Lewis H. Stemler was born in South Amboy, New Jersey on 20 November 1864, the son of German immigrants John Christian and Christina Dorothea (Straub) Stemler. Lewis grew up in Matawan Township, where his father operated a large farm off Middlesex Road, a farm that straddled the Monmouth-Middlesex County border.
Lewis’ father assembled the Stemler Farm through a series of tract purchases, beginning with small parcels acquired from George Folk in 1866 and 1867. John Stemler was considered a progressive farmer, bringing innovations with him to Matawan. His hotbed sashes, wooden frames with glass tops, were locally sought after. Farmers would apply them to crops in the field to extend the growing season, sometimes placing rye straw matting over the glass to insulate the crops from particularly harsh frosts.
It was from this farm the finest produce was shipped by boat to the New York market and by wagon in local deliveries. These wagons were carefully packed by Lewis with all vegetables, washed and trimmed and arranged, to command the attention and wonder of all who beheld them. (Source: Lewis Stemler obituary)
The Stemler farm passed to Lewis when his father died in 1899. The local newspaper occasionally mentioned Lewis’ harvesting operations and sale of crops.
Stemler’s farm sells celery. (Keyport Weekly, 17 Dec 1909)
He participated in the Monmouth Pomona Grange, the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, No 12. Typical meetings would provide a forum for the county’s farmers and orchardists to discuss regional agricultural issues, trade, roads, legislative priorities, and taxation.
(Matawan Journal, 16 Feb 1922)
A public sale was conducted at the Stemler farm in 1922. Horses, farm utensils, etc. were among the many available items for purchase.
Lewis and Mary Stemler sold 4.21 acres of land for $1.00 to Joseph M Wenzel, of Madison Township, on 1 December 1922. The property was part of the salt marsh conveyed by Daniel Clayton to Joseph Hayden on 24 June 1880. Wenzel acquired whatever houses, buildings, trees, water rights linked to the property. (Source: Monmouth County Deeds Book DB-1248, pp 31-2)
Mary E Stemler gave permission on 21 April 1923 for C William Ludi and wife Barbara Ludi to erect four poles, wires and fixtures on her property on Middlesex Road. (Monmouth County Deed Book DB-1343 pg 142; see also Matawan Journal, 20 Oct 1922)
Lewis and Mary Stemler sold their farm in 6 tracts in Monmouth and Middlesex Counties to Wilbur Kuhns for $1.00 on 25 January 1925. The Stemlers reserved for themselves a 50×150 foot property on Middlesex Road, Matawan Township. (Monmouth County Deed Book DB-1285 pp 298-302)
The 6 tracts were described as follows:
- 25 acres. Originally acquired by John Stemler from George Folk and wife on 26 August 1867. Survey by Jacob I Ten Eyck in Aug 1867. (Monmouth County Deed Book 230 pp 256 ff)
- 18 acres. Originally acquired by Christian Stemler, aka John C Stemler, from George Folk and wife on 14 August 1866. Survey by Alfred Walling Jr. on 7 August 1866. (Monmouth County Deed Book 190 pp 398 ff)
- 02 acres. Originally acquired by John Stemler from Simon Arrowsmith on 11 February 1889. (Monmouth County Deed Book 461 pp 488 ff)
- 93 acres. Originally acquired by John Stemler from Peter V Hyer on 26 February 1891. (Monmouth County Deed Book 495 pp 298 ff)
- 15 acres. Originally acquired by John Stemler from Frederick Schack on 26 November 1887. (Middlesex County Deed Book 215 pg 373)
- 24 acres. Originally acquired by John C Stemler from Peter Lisk and wife on 14 October 1892 (Middlesex County Deed Book 254 pp 291 ff)
Stemler built a bungalow on the abovementioned small lot on Middlesex Road as a home for himself and his wife. That plot of land would get special attention in the early 1930s, when a referendum threatened to put his home within the bounds of Matawan Borough. Since Stemler could lose his position as chair of the Township Committee if his domicile was suddenly changed, his small property was excluded from the transfer.
