F CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FROM Cornell University Library F 142U5 R54 + History of Union County, New Jersey / ed tory I 3 1924 028 828 584 olin Overs Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028828584 "'JS' \ ^ lloi^^Q/HCyJj HISTORY UNION COUNTY N5W JERSEY f'M, ILLUSTRATED- ' EDITED BY F. W. RICORD EAST JERSEY HISTORY COMPANY NEWARK, NEW JERSEY 1897 / S»C A;7fiyx.o TYPOGUAPHY AND PRESSWORK EY THE HOLBROOK PRINTING HOUSE NEWARK, NEW JERSRY 1)% PREFACE REPARED by a number of writers, and deriving its inform- ation from various sources, the History of Union County, with its many excellencies as well as defects, is now submitted to the reader for his criticism. The compilation covers a period of more than a century and a half, and in securing the facts, recourse has been had to divers authorities. These have been numerous, including various histories and historical collections, and implying an almost endless array of papers and documents, — -public, private, social and ecclesiastical. That so much matter could be gathered from so many original sources and then sifted and assimilated for the production of one single volume without inciirring a modicum of errors and inaccuracies, would be too much to expect of any corps of writers, no matter how able they might be as statisticians or skilled as compilers of such works. It is, nevertheless, believed that no in- accuracies of a serious nature can be found to impair the historical value of the book, and it is also further believed that the results of our work will supply the exigent demand which called forth the efforts of the publishers and the honored and able editor, Judge Frederick W. Ricord, whose death occurred shortly after the completion of the material for the history. Due credit has in most instances been given for the borrowed matter. The following authorities, however, should be mentioned in particular : Dr. Hatfield's History of Elizabeth has been freely used, .and has furnished much material, both for the annals of Elizabeth and for those of the county at large. Dr. Murray's Notes on Elizabeth have also been itnsparingly utilized, as being exceptionally valuable. Besides this, extracts from other volumes, considered authoritative, have been made, with an eye ever single to the historical value of the matter used. Various collections have been made in this way from notes compiled by C. A. Leveridge, some years since, for the History of Union and Middlesex Counties ; and from a valuable history of Elizabeth by the Journal Printing House. We are are also indebted to the generosity of this company for many views, which the}^ have kindly furnished us to illustrate the chapters pertaining to Elizabeth. We also pay acknowl- edgment to the Daily Deader, of Elizabeth, for much material bearing upon the manufacturing history of that city ; and also to other publica- tions of the county that have kindly come to our aid in various ways. Among those who have offered most valuable contributions to the work should be mentioned Henry R. Cannon, M. D., of Elizabeth, who iv PREFACE, wrote the history of the courts and also the Masonic history of the county ; Mrs. Emily K. Williamson, secretary of the state board of charities, who wrote concerning the Revolutionary epoch and furnished other sketches; Mrs. Mary N. Putnam, regent of Boudinot Chapter, Elizabeth, who wrote of the Daughters of the American Revplution and also of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America ; Warren R. Dix, A. M., Ivly. D., of Elizabeth, who favored us with a most interesting chapter entitled "Former French Residents of Elizabeth;" Hon. Ivcwis S. Hyer, who wrote the history of Rahwa}- ; the Rev. Newton W. Cadwell, pastor of the First Presbyterian church, of Westfield, who contributes a history, with distinct local coloring and atmosphere, concerning the township and city of Westfield ; and A. M. Cory, M. D., who wrote the history of New Providence. Special mention shoiild be made of the contributions, by permission, of Miss Julia Littell and J. W. Clift, of Summit ; of Charles E. Buell .and Rev. A. H. Ivcwis, D. D., of Plainfield; and of W. P. Tuttle and P. C. McChesney, of Springfield. To many others are we indebted for kindly courtesies and assistance, and with so much accredited authority the publishers feel confident a valuable book has been produced, — one whose intrinsic worth will be cumulative and be the more appreciated as time advances. The Publishers. