This day in History & NJ

February 11, 1861: America’s first kindergarten class was opened at the Hoboken Academy, located on Fifth Street by Dr. Alfred Douai. He was the Academy’s principal. 

Kindergarten originated as a German concept, and representatives of the prevalent German-American community at that time in Hoboken had appointed Dr. Douai as the principal.

Montague has a direct connection to the early Hoboken firm of Keuffel and Esser.  Karl and Gretchen Keuffel Keller acquired property near High Point Park, building a Swiss chalet-style home. He was an executive of the Keuffel & Esser Company which played a nationally significant role in the technological development of the United States in the mid-1900s. The property was later transferred to Fountain House of New Jersey, Inc.

February 11, 1847: Thomas Alva Edison, an inventor long connected with NJ and also Sussex County, was born this day in Milan, Ohio. An Edison  mine in Sparta NJ was one of his local enterprises, and incorporated several of the earlier Ogden group mines.

Facts from the H-Net post Today in NJ history .