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               JOHN NICHOLAS DISBROW

     My great-grandfather's life in his early years is as
dim as that of his predecessors.  Really all we know of
it is that, somewhere in the middle or late thirties he
married a Lydia Brown and that from this marriage came
eleven children, eight of whom survived to maturity.
     To support this brood, he, like his father before
him, operated sailing vessels between Middletown Point
and New York which made bi-weekly trips to and from New
York carrying freight and passengers.  From those years
to the day of his death, he was known as Captain Disbrow
- plain Capt. John to his intimates and the family.
     Matawan Creek had silted in heavily since Benjamin's
time so that by now it was navigable only to relatively
small craft, probably with center-boards to raise in
shoal water.  The earliest of these that we know of was
the Jersey Blue which was a schooner, not a sloop.
     I have before me a freight bill dated Nov 2 1853
which is headed -

               SCHOONER JERSEY BLUE,
               Capt. John N. Disbrow
                    Will Leave
                 MIDDLETOWN POINT
                  On FRIDAY, and
                     NEW YORK
              on TUESDAY of each week.

     The bill itself reads - John N. Disbrow sold for
John H. Sickles
          11½ Bbl Pots  @ 12/ -         17.25
                    frght                1.44
                                        -----
                                        15.81
                      Paid Dec 15/53

     Which tells us, should anyone want to know, that
12/ = 12 "bits" which = 1.50; i.e. the freight was 12½¢
a barrel, and that John sold the potatoes in the New
York market for Sickles and then deducted the freight

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               JOHN NICHOLAS DISBROW

before turning over the money for the potatoes.
     Later, the Jersey Blue was superseded by the John
Travers.  Besides farm produce these craft carried from
Middletown Point, sometime around the Civil War to have
its name changed to Matawan, clay utensils from the local
pottery, fire-wood, or whatever else came to hand.  From
Matawan they proceeded down the Creek, across Raritan Bay
and around Staten Island through the Narrows to New York.
On the return trip they brought back furniture and other
manufactured goods from the big city; occasionally they
would run up the Hudson to Haverstraw for a load of
bricks.  You will note that this route was the same that
Benjamin took when first he came to New Jersey.
     Some time around the Civil War the Jersey Blue was
succeeded by the John Travers - just why we as yet know
not; but, since "Ma" in her childhood had heard much of
the Jersey Blue and knew nought of the Travers, it seems
obvious that the pride Cap'n John had taken in this
schooner was so great that she was remembered and talked
about for many years after her demise.
     To give a picture of this water traffic in its hey-
day, let me quote from an article which appeared in the
Keyport Weekly of May 13th and 20th 1927.  It was lent me
by Ann Miles of Colt's Neck who also gave me the bill of
lading which I quoted on the previous page.
     "The earliest fairly authentic information as to
shipments out of Matawan Creek is that over 150 years ago
a sailing vessel was making stated trips between New Am-
sterdam and a landing at what was known as the P.V. Heyer
Farm on Middlesex Street, Matawan.  At that time the
property was owned by a Van Brokle who, besides having the
landing for the receiving and forwarding of freight, con-
ducted a grist mill whose power was derived from the ebb

and flow of the tide...This landing and mill were operated

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               JOHN NICHOLAS DISBROW

for a number of years, or until about 1850 when a new and
more convenient landing was established some distance down
stream, just below where the Morristown Road crosses the
Creek.  This new landing was known as the Arrowsmith -
Ness landing.  From here, besides produce and pottery,
cord-wood was shipped.  From both of these landings pas-
engers were carried to and from New York.  These travel-
lers were obliged to take their own food and blankets to
make themselves comfortable during the round trip which
often consumed several days.
     To avoid the time lost in making the winding course
from the Bay to Arrowsmith Landing, and because of the
greatly increased volume of freight, an elaborate system
of docks and warehouses were built by Longstreet and Bray,
Fountain, Horner and Sons, Gordon D. White, and others.
The fleet of sailing vessels was increased and several
particularly trim and speedy boats were put into commis-
sion, particularly the Lucy Hopkins, Jersey Blue, G.D.
White, Margaret, John Travers, Caroline, and Alfred.  One
of these store-houses was three stories with a windlass-
operated elevator.  When contrary winds or tides hindered
getting in or out of the Creek, a tow horse was used.
     These docks and buildings were constructed around
1850 and were in use until the introduction of steam
propeller vessels just after the Civil War.  The farmers
brought their produce to these landings in "Bulk" - i.e.
loose in the large-bodied farm wagons whence, after being
measured in Barrels, they were dumped into the ship's
hold which was divided into bins which not only kept the
turnips from mixing with the potatoes etc. but kept the
cargo from shifting in dirty weather.  Arrived at New
York, the skipper sold the produce for the farmer at the
best price he could, repaying him later, after deducting
the freight.

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               JOHN NICHOLAS DISBROW

     Great rivalry existed among the captains and crews
of the various vessels.  These sloops and schooners had
centre boards so that, regardless of the sharp turns in
the Creek and its shoals, a good skipper by properly man-
ipulating the tiller and sheets and centre board could
do the apparently impossible.  Some of these men, because
of their knowledge of the tides and winds, could handle
their craft with such precision that it was a thrilling
sight to see them make a long "leg" or tack.  As the boat
came into the wind, the sails would shake and quiver like
a cornered animal as though in doubt just what to do,
when the expert hand which controlled thee tiller and the
sailing wisdom of the captain would work simultaneously
as he brought her bows about, the sails filled, and she
heeled over close-hauled on the other tack heading straight
in for the Creek's mouth.  No yacht in an international
regatta could have been better handled than were these
sloops and schooners sailing out of Matawan."
     No wonder young Ed Disbrow, or Forrest as his father
always called him, loved the Jersey Blue and the chance
to be one of her crew - with the two day lay-off in New
York thrown in for good measure.
     But all good things must have an end and, with the
advent of the new "propellers" which took all the cream
off of this business; for everyone, of course, now pat-
ronized the new and swifter craft which were independent
of wind or tide.  One of these new-fangled ships was the
stage, by the way, of one of my great-grandfather Higgins'
dramatic stories - how the big, brave men behaved the day
the propeller was rammed in a dense fog in the lower Bay.
     After giving up the sloop, Cap'n John was an auction-
eer for a time.  He was also involved in small local po-
litics like his brother Jackson.  This political slant
seems to have skipped the next three generations, only

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               JOHN NICHOLAS DISBROW

to burt forth in full flower in the person of your Uncle
Don.  At all events when he first appears to our view
through the eyes of "Ma" he is the Sergeant-at-Arms in the
Freehold courthouse.  Prior to that he had been for many
years the Town Marshall of Matawan but with advancing
years he took the more sedentary job.  But we are getting
ahead of ourselves, for a lot was to happen before little
Jane Lydia was to start stowing away memories of her
grandfather.
     Up to this point in our story, since we knew nothing
of their earlier lives and little more of their adulthood,
it has been simple to have each ancestor follow his sire
in chronological order.  But from here on their lives
overlap and, to some extent each can tell his own story
through the letters which follow.  Instead, I shall first
complete this bit about John's before going on to the
brief life of Edwin Forrest.  Then will come little Jane's
childhood, next John's last years, and I shall wind up
with Jane Lydia again until her marriage - which ended
this particular branch of the Disbrow line.  Only in this
way can you get the picture of things as they happened
in their proper order and with a minimum of confusion.
     So now let us turn from Cap'n John for the moment
to the next in line, the eldest son of John Nicholas,

               Edwin Forrest Disbrow

                         78

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