Stemler died 5 August 1935 in Matawan. His wife died on 7 December 1935 in Matawan.
————————————————–
Lewis H Stemler had a long record of community service. He was publicly elected to the Township Committee, where he served from 1903 to 1934. The Committee repeatedly elected him their chairman, a role he held from 1903 to 1911, and again from 1923 to 1934. He also served as the Committee’s treasurer for many years.
Note: Matawan Township operated under the Township Committee form of government until 1964. This permitted the Committee to both legislate and execute the laws. Since a public referendum in 1964, the Township has operated according to the Faulkner Act, which separated out the executive function to a Township Manager, leaving legislation to the Township Council. While the Committee Chairman title was changed to Mayor in 1952, public election of the mayor did not begin until after the 1964 referendum.
In November 1933, Stemler withdrew from the Township Committee election as s Republican candidate due to ill health, but it was too late to get his name off the ballot. He publicly called for his voters to vote for John Marz, Jr, his Democratic opponent. Marz would soon become chairman of the Committee and hold the post for many years.
Lewis served many years on the Board of Education, often as its president. He was on the School Board when the Cliffwood Elementary School was dedicated in 1912, as well as when the new Matawan High School was built in 1923. He only stepped down when a law was passed in 1930, which prohibited simultaneous service on a governing body and a school board. Stemler and his wife also worked in the Township school system as truant officers, making sure children attended school.
Stemler was active in health and welfare administration. He was president of the Matawan Township Board of Health from 1911 to 1933. He was treasurer of the Matawan Public Health Nursing Association, treasurer and member of the board of directors of the Public Health Association, and he attended meetings of the Monmouth County Organization for Social Service. He was treasurer of the Cliffwood Auxiliary of the Matawan Red Cross during the world war. He served in public health and welfare through the depths of the Depression and an outbreak of infantile paralysis (polio) in Cliffwood. He was vice chair of the Community Assistance Committee and chair of the Matawan Township Welfare Assistance Association.
Stemler briefly served as the Matawan Township Chief of Police to fill the vacancy left by Patrick A. Hagan, who died in office on 20 July 1932. Stemler worked without pay for the last quarter of 1933, and then for a $200 annual stipend in 1934.
Hagan served a thirty-day sentence in county jail on drunk and disorderly charges in July 1926, at which time Stemler told the Matawan Journal that Hagan had been warned numerous times to amend his ways.
[T]he trouble started Monday night in back of Matawan Township fire house at Oak Shades when Chief Hagan and two companions were told to go home. The two did as they were told, but Chief Hagan, with a blackjack in one pocket and a gun in the other, asserted his authority and claimed he was not amenable to arrest. . .. Hagan has made a good officer except at such times as he has taken too freely of intoxicants. About twenty persons watched the arrest from the back of the building. (Matawan Journal, 30 Jul 1926)
Stemler belonged to the Knickerbocker Lodge No 52 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) in Matawan. He was installed as Vice Grand in 1901 and Noble Grand in 1902. He achieved the position of Right Supporter Noble Grand (RSNG) in the 1920s.
Stemler served on the Building Committee of Cliffwood Volunteer Fire Company No 1 when a new fire house was being built near the corner of Route 35 and Cliffwood Avenue. He was added to the board of trustees in 1929.
Stemler participated in the effort to develop manmade lakes in Matawan. He joined the Lake Committee’s subcommittee on roads and bridges in 1916. After the world war, Stemler joined the effort to create a war memorial.
————————————————–
Stemler’s brother Christian F Stemler died 17 June 1915 aged 48 and 7 months. He suffered most of his life with locomotor ataxia, a degenerative nerve disorder caused by untreated syphilis. He never married. He lived on the farm and worked with his brother until he was totally incapacitated. The disease would have given him ever growing muscle weakness and shooting pain. His sense of position would have been diminished, causing a distinctive stomping gait to his walk.
Stemler’s sister, Rosa, married Edward Anderson and was living in Freehold when her brother Christian died.
Stemler married Mary E Grant in Manhattan, New York, on 21 September 1890. She was born 28 March 1864 and died 7 December 1935.
NO COMMENTS