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I Indian History — Hostility Against the Dutch — Extinguishment of Claims to I^ands in New Jersey . i CHAPTER II Discovery of Achter Kol, and Attempts to Colonize by the Dutch 4 CHAPTER III The English Settlement at Elizabeth Town 7 CHAPTER IV Government of Philip Carteret 10 CHAPTER V The Township of Elizabeth Town — When Organized — L,ost Records — Originally Part of Essex County — Township Officials — Subdivisions of the Township 15 CHAPTER VI Borough of Elizabeth Town — When Incorporated — Charter — Name — First Officers Chosen — "Great Revival" — Negro Con- spiracy — Proceedings of the Borough — Court House of the Borough ig CHAPTER VII War of the Revolution — The Spirit Manifested by the People of Elizabeth — Provincial Convention — County Committee — Meet- ing of Freeholders of . the Town — Denunciation of Certain Pamphlets — -Action Against Inhabitants of Staten Island . . 22 CHAPTER VIII War of the Revolution, Continued — Battle of Lexington — Elizabeth Town Rises to Arms — Aaron Burr — Ammunition — Capture of the "Blue Mountain Valley" — New Jersey Militia — British Forces in New York — General Divingston Chosen Governor — Campaign Transferred to New Jersey 25 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER IX Page Union Count}' in the War of the Revolution — -Military Engage- ments — Discouraging Outlook for Patriots — Battle of Elizabeth Town — Death of Mrs. Caldwell — The Fighting Chaplain Killed — Execution of Morgan 32 CHAPTER X Elizabeth Town's Glorious Record — The Boudinot House — Liberty Hall— The General Scott House— Hon. Abraham Clark— Gen- eral Elias Dayton — Hon. Jonathan Dayton — Governor Aaron Ogden — Colonel Francis Barber ... 38 CHAPTER XI Union Count)- in the War of the Rebellion — Regiments Enlisted — General Taylor's Official Report — Fourteenth Regiment . . 46 CHAPTER XII Societies, Colonial and Revolutionary — Free Masonry — Sons of the American Revolution — Daughters of the American Revolution — National Society of the Colonial Dames of America — Free Masonry in Union County — Royal Arch Masons — Knights Templar 53 CHAPTER XIII Representative Physicians of Union County 62 CHAPTER XI\^ History of the Courts of Union County 149 CHAPTER XV Representative Lawyers of Union County 154 CHAPTER XVI Former French Residents of Elizabeth 200 CHAPTER XVII The City of Elizabeth^Postal Facilities — Fire Department — Police. Department— Public Works and Charitable Institutions — Rail- road Facilities — New York and New Jersey Telephone Com- pany — Library Hall and Elizabeth Public Library and Reading Room — Educational Advantages — Lansley Business College — Private Schools of the Past — The Massie School — Mr. Fay's TABLE OF CONTENTS Page School— Mr. Foote's School— The Pingry School— St. Joseph's Academy — Parochial Schools — Financial and Statistical — Suburban Electric Company — Elizabethtown Water Company — Elizabethtown Gas Light Company — Manufacturing — Singer Manufacturing Company — Brooklyn and New York Railwaj- Supply Company — Ball & Wood Company — S. L. Moore & Sons Company — Henry R. Worthington — Elizabeth Ice Com- pany — Bowker Fertilizer Company — Cooke Brothers — Eugene Munsell & Compau}- — Crescent Ship Yards— New Jersey Dry Dock and Transportation Company — Sanford Clark Company — Miscellaneous Enterprises — ^Elizabeth Pottery Works — Ameri- can Gas Furnace Company — Graff & Company — A. Heidritter & Sons — Borne-Scrymser Company 205 CHAPTER XVIII The Church History of Elizabeth — Societies Individually Con- sidered . . . 233 CHAPTER XIX The City of Elizabeth, Continued — Newspapers, Hospitals, Asylums, etc. — Elizabeth Daily Journal — Elizabeth Daily Leader — Eliza- beth General Hospital and Dispensary — Alexian Brothers' Hos- pital — Orphan Asylum — Home for Aged Women . . , -283 CHAPTER XX Biographical and Genealogical Records .... . 292 CHAPTER XXI A brief History of Rahway . . . ■ 344 CHAPTER XXII City of Rahway — Manufacturing — Houseman & McManus — Ayers & Lufbery — Regina Music Box Company — Gordon Printing Press Works— Hetfield & Jackson — ^Miscellaneous Industries — Rahway Fire Department — Rahway Savings Institution — Rahway Gas Light Company— Friends' Meeting— Churches — Schools— Rahway Library — Young Men's Christian Associa- tion — Children's Home — Woman's Christian Temperance Union — Cemeteries — Biography . . . . ■ 352 CHAPTER XXIII The Township and City of Plainfield— Schools— History of Post Office— Netherwood Heights— The Daily Press and Weekly Constitutionalist — Church History .... 