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. . . and set out to Make a Community By the Millburn Centennial Committee
Originally appeared in 1957 |
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They called their little community by many names – "Rum Brook" (said to
be because mash from homemade applejack dumped in the stream added a
piquant flavor), "Riverhead," "Vauxhall," "Milltown," "Millville," and
finally "Millburn" because many of them were Scotch, and mill burn, the mill
river, had the sound of home. As late as 1857, however, the place was still
often called "Millville," but a duplication of the name caused the Post Office
Department to insist on another name, and so "Millburn" became fixed.
Samuel Campbell is supposed to have first used the name, but Wooldridge
Eaglesfield seems to have finally decided it. However, these various names
were only local reference names as the settlement was not dignified by fixed
or established name on the maps of this period. Generally, the settlers looked
to Elizabethtown and Springfield for their religious, social, and cultural life.
In Springfield was the nearest Protestant Church, and in it was the home of
the only physician in the area, Dr. Jonathan Dayton, who lived there until
his death in 1778.
In 1709 New Jersey had been divided into nine Counties, Essex being one
of them. In this County were but two large settlements, Elizabethtown and
Newark. In 1793 Elizabethtown was divided and the Township of Spring-
field was formed, within which the Millburn area was included. Union County
was not created until 1857.
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