Nathan Sanders, standing at left, is honored as the township’s oldest living man during West Milford’s 125th anniversary celebration in 1959. He was born in 1871. Laura Cole Sisco, seated at right, was the oldest resident. She was born in 1868. Seated at left is Adrienne Wooley, secretary to Township Clerk George Eckhardt. Standing, from left, are Noble Rhinesmith, a former mayor, and his wife, Lottie. Welfare Director Henry Vreeland and his wife are in the middle and Hans Widmann, event chairman, is at right. (File photo by Ann Genader)
Nathan Francis Sanders (1871-1971) was a descendant of one of the West Milford’s earliest colonial families.
The Sanders family was known for its high-quality stone masonry work that is still visible in the construction of some old houses and walls in communities of northern Passaic and Morris counties today.
In his earliest work years, Sanders was employed by Casterline Stables on Main Street in Butler. Next, he was a stagecoach driver.
Then, for the rest of his life, he worked as a stone mason using his natural artistic talent. The loss of his hand in a gun accident did not stop him; he continued to work at his craft until he retired about eight years before his death.
He died 11 months before he turned 100.
Being employed at Casterline Stables when he was 18 must have been an exciting time for him. It was a challenging job with an opportunity for varied experiences.
Fred Casterline, owner of Park Hotel and stables, was well known for his first-class hotel, where guests included Thomas Edison, Babe Ruth and Roy Rogers.
Casterline liked horses and was known as an experienced horse trader. He also had a reputation for having speedy horses at the track.
The stables where Sanders worked had a good supply of saddle and carriage horses. It was a time when people depended on horse-drawn vehicles for their transportation.
The Casterline building stored everything from wagons and spring-wheeled buggies to surreys for group and family travel. There were sleighs for winter travel too.
Sanders no longer was working at Casterline Stables in 1910, when a fire gutted the barn and burned through its roof. The building was rebuilt, and today it is part of Peerless Concrete Products Co.
Day-long trip
Sanders’ next job was driving a stagecoach on a route between Echo Lake and Jersey City. This was a day-long, tiring trip in one direction.
Reaching his destination, he stayed in the city overnight with another long day of travel back to Echo Lake facing him the next day.
The Paterson-Deckertown (Sussex) Stage Line opened in 1857. The centennial anniversary was observed in 1957 with a re-enactment of the first trip. Elizabeth Bowles, granddaughter of stage-line founder John P. Brown, was one of four passengers on the two-day run.
By the time he was 30, Sanders was creating some of the beautiful stone walls and buildings still visible today. One of his stone walls can be seen from Macopin Road below the Germantown Road intersection in the Echo Lake community.
It is a tall stone wall along the beach of the White Birch Park pond. That was a 1940s day swim and picnic destination owned and operated by my parents, Verina and Arthur Genader.
After they died, the property was sold. It’s now privately owned with a home built on the former lake-business parking lot.
Stone homes built by Sanders family members are still occupied today. One is the former George and Eva Sanders Steinline home on Maple Road. A stone home built by Bill Sanders is visible on Otterhole Road after the road crosses from West Milford into Bloomingdale. Diagonally across the street from that house is a home built by Leo Sanders.
Nathan Sanders was married to Armenia Luke of Butler, and the couple had many children as was usual for families at that time. Their children included Annie, Nathan (“Nate”), Eva, John, Leo, Katie, Armenia, Hannamae, Dominick, and Ed and George, who were the first two siblings to die. Two sisters also died at an early age.
Nathan’s parents were Dominick Sanders and Hannah Mabey. His grandparents were John Peter Mabey and Elizabeth Kimble.
He was the first person baptized at St. Joseph Church, Echo Lake, when the church was first built. He served as an altar boy/assistant to the priest far into his young adulthood.
Throughout his later years, Sanders worked and lived with his son Leo. He was a lifelong early riser and usually went to bed at sundown, which was the custom of early residents in West Milford.
As he aged, Sanders remained in excellent health but slowly lost his hearing. Throughout his lifetime, he enjoyed gardening. He grew many crops, including potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage and pumpkins.
Nathan was the brother of John and William Sanders and the half-brother of Julia, Louise, Laura and Dominick Sanders and Martha Gormley.
He was about 4 years old when his father died of illness with his young son at his side. Dominick Sanders was a Civil War veteran.
Dominick’s widow, Hannah Mabey Sanders, later married widower John Gormley. He had several adult sons when he married Hannah.
They had a daughter (my maternal grandmother), who was named Martha Agnes Gormley. She was probably in her late teens when she married John F. Mathews. The Gormleys lived on Weaver (Mathews) Road near the Otterhole Road intersection.
After they were married, John and Martha lived at the opposite end of the road adjacent to Macopin Road intersection.
Civil War letters
Dominick Sanders fought for the Union Army in the Civil War, and Martha Gormley Mathews had the letters he wrote to her mother from the battlefield. Only a few were saved when the Mathews house, vacant and in disrepair, was destroyed by an arson fire.
Readers today may be surprised at the formality that a husband used when writing to his wife in 1865. For example, Dominick wrote, “Dear wife, I received your kind and welcome letter this morning. I was glad to hear that you and the children was all well. I hope I may stay well till I come back. We have had a very bad storm down here. It has rained ten days. It was the heaviest rain I have ever seen. I have been paid, and I sent you ten dollars in the letter I sent you before this and if you get it I will send some more.”
He wanted a photo of his son Willy. “I would like you to get Willy’s likeness taken and send it to me. I would like to see his sweet little face once again. Send it in your next letter if you will be so kind. Never mind what it costs. Please send it and please send me one dollar’s worth of stamps in an envelope. I can get plenty of paper and envelopes but not stamps.
“We are expecting another fight almost any minute. We’re under marching orders. I have about enough tobacco to last my time out for making plugs. One of our boys raffled a watch and I put in a chance and all the boys threw dice. I had the last throw, and my bunkmate offered $15 for my chance. I took it. We have been paid and can get almost anything.”
Dominick mentioned the military draft for soldiers in Newark and wanted to know about the success of the draft in Paterson. He asked about his friend Burt’s wife.
“Burt is very uneasy about her. He hasn’t gotten any letters in 3 weeks. Dear Hannah, give my best respect to all my inquiring friends. No more. From your husband Dominick Sanders. Direct your letters the same.”