Foreword, Acknowledgements, and Bibliography

(From the original "Our Town: A History of the Township of Green Brook")

Green Brook is indebted to Miss Irene E. Feldkirchner, a teacher in the Green Brook Elementary Schools for over 47 years, and to her friend and fellow teacher, Miss Ella Haver, for their work on uncovering the early history of Green Brook. They originally did the research as part of a professional augmentation course they took in 1940. Their professor assigned them the task of writing a history of Green Brook.

They had three months to finish their assignment. Starting from scratch they researched the historical background of the area, spending days in the stacks of the Rutgers University Library (then housed in a basement) as well as many other libraries in the surrounding area. They looked through countless deeds, documents, records, and maps, in addition to interviewing many of the older residents of Green Brook to gather family recollections and genealogical data. They visited many of the historical houses in Green Brook noting architectural details and early construction techniques. They photographed the houses as well as many parts of Green Brook that are rich in legend and history. They completed the assignment in three months. The manuscript remained unpublished until now, although it was used by a number of Miss Feldkirchner's students as source material individual projects. 

It is now published for the first time in honor of Green Brook's Bicentennial of 1976. We have used many of the original photographs, un-retouched, as they appeared in 1940, as well as some recent photographs.  This provides an interesting comparison of how things have changed in the last 35 years. Many of the houses have been altered, enlarged, or modernized, and many of the original landmarks have disappeared either through erosion or "progress".

Miss Feldkirchner, for whom the Green Brook Elementary School is named, retired in 1973 after having taught generations of Green Brook children. Miss also Haver retired several years ago. 

In updating the history of Green Brook from 1940 to 1975, Mrs. Louise Langdon, a resident of Green Brook since 1940, began her research where Miss Feldkirchner and Miss Haver left off, thereby providing continuity to a chronicle that began in 1684. 

I hope you will enjoy this informal history of Green Brook. It is not meant as a solemn monument to the past, but rather as an informative, sometimes amusing, but always joyous excursion to a time when life was simpler, the pace slower, but the texture of the people the same. 

Barbara O. Conrads
Green Brook Bicentennial Chairman
August, 1976

Acknowledgements

Although many of these people listed below have died or moved away since 1940, we are most grateful for their help and information they supplied for this History of Green Brook.

Mrs. Walter Shotwell

Mrs. Frank Bohl

Mrs. George Wilson

Mrs. Conrad Cramer

Mrs. Florence Mundy

Miss Katherine Sebring

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Sebring

Mr. Henry Lund

Mrs. Nittinger

Mrs. Anna Mullen

Miss Josephine Trust

Mr. George Trust

Mr. Joseph Tetlow

Mr. Charles Vail

Mr. Ephraim, Vail

Mr. John Dinneen

Mr. Wallace Bruns

Mr. Brokaw

Mr. Darby Beetham

Mr. W. Scheurman

Mr. A. T. Hagaman

Miss A. P. Hagaman

Mr. and Mrs. J. Kendrichs

Mrs. C. J. Morley

Mr. and Mrs. E. Kappelmann

Dr. Peabody Pardoe

Mr. Cornelius Vermeule

Mr. Robert Lund

Mr. Jonah Vail

Mr. Vernon Noble

Mr. C. E. Hoos

Miss Marjorie Vail

Miss Viola Sebring

Bibliography