395 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER XXIV Page The Township and City of Plainfield, Continued— Churches- Young Men's Christian Association — Educational Advantages — Mr. Teal's School— Plainfield Seminary— Miss Scribner and Miss Newton's School for Girls— Plainfield Manual Training and Grammar School— Plainfield Latin School— P. Ludwig Conde— Public lyibrary — Muhlenberg Hospital — Opera House — Hotels— Street Railway — Electricity and Gas — Railroad Facil- ities — Water Supply . . • • 4io CHAPTER XXV Biographical and Genealogical Records . . ■ 426 CHAPTER XXVI Springfield — Civil Organization — Springfield's Big Day; Elaborate Ceremonies in Two Places — Springfield Cemetery — First Pres- byterian Church — Biography . . 481 CHAPTER XXVII Brief History of Westfield — Westfield Prior to 1720 — Name and Settlement — Westfield in Revolutionary Days — Battle of Lexington — Brush with the Enemy and Pursuit to West- field — Retreat of the British from Westfield — Hard Winter of 1780 — Predatory Raids — Powder — Rev. James Caldwell — Trial of Morgan at Westfield — Further Revolutionary Data — The Jersey Blues — General Washington in Westfield — Famotis Old " One Horn " — Captain John Scudder and Lord Stirling — ■ Indians in the Township — Slaves in Westfield — Where They Lived Over a Century Ago — Old Revolutionary Bell — Westfield Township, 1794 — Westfield Centennial Banquet — How Setting Off of Westfield was Greeted — Centennial Fourth of July — ■ Historical Exhibition — Westfield Schools — Teachers — Taverns — Postmasters — Physicians — Commuting in 1679 and 1897 — Old-time Modes of Punishment — Old Township Records — Rev. Edwin Downer — Rev. David R. Downer — Rev. Philemon E. Coe — Westfield Volunteers — Old Churchyard — Fairview Ceme- tery — Addison S. Clark — Town Officers — Newspapers — Public Library — Free Masons — Royal Arcanum — Ancient Order of United Workmen — Junior Order of United American Mechanics — Woman's Christian Temperance Union — Children's Country Home — Camp Woolfe — Independent Order of Stars — Westfield Club — Water Supply — Sewer Question — Electric Light — Borough of Mountainside — Westfield Curios — Notes — Churches Organized — Townships Set Off" — Natural Features — Westfield's Chronology — Biograph}- 504 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER XXVIII 1 iige New Providence — Presbyterian Church — Methodist Episcopal Church — St. Luke's Church, Murray Hill — Biography- . . 578 CHAPTER XXIX Summit — Early Settlement — Civil Organization — Villages and Hamlets — Social and Athletic Clubs — Churches — Calvary Church — St. Teresa's Church — Methodist Episcopal Church — Central Presbyterian Church — First Baptist Church — Young Men's Christian Association — Real Estate — Charities — News- papers — Township Officers — Florists — Fire Department — High School — Free Library — Summit Bank — Early History — Biography . . . . . . 587 CHAPTER XXX Fanwood Township — Early Settlers — Baptist Church — Burial Ground — Methodist Episcopal Church — All Saints' Church — Inns and Inn-keepers — Seeley Paper Mills — Biography . 613 CHAPTER XXXI Union Township — Lyons Farm — Evergreen Cemetery — Connecti- cut Farms — Presbyterian Church .... .... 630 CHAPTER XXXII Linden Township — Early Settlers — Old Wheat Sheaf Inn — Schools — Linden Village — Reformed Church — Methodist Episcopal Church — Grace Church, Protestant Episcopal — St. Luke's Church, Protestant Episcopal — Presbyterian Church — Baptist Church— Biography 636 CHAPTER XXXIII Township of Cranford — Early Settlements — Crane ville— Post Offices — Cranford — A Vine of the Lord's Planting — Methodist Epis- copal Church — Trinity Church, Protestant Episcopal — St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church — Schools . . 644 INDEX Ackerman, Ernest R. . Ackerman, J. Hervey . Ackerman, Warren Adams, Daniel C. . B Babcock, George H. Badeau, William E. Barber, Francis . . . Barr, John D Barrel!, Henry F. . . Bassett, Carrol P. . . Bassinger, Samuel H. . Baxter, Charles J . . Benton, Thomas H . . Berry, Samuel J. Bird, George W Bloodgobd, Freeman Bond, Lewis. . . Bonuel, Johnathau C. . Bracher, George S. Breidt, Peter Brennan, James J . . . Brown, John B . Cadwell, Newton W Caldwell, James. Cannon, Henry R. Chrystal, Joseph O. Cladeck, Walter E' Clark, Abraham. Clark, Addison S. . Clark, Frederick C. Clark, James . . Clark, Robert M. . Clauss, Henry. Clift, JohnW. . . Closson, James T Codding, Charles