Elisha W. – (1852-1912) carried the mail between Frenchtown and Flemington for eight years before going into the horse business circa 1887.
He was mayor of Frenchtown in 1890-91 and county sheriff in 1904-08. Opdycke lived on the east side of the creek at 2 Kingwood Avenue and had a livery stable next door in the building that currently houses Kathee's General Store.
Besides running a livery stable, he held frequent auctions of horses imported from the Midwest. Clarence Fargo recalled, “When a carload of western horses would arrive at the station for one of these sales, it was the boy's idea of a rattling good time to watch the unloading, and the prancing steeds, as they were being led in strings of threes or fours through the streets to the stables.”
At the well-advertised auctions, individual animals or teams would be auctioned off with “their designating numbers pasted on their rumps.” Fargo tells of one mule that no one would bid on. To move things along, Opdycke put a dollar bill on its back, eliciting a 75-cent offer from Jacob Lindaberry, the crowd laughed, and the sale proceeded.
After Opdycke's first wife died, he married Emma Hillegas, widowed daughter of Michael Uhler, owner of Uhlertown, Pa. After she died, he married the widowed Francelia Warford, owner of the Warford House.
After he died of “congestion of the blood,” the Star wrote that he “was a man of his word, of liberal thought and deed, and many kind acts can be attributed to him while his considerable means helped many a worthy cause.”
E. Dale – (1886-1956) carried on his father's livestock and livery stable business after Elisha's death.
If you wanted to rent a ride you could get an automobile from Emly Apgar (where the hardware store is now) or cross Kingwood Avenue and rent something horse-drawn from Opdycke. In 1915 Opdycke was offering “Horses and carriages of all kinds for hire. Sidebars, Surries, Buggies, Phaetons, etc. Special attention given to weddings, funerals, etc. Trusty drivers, first class turnout. Patrons taken to any part of the county,” according to an ad.
His auctions were conducted on the northeast corner of Kingwood Avenue and Creek Road, where Napoli currently makes pizza and Lacy Phelps dispenses financial services.
The 1916 Frenchtown Uptodate said the horses were selected by Opdycke's agent in Iowa and shipped east. Many auctions were held each season with 35 to 40 horses sold each time. In 1921 he was still at it, advertising an auction of 35 “heavy drafters, farm chunks and general purpose horses and closely mated teams.”
From "Rick's Frenchtown Encyclopedia"