Meet The Historians Series – Ruth Thomson Peapack Gladstone

Biography

Bio courtesy of the Save Ellis Island Foundation, Gladstone, New Jersey

Ruth was an octogenarian who lived in historic Gladstone, New Jersey, just down the street from the Save Ellis Island office. In late 2003, Save Ellis Island’s Charter Membership drive was in full swing. Having received a tremendous positive response from donors, Save Ellis Island needed help mailing acknowledgments and thank-you gifts, in this case, tote bags, to our new members as quickly as possible. We posted flyers in local businesses and community spaces, such as the public library. Ruth, a volunteer at the library, saw our ad, contacted us, and began to volunteer for Save Ellis Island immediately.

About Ruth’s Family

Ruth came from a prominent family in Gladstone, where she spent most of her life, except during World War II, when she was married to a Navy pilot and lived elsewhere. Ruth’s father’s family was Dutch, and her mother’s was Irish. Ruth thinks her mother-in-law came to the United States through the Castle Garden Immigration Station before Ellis Island opened. The Dutch were known to settle near the river, and that is true of Gladstone’s early settlers.

Ruth’s father ran the livery stable in town, providing a much-needed service to travelers requiring a ride from the Gladstone train station, the end of the railroad line from New York, to one of the many estates in the Somerset Hills. Besides the livery, Ruth’s father ran the family farm and several other businesses in town. He owned a hardware store, operated a feed mill, and managed a farm machinery business, among other ventures. He was also a founding partner of the Peapack Gladstone Bank, which remains in operation in Gladstone and elsewhere today.

Ruth’s remarkable experiences spanned eight decades of 20th-century history. Ruth is the only surviving sibling of three children. Her brother T. Leonard Hill passed in 2006, and her older sister Evelyn “Dottie” Hill Bailey passed away in mid–2005. Ruth experienced life on a farm during the Depression, living with a loved one away at war, and life on the home front during World War II.

Ruth was a college graduate, which was relatively uncommon at the time. When Ruth was a newlywed and her husband was serving overseas, she worked as a chemist at the Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange, New Jersey. Her husband, a Navy pilot, was recalled to active duty during the Korean War. Ruth and her husband raised their family of three sons in Gladstone, where she was the doting grandmother of two grandchildren.

Ruth’s Peapack Gladstone Tidbits

The Borough of Peapack and Gladstone, two villages incorporated in 1912 to form a single municipality, is nestled in the beautiful hills of northern Somerset County.
Peapack and Gladstone are 5.9 square miles in size, with a population of 2,422.
There are two post offices, 2 railroad stations, 4 churches, a very active Fire Company, a fine library, and one Police Department.
The Sisters of St. John the Baptist from the Mt. St. John property (formerly the Mosley Estate) used to walk the children all the way down the mountain on St. John’s Drive to the local drugstore for ice cream. (That’s about a 4 1/2 mile round trip (See the Trip), including a steep uphill climb back home.)
The churches in town are aligned according to the area’s development, and this is reflected in their positions on Main Street, with the oldest located closest to the center of town.
- Gladstone United Methodist Church (First Minister 1837)
- Peapack Reformed Church (First Minister 1849) 13 Mendham Road
- St Luke’s Episcopal Church (First Minister 1900)
- St. Brigid Roman Catholic Church, (First Minister 1936) 129 Main Street Peapack
- St Elizabeth’s Roman Catholic (First Minister, 1936) 34 Peapack Road
- See Google Map of Churches in the area – Click Here
In 2002, two men bought Blairsden from the Sisters of Mercy.
When I was growing up, the local fire department didn’t have a telephone. Since we did, the calls came into my house, where I had to run next door, open the firehouse, write the location of the fire on the blackboard, and then unlock the doors for the firemen to get ready.
My father created one of the first livery taxi services in town to transport people from the train to the estates where they worked.
When I was a child, since we didn’t have a pool, we used to swim just about anywhere. There used to be islands in the Liberty Park lake, where we would swim, dive off the diving board, or relax on the beach.
“Why would anyone want to build a house on top of a limestone cave?” referencing someone who built a house on top of the old Todd’s Quarry Limestone kiln on Main Street. Limestone is prone to erosion by underground water. (Ruth is preparing a discussion on the historic Peapack Caverns).