N. . . Codington, William R. . . Coe, Philemon E. . . . Coles, Abraham, (frontispiece) Coles, J. Ackerman Compton, Halsted C. Compton, Nathan V. Condit, Israel D. . . Coriell, William McD Cory, Abraham 11 Page 459 168 623 144 426 605 45 317 584 607 142 434 308 325 189 571 438 599 383 229 327 455 568 510 141 611 144 43 544 608 457 189 340 602 466 570 178 542 62 88 467 389 499 434 136 Coward, Joseph B Crane, Augustus S. . Crane, J. Williams . Cross, Joseph . . D Daly, John J Davis, Thomas S Day, William F. Day ton, Elias. . . Dayton, Jonathan . Diehl, Philip . Dillingham, George W. Dix, J. Augustus. Dix, Warren R . Doane, Thaddeus O . . Dolan, Thomas E • - . Downer, David R. Downer, Edwin Dumont, John B . . Durand, James H Egleston, Melville. . Engel, Francis . . English, Nicholas C. J. Estil, Hugh M . . . F Fisk, Charles J Fleming, Peter G . . . Fowler, Charles N French, Phineas M . . French, Theodore F. . Frost, George H. Gardner, John J . Gilbert, Alexander . Glasby, Frederick F. Green, James S . • Green, Robert S. . . Gregory, John H Harrison, Joseph B Hart, Levi E . . . . Hegeman, Benjamin A., Jr Henderson, John J . Hetfield, John M . Hetfield, Levi Page 171 286 303 169 140 139 160 44 44 332 611 317 320 440 145 541 540 467 183 19s 296 174 473 470 336 165 47' 477 479 316 450 329 117 159 325 142 193 462 123 439 436 INDEX Page Heyer, William D ..... . 305 Holmes, Barnabas 306 Holmes, Charles B. 131 Hope, James W 642 Horning, George H 296 Horr, Roswell G 431 Horton, Richard . . 35S Howard, William 384 Hubbard, James F .... 453 Hyer, Lewis S . . . ... 387 J Jackson, Thomas J 146 Jenkins, Olin 1/ . 134 Johnson, Harris L 322 Johnson, John W 474 K Kelly, Edward B 610 Kempshall, Everard 242 Kirk, William T . 451 Kurtz, Charles • 332 1/ Lambert Family, The 575 Lansley, James H 212 Lewis, Abram H 410 Lints, Frank 379 Long, John P 308 Lowry, Robert 413 Lyon, Sylvanus 501 M MacConnell, Joseph K 138 MacDonald, J. Fred 469 Machlet, George W 334 Magie, William J 171 Marsh, Francis E • 186 Martin, Frank L. C 464 Martine, James E 446 McBride, Charles C 285 McCartney, P. J 393 McChesney, Peter C 502 McCutchen, Charles W 449 McGee, Flavel 484 McMahon, William 379 McNabb, Charles J 188 Miller, David M 114 Miller, George C 627 Miller, Lebbeus B. . . ... 327 Miller, Lewis W 628 Moffett, Charles L 182 Mooney, Nicholas 385 Moore, James 298 Moore, S. L. & Sons Company . 223 Mulford, Aaron D . . . . . 322 Myers, Jared K 461 New York and New Jersey Telephone Company Noll, Paul N . Nugent, Edward. O Oakes, James . . . Ogden, Aaron. Ogdeii, James C . . O'Neill, Francis ■ I Page, George S. Patterson, Robert L Pease, N. W. Pfarrer, Henry . Potter, Charles . . Potter Family, The . Probasco, John B Putnam, Erastus G Putnam, Mary N R Rankin, William H Reeve, Melancthon W Regiua Music Box Company Root, Charles M. . Runkle, Harry G Runyon, Harry C . Ryno, Daniel K . . Savage, Edward S . . . Sayre, WicklifFe B . . . Schultz, Carl H. . . Scudder, Mulford M. , . Serrell, Lemuel W . Shotwell, Abel V . . . Silvers, Elihu B . . . . Simpson, Maxwell S . . Singer Manufacturing Company Smith, J. Augustus . Smith, William P . Smyth, Patrick E ... Stearns, Josiah Q Stelle, Randolph M Stiles, James O Stillman, Charles H Stillman, Frank M Stillman, William M .... Suydam, Henry C . . • • . . Swackhamer, Samuel S T Tenney, George C . Thomas Family, The Titsworth, Rudolph M . . 208 336 191 339 44 3'4 280 602 316 211 326 441 601 119 120 307 338 343 354 330 447 198 391 181 331 583 575 448 378 123 128 221 478 475 412 134 454 34' 115 377 176 180 191 321 309 444 INDEX Page ToUes, Ralph I . . 447 Tracy, Jeremiah E 161 Tufts, Philip E 381 Tyler, Mason W 163 V Voorhees, Foster M 172 W Ward, Clarence D . 195 Watson, James Madison . ... 292 Welch, Robert W • • . 334 Westcott, Frank W 121 Whittingham, Edward T 503 Williamson, Benjamin Williamson, Emily E Williamson, Isaac H Wilson, Norton L Woodruff, A. Edward Woodruff, Jonathan . Woodruff, Newton Y Yates, Joseph W Yerkes, David J Page 156 297 179 376 5l2 429 407 Zeglio, Peter J 127 INDIAN GROUP LINCOLN PARK, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY EXECUTED BY C. b. IVES, AND PRESENTED TO THE CITY OF NEWARK BY DR. J. ACKERMAN COLES CHAPTER I. INDIAN HISTORY. HE history of Union county includes that of the Indians as well as that of the whites ; but whence these savage tribes came or how long they had dwelt on these shores neither history nor tradition can tell. It does not appejir that the Indians inhabiting New Jersey were very numerous. In an old