Augustus
DeVoe
My name is
Augustus A. DeVoe. My original
family name was Deveaux (French Huguenot) and my father changed it to DeVoe to
appear more American. I was born in
1845.
My father,
Isaac DeVoe started the snuff mill in Spotswood in the early 1800’s. The
factory was on land that was formerly used as a foundry and saw and flour mills.
The land was called “The Island” and is on the road that today bears our
family’s name, DeVoe Avenue. You know it, it runs around the lake! In fact, the American Legion today uses one of our old snuff
factory building as its headquarters. I
took over the snuff mill from my father, oh, I don’t really remember when. He
was getting on in years and wanted to rest. I was only 21 when he died and was
left in charge on the factory. This was in 1871 and although George Helme in
Helmetta had a much larger snuff mill, we were still producing premier brands
such as Eagle Mills Scotch Snuff, Pocahontas Mills Maccoboy Snuff and Tecumseh
Mills Sweet Scotch Snuff. There
were also 3 paper mills in town. We all harnessed the power of what you now
called DeVoe Lake to run our mills
We finally
closed the mills around the mid 1920’s.
During my
lifetime I saw many changes in the nation and in my small community of
Spotswood. I was 84 when I died in 1929, so I saw a lot and experienced a lot!!!
I saw Spotswood grow from a small village to a thriving town. In 1908
when we separated from Monroe to become an independent community, I saw bars and
churches grow and prosper, although on separate sides of the street!!!!
The North side of Main Street became known as the Devil’s Side and the
South side known as The Lord’s Side…you can imagine why!!
Animals were now corralled and no longer allowed to run at large.
In New York
they were beginning to build an underground railway, now known as the subway.
Carrie Nation was demolishing bars in many places (but she never got to
Spotswood!!!) and Hawaii became a US territory.
Meanwhile
Spots wood is becoming a summer vacation spot…they opened a Health Camp on
Spotswood Lake (now known as DeVoe)!