WESTWOOD—This week we go back 130 years for a story about a group of Westwood couples who went out for a night of fun and found unwanted excitement at the hands of highwaymen.
At around 1 a.m. on Nov. 22, 1895, four couples were returning from Hackensack, where they had attended an event at the Oritani Field Club. Travel was by horse-drawn carriage in those days, and as they made the return trip home, it was two couples to a buggy, one following the other.
The first carriage was driven by Charles C. Clark, 31, manager of a photography company and proprietor of the Overbrook Stock Farm in Westwood. Alongside him was his wife, Effie, 27. Joining the Clarks were Frank Vela, 30, and his wife, Mary Louise, 25. The couples were good friends.
The second carriage followed behind at a distance. Inside were Robert R. Christie and his wife, Lillian, and George H. Smith and his wife, Maude. The Smiths, in their early 20s, had been married only a few months.
They had spent the evening at the Oritani in Hackensack, a prestigious social club opened in 1887. Facilities included a banquet hall, eight tennis courts, a grandstand, a baseball field, a large boathouse, a clubhouse, and a skating pond spread across 10 acres on East Camden Street between Main and River streets. In addition to athletic events, all kinds of entertainment were staged there.
It was after midnight when our night owls finally left the club. The journey home likely took them north on Main Street and through New Bridge, where they could follow Kinderkamack Road back to Westwood. In the darkness, they wended their way along the dirt roads, carriage lanterns casting a glow about them.
A few miles north of Hackensack, two men in a buggy drawn by a very fast horse dashed by and cut in front of Clark’s carriage. The strangers pulled back and allowed Clark to get ahead, and then tried the same maneuver again.
“This time they were cautioned by Mr. Clark,” the New York Herald reported. “At this they blocked the road, and, alighting, stopped Mr. Clark’s team.”
Grabbing hold of the horses, the robbers demanded the party hand over their jewelry and valuables.
Mr. Clark sprang from his carriage and jumped on one of the men, delivering some fierce punches. Mr. Vela drew his revolver and fired at the other man, but as they were in the dark, the bullet missed its mark. By this time, the Christie and Smith party had come up in the second carriage, and the highwaymen took off in a hurry.
The Herald reported that the attempted robbery might have been planned.
“The supposition is that the two men had a very strong vehicle, and that their purpose was to wreck a wheel on Mr. Clark’s carriage and rob the party during the excitement,” the Herald reported. “The women of the party wore considerable diamond jewelry, and it is believed the holdup was planned by persons aware of this.”
According to The New York Times, however, it might have been opportunistic. This was the second holdup in the same area within 48 hours.
The Times reported that on Nov. 21, 1895, “A musical director employed in a New York music hall, while on his way to the station at New Milford, was held up by two men at a lonely spot in the road. He promptly drew his revolver and frightened the highwaymen away.”