Rick Epstein
Frenchtown-Fire Aftermath; Did Dr. Deemy's Horse Start It?
The new day dawned to show several chimneys standing amid the smoking rubble. Little Charles Hummer was found, alive and well, in a ditch...
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Rick Epstein
Aug 13, 20219 min read
Wooden Town + Zero Fire Engines = Frenchtown's Great Fire of 1878
“It’s a bad thing to have a fire engine that won’t do what is required of it when most needed,” warned the Independent in 1871. The...
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Rick Epstein
Apr 2, 20215 min read
The Night Prankish Boys Gave Frenchtown a Rude Awakening
Theodore Powers Williams (1853-1934) was the son of man who built the National Hotel in Frenchtown. Everyone called him “Powers.” He grew...
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Rick Epstein
Feb 15, 20212 min read
Fighting Uhlerstown Boys, Cheating the Toll-Taker
During the Civil War, Frenchtown boys were at war with Uhlerstown boys. T. Powers Williams wrote, “I cannot account for the belligerent...
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Rick Epstein
Feb 1, 20212 min read
Frenchtown's Sgt. Thatcher Grew Up in Dr. King's Office
THATCHER Sgt. Jacob F. – (1842-1862) spent his early childhood in the house at 20 Bridge Street. As a teenager, he resided in the stately...
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Rick Epstein
Dec 27, 20202 min read
William Bradley's "Fit of Delirium"
STUNTS, GAGS & SHENANIGANS The Man From Missouri This weird story was told in the Hunterdon Independent by “Franklin,” its anonymous...
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Rick Epstein
Dec 20, 20201 min read
Africa Called to Bridge Street Merchant Joseph Reading
READING, Joseph H. – (1849-1920) was a son of Frenchtown wagon-spoke manufacturer Philip G. Reading. Joseph was a storekeeper in various...
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Rick Epstein
Nov 14, 20204 min read
Raymond Fargo Was "Frenchtown's Own Tom Sawyer"
Appendix B: Raymond Fargo's 1906 diary Raymond's father, Frank B., died in 1902, so he is being raised by his mother and older brother...
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Rick Epstein
Nov 7, 20203 min read
It Wasn't a Parade Without These Guys!
FRENCHTOWN CORNET BAND – In the winter of 1868-69 William A. Person (1835-1887) organized a 10-piece Frenchtown orchestra. He was not...
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Rick Epstein
Nov 6, 20204 min read
Just a Shadow of Pvt. Jason Sipes
SIPES, Jason V. – (1894-1960) eagerly enlisted to fight in the Great War. The letters he wrote home were published in the Frenchtown Star...
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Rick Epstein
Oct 31, 20202 min read
Horripilation on Harrison Street
GHOSTS Ghostly trio – The Prushinski family resided at 311 Harrison Street, Frenchtown, from about 1987 to '97. For Jason that was...
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Rick Epstein
Oct 26, 20203 min read
Miss Elaine: The Ballet Teacher of Steel
BALLET – Roger Atkinson of Upper Black Eddy, Pa., a ballet heavyweight (figuratively speaking), established a ballet school in Frenchtown...
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Rick Epstein
Oct 18, 20202 min read
The Fire Never Reached the Ammo, Thanks to 150 Firemen
THE EDDY HARDWARE FIRE – Early on the morning of May 10, 1940, Bert Lacey, walking home from a night shift at Kerr's Chickery, attempted...
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Rick Epstein
Oct 17, 20203 min read
The Eddy Hardware Dynasty Lasted 96 Years
HARDWARE Slater & Hudnit rebuilt their hardware “store house” in 1871, producing a three-story building at 34-40 Bridge Street,...
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Rick Epstein
Oct 11, 20203 min read
The Classiness of Ol' Mary Moore
MOORE, Mary Forman Warford – (1870-1954) was the daughter of Hugh and Sidney Forman Warford. She has the distinction of having resided in...
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Rick Epstein
Oct 10, 20201 min read
Frenchtown Commons Got off to a Rocky Start
FRENCHTOWN COMMONS – Last summer I took a stroll around the grounds of these garden apartments off Trenton Avenue and the place looks...
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Rick Epstein
Oct 4, 20203 min read
Our Bridge Was Shoved Into the Drink. Thanks, Milford!
FLOODS – Pumpkin Freshet of 1903 – It was a year for bad weather, full of rain storms and lightning strikes. Oct. 8 and 9 were days of...
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Rick Epstein
Sep 26, 20202 min read
Sudden Death at the Sawmill (and George Hummer's Tall Tale)
INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS -- Boiler explosion – Frenchtown's Sunbeam Lenape Park was the site of Jacob White's steam-powered sawmill when, on...
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Rick Epstein
Sep 23, 20203 min read
Frenchtown Porcelain Won the War, and the Indy 500!
MANUFACTURING -- Porcelain – When Gabriel Slater and Samuel Hudnit mapped out Frenchtown north of Fifth Street in 1866, they reserved...
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Rick Epstein
Sep 12, 20204 min read
Frenchtown's Official Pigeon Shooter Was a Friend of Mine
PIGEON SHOOTERS – I first met Russ Barton Sr. (1927-1987) when he was the mechanic at the GMC Truck dealership at 203 Harrison Street,...
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