Remembering Willie Howard and Bedminster’s Willie’s Tavern

Often, Mr. Local History doesn’t search for stories as those stories find us. Case in point is this weird little story about a man who comes to America only to find that his life is remembered after Basking Ridge’s Jack Welsh names a bar in Willie Howard’s honor over a century after his death. We take you to a small Jersey town called Bedminster, New Jersey, and tell you a story about one of the men who owned a small bar still serving today.

Like most stories, we start with a quick genealogy search. Usually, we go back a few generations to when the family emigrated to the United States. This most likely started when William was young, and his father, Henry, and grandfather, William, came to America, landing in New Jersey. Willie’s life began in England, where he was born. As we dug into Ancestry, we found one William after another throughout Willie’s family tree. Then came a few Henrys and a few other monarch names. We kept digging, going back generations. William Howard has been part of the Howard namesake in honor of four English Kings, King Williams of England (I, II, III, and IV), who shared the name William with our deer friend “Willie.” Did you have to bow when you met Willie? Only history knows.

Willie was born in Bury, England, and his father, Henry, had three children over 13 years old. Henry Alfred “Harry” Howard married Mary Jane Dunleavy in Manchester, Lancashire, England, on November 21, 1869, when he was 19. His son William Willie was born in Bury, England, on August 4, 1871. His second son, Fredrick, was born in 1871 in Blackburn, UK.

In 1880, the Howard family lived in Montclair, New Jersey. On July 7, 1884, Henry’s daughter Helen was born in Hillside. Willie was also living in Hillside at the time. Henry Howard died in Orange, New Jersey, on August 3, 1891, at only 41. So the family was very near the Montclair hunting scene of the rich and famous of West Orange’s Llewellyn Park.

Here Comes Opportunity – Charles “Charley” Pfizer

Willie’s life changed when he met Charles Pfizer, the Pfizer pharma conglomerate. In 1890, in Montclair, the Essex County Country Club sold the Essex County Hunt Club and the Essex County Hounds to Charles Pfizer Jr.. Two years later, Pfizer moved to Bernardsville and relocated the clubs to Bernardsville, then Peapack, New Jersey. Pfizer Jr. purchased a 150-acre farm in Gladstone from Cornelius Wyckoff Schomp, converting the farm barns into large stables and kennels. The Essex Hunt Club reorganizes under the banner Essex Fox Hounds and leases the Essex Hunt Club in Peapack. That’s why a club in Somerset County is named after a club from Essex County.

It was stated in a ledger that in 1890, Charles “Charley” Pfizer Jr. was the Master, and William Howard served as Huntsman of the Essex Hunt Club. The huntsman would take control of the hounds, equipment, and the hunting territory. In 1893, with Willie Howard at Pfizer Jr’s side, Howard was nominated as huntsman for the actual Essex Hunt. Pfizer and the Essex Hunt Club trustees approved Willie Howard as the Essex Hunt Club huntsman. Based on our research, you could most likely call Willie Howard the first huntsman of the Essex Hunt Club in Somerset County.

Howards Take Root in Bedminster

Approximately five years after landing the Essex Hunt Club in the area in 1898, William and his wife Bertha wanted to expand their footprint there. They decided to purchase the Bedminster Hotel, as it was called at the time, for $5,000. The hotel was later renamed “Howard’s Hotel,” where Willie and his family served as proprietors for over 65 years.

The advertisement above shows J. (John) Kenneally, who became Willie’s hotel partner. This is why “Howard’s Hotel” was most likely renamed the “Bedminster Hotel.” Keneally was married in 1901 to Mary Ann Howard, Willie’s sister, so the hotel was still in the family. John Kenneally was born on September 13, 1872, in West Orange, New Jersey, so the families had connections in Essex County before Bedminster.

Bedminster’s Lasting Memory

The Howard family owned the local hotel, the Bedminster Hotel (Howard’s Hotel), for over 65 years. But it wasn’t until 1989 when Jack Welch’s Growth Restaurants of Basking Ridge purchased the Inn, and in October 1989, the ‘Inn’ was renamed Willie’s Taverne, honoring Willie Howard. The establishment would hold the name for 22 years until 2011, when it was changed to the name we have today. Welch was one of the founding members of Growth Restaurants, which owned The Store, Willy’s, Thirsty Turtle, Bamboo Grill, Readington Road House, and the Public House.