publi- cation entitled "A Description of New Albion," and dated A. D. 1648, it is found stated that the Indians inhabiting New Jersey were governed by about twenty kings, but the insignificance of the power of these kings may be inferred from the fact that only twelve hundred Indians were under the two Raritan kings on the north side next the Hudson river. Whitehead, in his " East Jersey Under the Proprietary Government," says there were not more than two thousand Indians within the province while it was under the Dutch. The Indians inhab- iting the lower Hudson and East Jersey country are considered by most writers as belonging to the Delaware or Denni-L,enape nation, and the Minsies — a branch of the Delaware nation — occiipied the country from the Minisink to Staten Island and from the Hudson to the Raritan valley. In this section of New Jersey they were called Raritans, Hackensacks, Pomptons and Tappeans. On the island of Manhattan dwelt the fierce Manhattans. DeL,aet calls them " a wicked nation " and enemies of the Dutch. Before the white man took up his residence in this country the Lenape nation was subjugated by the powerful Iroquois. The con- quered nation, however, were permitted to remain on their former hunting grounds by the payment of tribute, which, as an acknowledg- ment of their vassalage, was exacted of them annually. The first hostility of the Indians against the Dutch was directed against their plantation on the Delaware, which was totally destroyed. DeVries tells us that in the year 1630 thirty-two men were killed. In 1641 an expedition was fitted out against the Indians on the Raritan, they having been accused, though wrongfully, of trespassing and committing theft. Various causes led to the outbreak of 1643. One cause was the exacting of a tribute from the Indians by Kieft, the director-general, in 1639 ; another was the killing of a white man by an Indian, in 1641, in retaliation for robbery and murder of one of his tribe many years before. 2 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY In 1655, during the absence of Governor Stuyvesant to expel the Swedes from the Delawares, troubles again arose with the Indians. The cause of this trouble was the accidental killing of an Indian girl, shot by Heudrick VanDyck while trying to protect his apple orchard from being robbed by the Indians, who had by night landed on Man- hattan for that purpose. News of the outrage spread and the Indians determined on signal revenge. On the night of the 15th of September sixty-four canoes, carrying five hundred warriors, landed at New Amsterdam. They searched through the town until they found VanDyck at the house of a neighbor named VauDiegrist, whom they cut down with a tomahawk, and in the affray wounded VanDyck in the breast with an arrow. The town and garrison being aroused, the Indians were driven to their canoes, and sought safety by flight to the west side of the river. In retaliation they set the houses on fire and soon all Pavonia was in ashes. Thence they proceeded to Staten Island, whose settlements they laid waste. In this assault one hundred persons were killed, one hundred and fifty carried into captivity and over three hundred deprived of their homes. When Governor VanDyck sought to bring them to terms, they hesitated, hoping to extort from the government a ransom for the prisoners. Finally, the director wished to know how much they wanted for the prisoners en masse, or for each. They replied, seventy<-eight pounds of powder and forty staves of lead for twenty-eight persons. The ransom was paid and an additional present was made by the governor. This proved the final settlement with the Indians so far as the Dutch were concerned. The Pomptons and Minsies having sold their lands, removed from New Jersey about 1730. These two tribes were engaged in the war of 1757 and 1758, but at the treaty of 1758 the entire remaining claim of the Delawares to lands in New Jersey was extinguished, except that there was reserved the right to fish in all the rivers and bays south of the Raritan and to hunt on all uninclosed lands. A tract of three thousand acres of land was also purchased at Edge Pillock, in Burling- ton county. New Jersey, and on this the remaining Delawares of New Jersey, about sixty in number, were collected and settled. They remained there until the year 1802, when they removed to New Stockbridge, near Oneida lake. New York, becoming there the Stockbridge tribe. In 1832 there remained about forty of the Delawares, among whom