The Conn Farm or Tamaracks is an area of land located in Byram Township, Sussex County. It is situated between the areas of Andover, Whitehall, and Roseville, and is bordered by Route 206 to the south and west, County Road 607 to the east and Roseville Road to the north.
James Conn came to the Sussex County area from Ireland sometime in the late 1700s. He settled on a farm located midway between Andover and Roseville Mine. James Conn had three sons: Joseph, Samuel, and Robert. Joseph was still living in the area in 1880, but little else is known about the remainder of the Conn family.
Franklin Green Colby was born in Brooklyn, New York on August 10, 1858. He purchased the land known as the Conn Farm about 1901. He and his wife Josephine Wood Colby, had two children, Emily and Franklin Hornor Colby ("Lin"). Franklin Colby Sr. was engaged in foreign business as an exporter and importer, with offices in New York and Liverpool. He was also involved for a time in manufacturing in the Philippines.
Josephine Wood Colby was born in New York City on January 26, 1862. She was an internationally trained artist, studying at the Pratt Institute and the National Academy of Design, as well as in France and England. She founded the Women's Art Club in New York City. Her work was exhibited in Liverpool and Manchester England.
During the years 1914-1915, the Colbys built an Italian style mansion called "The Tamaracks" on the property they owned in Byram Township. They were known to have entertained there extensively. Franklin Colby subsequently lost much of his fortune in the stock market crash of 1929, and his wife died in 1930. He himself died in June of 1941 without having realized his plans of developing his land in Sussex County.
Sources:
Falk, Peter H., ed.
Snell, James P.
The Conn Farm-Tamaracks Collection consists of one document box of material relating to the area of land in Byram Township known as the Conn Farm and later known as the Tamaracks. These records concern, for the most part, ownership by the families of James Conn and Franklin Green Colby. Each set of records, including deeds, maps, surveys, and personal correspondence is arranged chronologically.
This material is open for research without restriction under the conditions of the North Jersey History and Genealogy Center archives access policy. Records may be copied for use in individual scholarly or personal research, however, as with all materials in the History Center, researchers are responsible for obtaining copyright permission to use material from the collection. Material in the Conn Farm-Tamaracks Collection may be photocopied, but because this material is a permanent part of the History Center's collections, researchers are advised to photocopy with care, using only the edge copier for bound material.
Material for the collection was first acquired by the North Jersey History and Genealogy Center in April of 1994 when Carolin Colby Janzen presented the library with the original agreement for survey of the Conn property dated 1789 which she found among the papers of her father, Franklin H. Colby. She subsequently discovered and donated the remainder of the collection in June, 1994.
Conn Farm-Tamaracks Collection. North Jersey History and Genealogy Center, The Morristown and Morris Township Library
Arranged by Kimberly Avagliano, 1999. Finding Aid updated by North Jersey History Center archivist, 2008.