One picture Ruth described is the original Hardware store where her father, along with a business partner, decided that it was too far to travel to Oldwick to spend a day “banking”, so he decided to take the left portion of their hardware store and open a bank (the first Peapack Gladstone Bank). She mentioned that it took approximately $3,000 in liquid assets to get the bank started (1921).

Ruth’s Recommended Readings

It’s undoubtedly tough to recognize which Ruth enjoys more, reading or writing. While she was undoubtedly an accomplished writer, she also possessed tremendous knowledge of the Gladstone area. Not just because she grew up here, but also because she was an accomplished researcher and loveed to listen.

Here are a few of Ruth’s favorite books/magazines on the area that she recommended:


	A Journey through Peapack and Gladstone by Jacqueline Tutton and the Friends of Peapack Gladstone Library
	NEW JERSEY COUNTRY HOUSES The Somerset Hills by John K. Turpin and W. Barry Thomson (her son) – “I keep these books on my coffee table since I seem to reference them all the time when I’m writing.” While they are great resources for learning not only about the bucolic mansions of the past, but there’s a tremendous reference to the people and their families. Ruth’s son, Barry Thomson, was an integral part of the series, partnering with local real estate owner John Turpin. “Barry’s a great researcher”, stated Ruth. “I think his growing up in the shadow of Blairsden influenced his interest in the estates of the Somerset Hills. According to Ruth, the two met at the Bernardsville library when Barry was researching something, and Mr. Turpin’s wife had always been asking John,”What are you going to do with all of these photos of the places you’ve sold?” Ruth commented that Mr. Turpin said, “I’m going to make a book someday.” When the two crossed paths at the library, they say the rest is history. New Jersey Country Houses: The Somerset Hills chronicles the country estates that were built in the rolling countryside of Somerset and Morris counties from the 1870s through the Great Depression. Volume I covers more than sixty houses that were constructed before World War I, and Volume II covers the estate-building activity that took place between the two world wars.
	Black River Journal – Created and managed by the Wolf Family (Chris and Lee Wolfe), who started the magazine back in 2000. Ruth wrote several articles for the feature-packed local magazine over the years, and she highly recommends subscribing.

Ruth Noted Four Prominent Historical Estates in Peapack/Gladstone include:

Blairsden Estate (Blair)
Hillandale Estate (Mosley)
Natirar Estate (Walter-Kate Macy Ladd)
Hamilton Farm Estate (Brady)


	Traditions- Wanted One Good Barber by Ruth Thomson about Joseph Telesco. Black River Journal – Summer Fall 2003
	Traditions- Lead a Horse to Water About by Ruth Thomson Black River Journal – Spring Summer 2003
	Traditions- Playing House by Ruth Thomson Black River Journal – Winter 2003 Spring 04
	Traditions- A Scout Cabin without Scouts by Ruth Thomson Black River Journal – Spring Summer 2004 She also mentioned the Boro Gazette, which posts information on the Peapack Gladstone Historical Commission
	Black River Journal – Winter 2003 Spring 04
Ruth wrote several articles for the feature-packed local magazine over the years, and she highly recommends subscribing.

Favorite Historical Projects

If you are a Save Ellis Island Member, chances are that you received one of the tote bags packaged by Ruth. Using scissors to trim stray threads and folding thousands of tote bags, Ruth placed them in boxes, moving them one step closer to our new members. Perhaps you noticed how carefully the tote bag was folded when it arrived from Save Ellis Island.