As they say, the rest is history.

Timeline – Willie Howard and Willie’s Taverne

• In 1893, William “Willie” Howard came to Gladstone with Charles Pfizer and served as huntsman for Essex Hunt Club. In 1898, Willie and his wife, Bertha, purchased the Bedminster Hotel, as it was called, for $5,000. The hotel was renamed the “Howard Hotel.”
• 1905—Willie Howard’s favorite filly, “Ninette,” dies. Willie decides to bury the horse behind his hotel. He and Bertha would later name their last child Ninette in 1911.
• 1929—Willie Howard dies. He, his wife Bertha, and most siblings are buried in the nearby Bedminster Reformed Church cemetery.
• 1929 – Son Harry Alfred Howard (1892-1960) takes over the Bedminster Inn. Previously, Harry was a mechanic working with Thomas Alva Edison in W. Orange, NJ. Harry had been living in Hilton (South Orange, New Jersey) after serving in WW1.
• 1937 – Mrs. Bertha Howard sells Howard’s Old Stone home in Bedminster to Dr. William Lowndes of Short Hills (noted October 14). This was the same home built by the Melicks (who built the original Bedminster tavern.)
• 1950 – The US Census shows Bertha Howard as the hotel Manager, with Harry, Margaret, and William Jr. as “Assistant Managers.”
• 1963 – Willie & Bertha’s son, Harry Howard, dies in 1960. Three years later, the establishment, named the Bedminster Inn at the time, is sold to J. Duncan Pitney (50%) and Ned Burke (50%), who held the Inn for one year before selling it to John H. Ewing, a Bedminster resident and a New Jersey Assemblyman / Senator. Ned Burke was the Mayor of Far Hills.
• 1963 – Willie Howard’s other son, Thomas, Harry, and the rest of his family owned the inn for 65 years (1898-1963).
• 1963 – John H. Ewing, a Bedminster resident, takes control of the Inn.
• 1989 – The Kissels family sells “The Inn” to Jack Welch’s partnership of Basking Ridge in July 1989. Three months of extensive renovations followed, and in October 1989, The Inn was renamed Willie’s Taverne after William “Willie” Howard.
• 2011—Delicious Heights—Willie’s Tavern was purchased by 3J Management Inc. on Sept. 26, 2011. The buyers were Ralph Acquaviva of Basking Ridge. For 22 years, the name “Willie’s Taverne” has stuck in residents’ minds. There you have it.

Willie Tidbits

• Willie is a decedent of English royalty. Willies 8^th Great Grandfather – Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Norfolk, 21st Earl of Arundel, 4th Earl of Surrey, 17th Baron Segrave, 16th Baron Mowbray, 11th Baron Maltra
• Willies 7^th Great Grandfather -Sir Henry Frederick Knight of the Garter HOWARD, 22nd Earl of Arundel
• Willie Howard had ten children with his wife, Bertha.
  • Henry – Not Married
  • Harry Alfred married – Lydia Tiedemann and had one daughter
  • Margaret (Greta) – Not married
  • George – Not married
  • William  – Not Married
  • Mary Alice – Not Married
  • Frank J. – Not Married
  • Charles – Not Married
  • John – Not Married
  • Ninette – Not Married
• Willie is buried in the Bedminster Reformed Churchyard.
• Willie was Charles Pfizer’s huntsman for the Essex Fox Hounds and the Essex Hunt Club, which started in Montclair in 1890.
• Willie was 60 when he died in 1928.
• Willie’s favorite horse was named Ninette, and when the horse died, it is said Willie buried her behind the hotel.
• Willie’s daughter Ninette Howard was born in New Jersey on August 19, 1911. Her father, William, was 40, and her mother, Bertha, was 39. She had seven brothers and two sisters. She died on June 2, 1976, in Gladstone, New Jersey, at 64.
• 1989—The Kissels sold The Inn to Jack Welch’s partnership of Basking Ridge in July 1989. Three months of extensive renovations followed, and in October 1989, the Inn was renamed Willie’s Taverne after Willie Howard. This name lasted until 2011 (22 years) but left a lasting impression.

Photos

Isn’t it strange that in the 1900s, you can’t find a photo of a man, but when we look back centuries for Willies’ family members, we can find something? We contacted the Essex Hunt Club and the Essex Fox Hounds organizations and could only find a painting with a ‘possible’ Willie Howard sighting.

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