In an era where economics drives the knocking down old houses, we are destined to lose our history. This “Sea Girter”, an oversized bungalow with a dormer over an enclosed front porch, and exposed rafter tails dates from 1914. It has an important history in the social fabric of Sea Girt.
112 Stockton in the early light
John and Sarah May Van Order summered here for its first 24 years. He bought 2 house sites but sold one. $2,000 was the price for the empty lots in 1913.
John owned a Lumber and Coal yard in Caldwell. With his success, he became a leader in the community. He was the President of the Caldwell Bank, and Borough Clerk, paying the bills for the town.
When George Mcintyrre the dog catcher submitted a suspect bill for $84 for killing dogs. John wrote to him, “Hereafter, when you send me bill for destroying a dog, you'll have to send me the tail of the dog."
The first owner was a fixture in Caldwell
May was involved in local social groups at home and down the Shore and she contributed with the women of Sea Girt to the Ann May Hospital on Vroom Ave. in Spring Lake. Most landowners were summer residents who wanted more services for their summer town, and they formed a homeowner’s group to lobby the Land Company.
In 1938, John passed away. His widow and their son John Jr. used the house infrequently. This opened the opportunity for Hank and Kitty Berg.
Kathryne Weigel was born in 1894 in New Brunswick New Jersey to a prominent family.
Her father Fredrick was the city attorney of New Brunswick for over 20 years and president of the City Common Council. Her mother Catherine McMurty Weigel was the daughter of the CEO of the Neverslip Manufacturing Company. In 1896 the Neverslip Horseshoe Co. was incorporated in New Brunswick, NJ, by Robert W. Johnson one of the Johnson & Johnson brothers. The company had merged several horseshoe works and was the largest manufacturer of horseshoes and metal tools for the horse trade in the East.
At one time America had more horse shoes than people
Kathryne’s Uncle was a war hero. William Weigel went to West Point and served during the Spanish-American War and then World War I. He retired as a Major General.
Her parents sent her to Gunston Hall, one of the top finishing schools in the country. The school was in Washington DC, and run by the great-granddaughter of Founding Father George Mason.
Gunston Hall girls finishing school (Library of Congress Photo)
In 1913, Kathryne got her first taste of society when she was maid of honor at the wedding of her older sister Mildred, who married Princeton man George Ellis Wilkinson of York, PA. Wilkinson was later a war hero in WWI, recognized twice by Mildred and Kitty’s uncle for his bravery in combat in France in 1918.
Kathryne then met and married Henry Caspar Berg, a Rutgers graduate and 2d Lt. in the Army. Henry was studying for the bar exam, and with the influence of his father-in-law, became a prominent lawyer in his own right, also serving as a Middlesex County Freeholder.
Katheryne like her mother was active in the Presbyterian Church. After the wedding, the young couple moved across the river to Highland Park. They had three children and enjoyed summers at Kathryne’s parents’ summer home in Belmar. They were very active in the community, and Henry also served as the President of the New Jersey Exchange, the oldest charitable business club in the country.
When Kathryne’s parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1936, the home was blanketed in flowers, from every friend, relative and business associate. Many were from gardening friends. The Rutgers class of 1880 sent fifty golden chrysanthemums.
Her father passed away in 1938, and her mother in 1940. After her estate was settled and the money split between Kathyrne and her sister Mildred, the Bergs bought the Van Order summer home at 112 Stockton Blvd. Sea Girt. The modern stucco Stockton Hotel, built twenty years earlier to replace the aging Beach House dominated the oceanfront just down the block, adding some liveliness to the summer experience.
Kitty immediately joined the Sea Girt Community Club. Founded in 1924 after the building of the Municipal Center on Baltimore Blvd., the club was the center of social activity outside of the hotels.
The residents who fought for municipal status helped establish the club. The Fire Department developed its own social circle of men, and the Community Club began to look like a Woman’s Club, and it eventually joined the Federation of Women’s Clubs. Spring Lake’s Women’s Club and Garden Club were full with a waiting list, and the Sea Girt Club soon moved to larger quarters at St. Uriel’s.
To address different needs, the Community Club served many purposes. They put on plays, entered flower shows, hosted card parties, speeches and musicals. They conducted education sessions on civil defense, ocean safety, theatrical masks, and historical clothing. There was a welfare division, a junior support group, a civics organization, and a literature division. The Depression helped boost membership, the club provided low-cost entertainment for the community.
While Hank drove to work from Sea Girt on Mondays and returned to the family on Fridays, Kitty Berg was active in the Presbyterian Church in Manasquan and she was most passionate about the gardening activities of the Community Club. The Berg’s moved permanently to Sea Girt in 1946 after their youngest daughter Mary Jane went off to Smith College, although Hank kept working.
Kitty in later years. Gotta love the handbag Courtesy of Diane Raver
Kitty truly embraced the community. She was “the Welcome Wagon”, regularly teaching new neighbors the ropes. A spread in the Home News and Journal in 1949 showed her tending to her Sea Girt flower beds while Mary Jane relaxed on a lounger. In the early 1940’s she was an officer of New Brunswick’s Trowel Club and she brought her passion for growing to Sea Girt.
In the early 1950s, the Ways and Means Committee of the club tried to raise funds and solicit the Borough Council to build a Community Center. The firehouse clubroom was too small and used as a preschool. But they never got enough support.
In 1953 for efficiency, and to save space, the Community Club, broke up meetings into multiple divisions, and Kitty hosted meetings of the Garden Division in her home. She applied and was accepted into the Garden Clubs of New Jersey. While they were still probationary members the Garden division remained part of the Community Club.
By 1955 the Holly Club was established as a separate organization. They limited membership numbers to host meetings at member homes, and to attract only those from the Community Club truly interested in gardening.
Kitty Berg was the first president and the first meetings were held at 112 Stockton. This was only possible with the enthusiastic support of “Alex,” Mrs. Alexanda Hawes, of 320 Boston, a president of the Community Club who had confidence Kitty and the Holly Club would thrive. Alex would also serve as the Holly Club’s third president. To attract future members, and to assist in education, they formed a junior affiliate garden group, the Holly Berries.
Club Ladies in period costumes, at the Governor’s mansion, Kitty on left Photo Courtesy of Diane Raver
In 1963, for the 300th anniversary of New Jersey, the Holly Club went all out to decorate the Governor’s mansion at the National Guard Camp where they hosted a flower show. Members wore period costumes and judges reviewed arrangements from all over the state.
From then forward, the club beatified the downtown and other public areas year round. Hank passed away in 1967, but Kitty pushed on.
Modern Holly Club work is everywhere
She had the members and the Holly Berries plant dune grass in the early 70s well before it was popularized and one of her last contributions was rallying Holly Club members to join the Sea Girt Citizen’s Lighthouse Committee to save the community beacon in 1981.
The house passed to Mary Jane Ellis in 1982, her daughter, and eventually to her grandaughter Kathyrne Ellis.
The Holly Club of Sea Girt (hollyclubofseagirt.org) is the most visible, active organization out of the remnants of the old Community Club. The members are dedicated to beautifying Sea Girt, educating, and granting scholarships. Diane Raver serves as current president, following in the footsteps of her grandmother Alex Hawes 60 years ago.
Remember those who made our community so pleasant, and do your best to keep it special.
Planting at the Library