An attractive presence

The world of William A. Whitehead

081–The monopolists

2023.09.30

SIX mornings of every seven, William A. Whitehead stepped aboard a rail car at Newark’s Centre Street depot. His train crept briefly north, then eastward to cross the Passaic River. Getting up speed, the engine trailed a thick plume of smoke and cinders along its flat, straight course through the Kearny meadows. Once over the … More 081–The monopolists

073–The ride of a lifetime

2023.01.31

FIRST, there’s the name of the place. When linguist John Heckewelder took down Indian toponyms, he rendered “the bear’s mountain” in Latin letters as machktschúnk. William A. Whitehead, after a visit in 1830 to the Lehigh Valley settlement of this name, gave the pronunciation mauchunk. Today, standard practice comes nearer to the mauk chunk favored … More 073–The ride of a lifetime