CLOSE TO HOME - The Forman Home in Westmont NJ

 My grandparents, Edgar Charles Forman and Annie Elizabeth Baragwanath were planning a fall wedding in 1922. During that spring they bought some land in Westmont, New Jersey, just two blocks away from a large farm known as Morgan's Orchard. In that area, they saw their Dutch Colonial dream house. They had a modified version of the house built during that summer.

Edgar and Annie were married on October 5, 1922 and immediately moved into their new home.

3 boys were born in quick succession, then a daughter, Mildred. 

Later Ed purchased the corner lot next to the house, which was used for various purposes during the children's growing up years, including a chicken coop and some goats and even a calf at one time! Finally the lot was transformed into a beautiful garden with walkways, a pond, and a wishing well. 

Mildred outside the family home, 1940s

After Mildred married Nick Montana in 1950, they moved into the family home and stayed. Mildred took care of her parents as they aged, and her husband as his health declined. He passed away in 2014. She is 90 and still living in the family home.

The home (thanks Google!) in 2017. Nearly 100 years after it was built, it has never been owned by anyone else but the original Forman family.

RENDER TO CAESAR - Samuel Longstreet Forman (1805-1844)

Greenwich Point Hotel (Point House) top, Gloucester Point Hotel - bottom

Thanks to the newspapers of the day, we know that Samuel Longstreet Forman was the proprietor of the Greenwich Point House Hotel on the Philadelphia side of the Delaware River from 1836 until early 1839, and then he moved across the river to take over the Gloucester Point Hotel on the New Jersey side. In 1838, before he moved, he and his wife, Eliza, received a commendation in the newspaper from one of the gentlemen they had assisted after he had capsized on the river - for "their prompt assistance and kind attention."

From the National Gazette, Philadelphia PA 17 July 1838

I was surprised to come across another incident in which Samuel helped with a capsized boat just a year later (1839.) The Philadelphia Inquirer had an article titled "An Accident and Creditable Conduct." We learn that on Saturday last [6 Jul], a batteau containing a man, his wife, and three children, was upset in the Delaware, a little below the Point House. One of the children was asleep in the bottom of the boat, and nevertheless floated away unharmed, and together with the others, was saved.

A batteau is a small flat-bottom, double-ended boat.

The article went on to say that the keeper of the Greenwich Hotel, Mr. Panormo, was "praiseworthy in the very highest degree." The article ended with this: We believe also, that the attention of Mr. Forman, on the Jersey side, was of the most commendable kind.

Well, the common phrase "Don't believe everything you read in the papers" held true even then. A letter to the editor of the paper just a few days later titled Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's. 

Robert S. King wrote to say that he was the man who with his wife and children had capsized in the Delaware. He explained that he was out in a batteau with his father, wife, two children and child's nurse on Saturday afternoon, when a squall came up. He, his wife who was holding their infant in her arms, and their 2 year old son were immediately precipitated into the water. Fortunately several gentlemen on a schooner came upon them and plucked them from the water, saving them from a watery grave.

We were conveyed to Gloucester, where, through the kindness of Mr. Forman, the proprietor of the hotel at that place, and his lady, every attention was bestowed on my family that would contribute to their comfort, as far as circumstances would admit of, until we could return home.

So it wasn't the Greenwich Point Hotel but the Gloucester Point Hotel.  He goes on to say they took a ferry back to the Pennsylvania side where they hired a horse and vehicle from Mr. Panormo (Greenwich Point Hotel)  to convey them back to the city. He closes his letter with this: To Mr. Forman and his amiable family, I return my most grateful acknowledgments. 

And there you have it.

Fresh Start - Baragwanath Family

Our Baragwanath family took root in the United States when Benjamin Baragwanath Sr. and his family became part of the great "Cornish Diaspora." Diaspora refers to the dispersion of a people from their original homeland.

Mining has a rich tradition in Cornwall, dating back more than 2,000 years.

Tin Mining has been a major industry in the county since before the birth of Christ, with Cornish traders exporting to Europe and the Roman Empire, while the brass work in King Solomon's Temple is said to have been wrought from Cornish tin. https://www.exeter.ac.uk/csm125/cornish-mining-tradition.html

As with many, if not most, of the men of St. Ives, Cornwall, England, our Baragwanath men were tin or copper miners. Benjamin Sr. and his son, Benjamin Jr. were engine drivers. Ben Sr. is listed as a miner in the 1851 England Census but by the 1861 census he is listed as a 'working engineer, Tin Mine.' Engines were needed in many of the Cornish mines to keep the water out of the lower levels. The engine workers had the advantage over the miners since their work was at or above ground level.

