his civic and educational activities and rightly so. But to those of us who lived so close to him for many years, these facets of his character are for the more formal obituary. We prefer to remember him as he was in his relations with us—a good boss, a friend in need. a regular guy.

Yes, “30,” the end in newspaper parlance, has come for Jimmy after a career of which anyone could be proud. He was good, he was kind, he Was a friend. Coming from those who worked for him, what greater eulogy could any man want?

Jim loved Princeton. The Bard of Butler was the sparkplug of all midwinter dinners and re-unions. His after-dinner speeches, full of his inimitable stories and Jests, made him the most popular figure at all class gatherings. His kindly humor and generosity of spirit, which endeared hint to his home community, made him one of the most beloved members of his class.

The little “Will Rogers” of Butler has passed away, but in the great bourne to which he has gone he will receive his reward for a good life. We record with profound sorrow the passing of James White. Our sympathy goes out to his widow, Mrs. Clara Kampfe White; his son, Ger-ald White of Brookline. Mass.; bis daughters. Mrs. Justin Duryea of Ardmore, Pa., and Misa Esther White of Bloomingdale; his father, Walter C. White Sr.; and his two brothers. DeGray and W. Clayton White, all of Bloomingdale.

Idylease Blog, Idylease History, Idylease Video, Newfoundland, NJ History

From Edison’s Great Train Robbery to The Station Agent: Newfoundland Film Locations

May 26, 2017 No Comments

“Edison was no stranger to Newfoundland, he would spend an evening at Idylease while working on a magnetic ore extracting device at the Franklin/Ogdensberg Mine.”

In 1903, an employee of Thomas Edison’s motion picture company produced a movie with a story. At twelve minutes long, the movie was considered a milestone in film making. The early motion picture used a number of then-unconventional techniques, including composite editing, on-location shooting, and frequent camera movement. It was called “The Great Train Robbery.” It told a simple story of a group of western criminals who steal money from a train. Later they are killed by a group of police in a gun fight. The movie was extremely popular. “The Great Train Robbery” started the huge motion picture industry. Scenes were filmed along the Pequonnock River and along the Sequehanna Railroad with tracks still running through Newfoundland. Edison was no stranger to Newfoundland. F. Fichter Hoagan, a longtime business manager at Idylease often reminisced about the days when Thomas Edison would spend an evening at Idylease while working on a magnetic ore extracting device at the Franklin/Ogdensberg Mine. He fished on the banks of the Pequonnock River and would have his car serviced at a garage in Newfoundland when heading to the mines in Franklin from his lab in West Orange.

Historically, New Jersey is the recognized as the birthplace of the motion picture industry. In 1892, the motion picture industry was launched in the state with the erection of the world’s first motion picture studio at the Edison Laboratory in West Orange. It was a small, frame building, black inside and out and mounted on a revolving base so that the sun could be followed. This studio was called the Kinetographic Theatre, but was better known as the Black Maria.

In 1978, Paramount Pictures filmed scenes for the Movie King of the Gypsies in Newfoundland. The film starred Eric Roberts, Sterling Hayden, Shelley Winters, Susan Sarandon, Brooke Shields, Annette O’Toole and Judd Hirsch.

MTV Films at Idylease

Between 1995 and 1997, David Schoner, Location Coordinator of the NJ Film Commission brought two film companies to Idylease as production sites. The sketch comedy television series “The State”, was broadcast on MTV between December 17, 1993, and July 1, 1995. The show combined bizarre characters and scenarios to present sketches that won the favor of its target teenaged audience. Season 2, Episode 3 entitled “Lincoln Logs” was filmed on the main porch and in the lobby of Idylease. The MTV Music Video from the album “Sunshine In Popopia” by Battershell was Filmed at Idylease in 1997 utilizing the blacksmith shop and grounds at Idylease.

In 2003 Miramax Pictures filmed the independent feature film “The Station Agent” at the Newfoundland Train Station. Located off of Route 23 off Greenpond Road is the wooden train station built in 1872 that was the focal point of the movie. The film chronicles Finbar McBride’s (Peter Dinklage) move to an abandoned Newfoundland train station, to live the life of a hermit. His attempt at solitude is soon interrupted, however, by interactions with his neighbors, including Olivia, a struggling artist coping with the recent death of her young son, and Joe, a thirty-year-old with a talent for cooking and an insatiable hunger for conversation–whether anyone wants to talk to him or not.

New Jersey was the film capital of the world during the early years of its inception with a long and varied history of location shooting. No doubt Idylease will serve as the locale for future productions in the State of New Jersey and thus– adding to its illustrious history.

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