was still kept alive the tradition that they were the owners of the hunting and fishing privileges in New Jersey. They resolved to lay their claims before the legislature of this state and request that a moderate sum (two thousand dollars) might be paid them for its relin- quishment. The person selected to act for them in presenting the matter before the legislature was one of their own number whom they called Shawuskukhkung(meaning " wilted grass "), but who was known HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 3 among the white people as Bartholomew S. Calvin. He was born in 1756 and was educated at the expense of the Scotch Missionary Society. At the breaking out of the Revolution he left his studies to join the patriot army under Washington, and served with credit during the Revolutionary struggle. At the time he placed this matter before the legislature he was seventy-six years old, and when the legislature granted the request Mr. Calvin addressed to that distinguished body a letter of thanks, which was read before both houses in joint session and was received with repeated rounds of enthusiastic applause. CHAPTER II. DISCOVERY OF ACHTER KOL, AND ATTEMPTS TO COLONIZE BY THE DUTCH. N the third day of September, 1609, the " Half Moon," a two- masted vessel of eighty tons burden, under the command of the renowned Henry Hudson, cast anchor in Sandy Hook bay. On the following day it was visited by the natives, who seemed glad of its arrival, and on the succeeding day some of its crew landed and did some trading with the Indians. On Sunda}'-, the 6th of the month, John Coleman and four other men, who had been sent out on an exploring expedition in a little boat, sailed through the " Narrow River," the Kills, between Bergen Point and Staten Island. On Coleman's return, the same day, he was slain by an arrow of one of the treacherous natives. These five men, therefore, of whom Coleman was one, were the first discoverers of this particular tract. Henry Hudson commanded his craft in the service of the East India Company of the United Provinces. Their design was to explore a passage to China and the Indies by the northwest. In 1613 the Dutch merchants established a post at Manhattan, for the purpose of extending trade with the Indians. In 1623 they undertook to plant colonies of agriculturists in what they called New Netherlands, but their relations with the Indians were not friendly enough to make any extensive enterprises towards a settlement, and the war of 1643, before mentioned, put an end to all thoughts of that kind for several years to come. But the land was too productive not to provoke the greed of the Dutch colonists, and at the close of the year 165 1 the attempt was first made to plant a colony in this localit)^ To this fair land was directed the attention of the Honorable Cornelius Van Werckhoven, one of the Schep^ns of Utrecht, in Holland. He desired to plant two colonies, or manors, in New Netherland. A commission was, therefore, given to Augustine Hermans, then an influ- ential and wealthy citizen of New Amsterdam, to purchase the tract of land west of Staten Island from the Raritan to the Passaic river. Accordingly this whole tract, between these two rivers, and extendino- back into the country indefinitely, was bought of the natives by Hermans for Van Werckhoven. Other tracts were also purchased by this same Dutchman, — one south of the Raritan and two on Long HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 5 Island, — with the hope of large gains from each, but the Amsterdam chamber of the West India Company, having listened to objections from other greedy speculators, decided that Van Werckhoven could retain but one of the tracts in question. He chose to locate himself on Long Island. Nothing further was attempted by the Dutch on lands west of Achter Kol, as Newark bay was first called, until after the restoration of Charles II. , May 29, 1660. Among the first then to make application to the authorities for the settlement of a plantation was John Strickland, a resident of L,ong Island. The application was made in behalf of himself and a number of other New England people. The first appli- cation bears date February 15, 1660 ; another letter followed, April 29, 1661. On June 2, 1661, Captain Bryan Newton, one of Governor Stuyvesant's council, wrote the petitioners in answer, giving them liberty to look at the laud in question with a view to such a disposition of it as was desired by them. The Dutch rulers also sent