Ruth also spent many hours folding, stuffing, sealing, and affixing postage to thousands of Membership Renewal requests that were mailed to donors last August during the annual fund drive. She brought along a friend, Charlene, on several occasions when reinforcements were needed to complete a project on time. For a few hours, one day a week, Ruth volunteers for Save Ellis Island, performing other tasks such as assembling packages of printed materials used for grant applications and cutting out articles for use in Save Ellis Island press kits. Like many other organizations, Save Ellis Island could not accomplish the tasks necessary to further their mission without the efforts of volunteers like Ruth. Ruth’s patience and dedication are truly inspiring.

Photography Collections

While Ruth doesn’t have a favorite collection, Ruth notes that there are a large number of postcards and photographs of Peapack and Gladstone down at the Municipal Building in Gladstone. Her favorite cartoon is the one that’s on display in the Mayor’s office. She calls it the “Outhouse”, depicting an image of an outhouse, which references her fight to change the township from a septic-based system to one incorporating a more scalable sewage system.

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Sadly, we lost Ruth Janet Hill Tompson on March 4, 2014, at the age of 94. Info

Ruth Thomson Obituary

Ruth Janet Hill Thomson, a lifelong resident of Peapack–Gladstone, died on March 4, 2014, at the Bridgeway Care and Rehabilitation Center in Bridgewater, NJ. She was 94.

Born September 5, 1919, Ruth was the youngest of four children of the late Garner Ferris Hill and Anna May Belton of Peapack–Gladstone. Her beloved siblings included the late Lillian Evelyn (Dottie) Bailey, Theodore Leonard Hill, and Grace Marie Kagan. After 52 years of marriage, Ruth’s husband, James Bruce Thomson, died in 1994 following a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Ruth is survived by three sons, James Bruce Thomson of Pottersville; Robert Drew Thomson of Asheville, NC; and William Barry Thomson of Williamsburg, MA, and New York City. Other survivors include her grandchildren, James Bruce Thomson III and Anne Martti Thomson; a great-grandchild, Benjamin James Thomson; her daughters-in-law; and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends who expressed their love and devotion to Ruth in many ways throughout her life, but particularly during her last months. For these many acts of kindness, her family will be forever grateful.

Ruth graduated with honors in 1940 from what is now Arcadia University, where she was the managing editor of the school newspaper. A double major in chemistry and mathematics, Ruth was employed before and during World War II at the Thomas Edison Laboratories in West Orange, NJ. With her husband, Jim, serving as a pilot in the United States Navy during World War II, Ruth decided to obtain her own pilot’s license, completing her civilian flight training by soloing on V-E Day in 1945.

A lifelong and active member of the Peapack Reformed Church, Ruth was an early proponent of increased ecumenism among the borough’s four churches. She was also actively involved in numerous civic and non-profit endeavors. Among many other things, she served as the first chairperson of the Peapack–Gladstone Historic Preservation Commission, contributed innumerable articles concerning local history and culture for “The Black River Journal,” chaired fund raising committees for the Somerset Hills Community Chest, volunteered at the Save Ellis Island Foundation, and counseled and tutored young women who had been incarcerated at the state correctional facility in Clinton.

A memorial service to celebrate Ruth’s life will be held on Saturday, May 3, at 10 AM at the Peapack Reformed Church, 224 Main Street, Gladstone, NJ. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Ruth’s memory to The Willowwood Foundation, P.O. Box 218, Gladstone, NJ 07934; the Visiting Nurse Association of Somerset Hills, Adult Day Center, 200 Mt. Airy Road, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920 (or online at visitingnurse.org); or the Peapack Reformed Church, P.O. Box 253, Gladstone, NJ 07934. Throughout her long life, Ruth reached out to help others in many unsung ways. A most fitting way to honor Ruth’s memory would be for her many friends to, as the saying goes, “pay it forward” by reaching out to someone in need and offering help or just a kind, supportive word.

Ruth is interred in Somerset Hills Cemetery in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.