James S. Gamble, Horace H. Nichols and Charles Akers, of the township of Woodside, were among the commissioners appointed to see that the division was properly carried out. The act was approved April 5, 1871. The transition from independence to slavery was engineered, I am told, by three men for personal and selfish motives, and it gives me great pleasure to record that all three were sadly left. One longed to be sheriff, but must live in Newark to secure the nomination, and did not wish to remove from this pleasant land; the two others were holders of considerable property, and it was their hope that a boom in building lots would set in that would materially fatten their pocketbooks, and so in some dark and mysterious way our model township was ceded to Newark. But the politician failed of election and the lots did not sell, and “one of the disappointed real estate owners, like Judas Iscariot, went out and hanged himself”. Once the place belonged to Newark the street car company could, of course, do what it liked with the roadway, and it shortly proceeded to regrade (I had almost said degrade) Washington avenue above Elwood, utterly destroying the carefully laid out parkway on which property owners had spent much thought and money. Terraces and trees were ruthlessly cut down and, to provide a dumping place for the earth removed, Oraton street was cut through and filled in with the Washington avenue debris. “Ichabod was written upon the avenue and the fine name of Oraton could in no way lend dignity to the new street”, which at that time was largely given over to negroes and laborers. THE OLD ROADS OF WOODSIDE. Until 1865 Woodside was a purely agricultural district, except for the factories along Second river, and contained but four roads of any moment. The River road, the Back road to Belleville, the old Bloomfield or Long Hill road and the lower road from Belleville to Bloomfield, known as Murphy’s lane. There was also one cross road known as Division road or Bootleg lane, because of its shape; this is now given over to Halleck street and Grafton avenue, with that bit of Washington avenue which lies between. HOW WE ARE TO PROCEED. The history and legend, dating before 1867, so far as I have been able to find them, will be taken up guidebook fashion by following each road in turn and pointing out its wonders as we proceed. THE RIVER ROAD. “The road to ‘Hocquackanong’ was laid out from the north end of Newark, as the path then ran, through the village named, passing the north end of the Acquackanonk meeting house and thence to Pompton”. This was recorded March 16, 1707, and must refer to the River road, though probably all the laying out it received was on paper. The Indians from Paterson and beyond had a well defined trail along the river bank which led to Newark Bay, and the early settlers probably used this without attempting much improvement.