112-year-old bottled message connects families with the past

MONTCLAIR, N.J. (AP) - The basement walls from College Hall, an original building of Montclair State University, had to be taken out in sections.

Laborers could only do that last spring by chipping away at certain areas of brick to loosen up the walls for removal. Robert Kanaby found a sweet spot with his chipping gun, and that break through has remarkably led to descendants to one of the two Newark brick layers who helped build the wall 112 years ago.

“It was by sheer luck that I struck that point,’’ Kanaby said.

What he thought was brick, turned out to be a beer bottle covered and encased in mortar, placed there as if it was its own brick within the 18-inch thick wall.

Had he moved three feet to the left or to the right, this story that many of you read weeks ago would not have gone viral. Inside that bottle was a handwritten note dated July 3, 1907.

“This is to certify that this wall was built by two bricklayers from Newark, N.J. by the names of William Hanley and James Lennon, members of No. 3. of the B.M.I.U. of America.”

Montclair State University hoped its own story and my subsequent column would lead to relatives. It has. Nancy Moore Foster, a teacher in Florida, is Lennon’s granddaughter and Ali Young of Alaska, is his great-granddaughter.

News of the bottled message hit the internet highway, getting picked up by media as far as Thailand and Russia.

Lorraine Arnold is a lot closer to home. The archeologist/genealogist is a MSU alumni, who reached out to help her alma mater, which received many calls from people with information that they could be related.

Using census records, newspaper clippings and information from actual family descendants, Arnold and Montclair State were able to connect the dots to Lennon’s relatives.

According to a New Jersey certificate and record of birth, Lennon was married to Otillia Baker and they had a daughter, Eileen.

Eileen Lennon, according to a marriage certificate dated April 1, 1939, married Charles Richard Moore. Their daughter is Nancy Moore Foster, the teacher from Florida, who said she and her cousin, the family’s historian, saw MSUs video story on YouTube.

“I think it (bottle) was meant to be found the way it all turned out,’’ Foster said. “It’s like a little Christmas present. My mom would be so pleased to know that this is happening.’’

When the story appeared, Young reached out to me through email. She said her grandmother was Eileen, that Nancy Moore Foster was her aunt and Lennon appeared to be her grandfather based on family history. He was a mason and would have been working at that time.

Young said she is excited about the discover, since the family didn’t know much about him. She said her family laughs about it now, because all of this came about from a beer bottle.

“However, the pride in their work was by leaving the note in the first place,’’ Young said. “We wouldn’t be surprised if there were more around there in the older buildings.’’

Maybe not bottles. But during renovations, workers came across notes written on attic walls of College Hall to students on their way to World War II. They also found a business card from the 1940s. It belonged to C.H. Little of the craftworkers labor union, BMIU of Montclair, No. 11.

“We knew we had something special with this building early in its renovation,” said Shawn Connolly, vice president of Montclair State University facilities.

Finding this bottle, however, was even more intriguing. Arnold said it wasn’t a time capsule that organizations and schools publicize when burying artifacts.

Unless Hanley and Lennon told co-workers that day, Arnold said no one would have known until Montclair State decided to do a renovation project.

And even that wasn’t a guarantee. Kanaby just happened to be in the right spot.

“If he had just gone a little bit more over, they may have taken down that wall in a big chunk,’’ said Arnold.

Kanaby said he picked up pieces of glass that had shattered. The rest of the bottle was still wedged in the wall with the note, written in cursive letters on parchment paper that he unfurled and read.

When you think about it, that’s another compelling part to the story. Arnold said not much air got inside of the bottle to fade the ink that Lennon and Hanley used to write the note.

Now that relatives have been found, Kanaby said he would like to meet and show them how hard Lennon and Hanley worked on the wall.

“Back then it was made with blood, sweat and tears,’’ he said.

Kanaby should get that chance for introductions.

After the building renovations are completed, Montclair State will invite the families to a ceremony this summer.

“Everything has come full circle,” Kanaby said.

Online: https://bit.ly/37XbziM