East Pool Mine preserved engine, near Pool, Cornwall

Cornish emigration took place largely due to the lack of mining work in the late 19th century. It is estimated that 250,000 Cornish migrated abroad between 1861 and 1901. Most went to the United States, Australia and New Zealand, with some also in South America, South Africa and other places.

For some reason, Ben Sr. took his family first to Ireland. I haven't found any documentation about how long they lived there, but daughter Jane arrived in the United States at Philadelphia on 10 Apr 1885, aboard the Indiana via Liverpool, England. There is no indication that her father or brother traveled with her, which would be logical. One way or the other, she was either the first, or one of the first of the family to arrive in the United States.

Ben Jr. arrived in the United States on 28 May1886 on the steamship Indiana out of Liverpool. He was 19 and his occupation was "Fitter." With him he carried a letter of recommendation, dated 14 May 1886, from the Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway written by the engineer of the Locomotive and Carriage department, stating that Benjamin was an engine fitting and turning apprentice. It would appear that both father and son used their engineering skills in the railroad industry after leaving Cornwall. When Ben Sr. died, his obituary invited relatives, friends, and employees of the Philadelphia Rail Road round house. (A roundhouse was used for servicing locomotives.)

All of Ben Sr's living children moved to Ireland and then the United States. Daughter, Kate, came over with her mother 29 May 1887 on the Scandinavian out of Glasgow. Ben Jr. had returned to retrieve them.

Ben Baragwanath Jr. shortly after arrival in USA (1862-1958)

Moving to America was a fresh start for the Baragwanath family. It couldn't have been easy but surely there were opportunities open to them here that didn't exist in tiny St. Ives, Cornwall, England.

Where There's a "Will" - William Lake Forman (1829-1919)

Weccacoe Fire Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 In the 19th century, the engine house was the center of social life for working-class men in the area. Membership in a fire company granted men social status, authority, and legitimacy within their own neighborhoods and ethnic groups. There were seven fire companies in Southwark; the brigades were volunteer, and their members drawn from and aligned with competing ethnic and political groups. The apparatus used to fight fires was often purchased with their own funds.
  The following is our first glimpse of William Lake Forman’s involvement in the volunteer fire company in his neighborhood:

8 December 1863 – (Philadelphia Inquirer) WECCACOE FIRE COMPANY - A SPECIAL meeting will be held in the Hall of the Company this (Tuesday) evening, at 7 1/2 o'clock.

WM. L. FORMAN, Assistant Secretary [Typo:WM. J. FORMAN] 

From The Philadelphia Inquirer

On Monday, October 16, 1865, the Philadelphia Fire Department held a grand parade through the streets of Philadelphia. Consisting of fire companies from Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Albany, Newark, Pittsburgh, and several other cities, thousands of firemen paraded with their steam fire engines, hose carriages, ambulances, and bands down an estimated ten-mile route crowded with spectators. According to a New York Times article on October 17, 1865, the parade lasted from 10am to 6pm and "not a scene of disorder occurred on the route."  

Artist's rendition of Grand Parade

From the Illustrated New Age, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Tues, Oct 17, 1865: 

The Firemen's Parade. A Procession Over Ten Miles in Length. Twenty Thousand Fireman in Line.

[Each individual division is mentioned and described] Eleventh Division Marshal - H. J. McIntyre Aids - H. Allman, Wm. H. Woodward WECCACOE ENGINE, No. 19 Marshal - Joseph R. Lyndall Assistants - Robert G. Pidgeon, Wm. B Lambden, Wm. L. Foreman, Benj. Watkins, Thos. Broom, Jr., David S. Bennett, Chas. P. Lyons, John H. Roach, Chas. Griffenburg, Aaron P. Hackett, Joseph Brown. Three hundred men, newly and tastefully equipped in black pants and coats, and red shirts and New York hats; they marched six abreast, followed by their two hose carriages, each being drawn by two horses. Their steamer, which is an Amoskeag, was drawn by six horses, beautifully caparisoned for the occasion. Decorations of every imaginable nature adorned the engine.

Amoskeag Steam Fire Engine

In advance of another planned event, we find this in The Evening Telegraph, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 22 Aug 1867, Mr. W. L. Forman, of the Weccacoe Engine Company, offered a resolution forbidding any burlesque apparatus being drawn in the line of procession. He said such things have had their day . . . The resolution was unanimously adopted.

burlesque: a theatrical entertainment of broad and earthy humor

In July 1868 the new officers of the Fire Company are listed including Secretary, Wm L. Forman. The Weccacoe Fire Company served from 1800 until 1871 when Philadelphia founded its own paid fire department. By the way, the firehouse got its name from the Lenni Lanape Indians from Delaware, who called the area home. They dubbed it Weccacoe, or Wicaco, which translates to “pleasant place.”