over, in the spring of 1661, a general invitation to all Christian people of " tender conscience," in England or elsewhere oppressed, to erect colonies anywhere within the juris- diction of Petrus Stuyvesant, in the West Indies, between New England and Virginia in America. The proposals of the Dutch government were liberal, and having been made public, met with a warm reception in New Haven and other towns in Connecticut. A deputation was sent to New Amsterdam to make further inquiry, and to ascertain the character of the lands to be settled. "This deputation," says Hatfield, "was so courteously entertained and made so favorable a report of the country, as to induce Messrs. Benjamin Fenn and Robert Treat, magistrates of Milford, Dr. Joseph Gunn, one of the deacons of the church of Milford, and Mr. Richard Eaw, one of the magistrates of Stamford,— all of them being of the New Haven jurisdiction, and originally from Wethersfield, — to come down, in November, 1661, with full powers to negotiate with Governor Stuyvesant for the settlement of a plantation in these parts, ' within the limits of the (West India) company's jurisdiction behind Staten Island about the Raritan river.' " Among the conditions insisted upon by the New Haven people were, liberty to gather a church in a congregational way, such as they had enjoyed in New England about twenty years past ; the right of calling a synod by the English churches that might be gathered in New Netherland, for the regulation of their ecclesiastical aff'airs ; the right to administer justice in all civil matters among themselves, by magis- trates of their own selection, without appeal to other authorities ; the purchase of the lands by the Dutch government from the natives, and a full conveyance thereof to the associates forever ; none to be allowed 6 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY to settle among them except by their own consent ; the right to collect debts ; and a written charter stipulating these rights in full. To all this the governor readily consented except the concession of full powers of self-government without appeal. After long and repeated conferences on this subject, the matter, in March, 1662, was referred to the directors at Amsterdam, who, on March 26, 1663, instructed Stuyvesant to insist ou retaining appellate jurisdiction in certain criminal cases, as long as it was tenable ; but if the object in view was not obtainable without this sacrifice, then the governor was authorized to treat with the English on such terms as in his opinion were best adapted to promote the welfare of the state and its subjects. The negotiations were renewed in June, 1663, but with what result the record does not state ; it is altogether probable that the disagreement remained. In the year 1664, in the contest between the Dutch and the English, the former surrendered to the latter. New Amsterdam became New York ; Richard Nicholls became deputy governor of the state, and in a few weeks thereafter all New Netherlands came into subjection under the crown of Great Britain. CHAPTER III. THE ENGLISH SE'TTLEMENT AT ELIZABETH TOWN. CARCEIvY a month had elapsed after the fall of New Neth- erlands into the hands of the English before those settlers who several years before had sought a removal to Achter Kol, again petitioned liberty to purchase and settle a plantation at that place. The following is the petition they presented : To THE Right Honorable Colonel Richard Nicholls, Esqk-> Governor of New York, Etc.; The humble peticoners of us subscribed sheweth : That several of us, Yor Peti- couers being Intended formerly to have purchased and settled a plantation upon 3'e river called after Cull river before Yc arrival into these parts ; our intentions, notwith- standing our making some way with the Indians & charges & expenses about the premises, was obstructed by the then ruling Dutch. And some of us by reason of not having any accommodations here were put upon thoughts of removing into some other of his Majes'y's dominions ; but now upon this Yo^ happy arrival and the deceas of the Dutch interest, we would gladly proceed in the design afforsd- In order whereunlo, we make bold w* all humility to petition to Yo^ Honor that you would grant us liberty to purchase and settle a parcel of laud to Improve our labir upon the river before men- tioned, and some of us being destitude of habitation where we are, we crave yoi^ answer with as much expedition as may be. We humbly take our leave at present and subscribe, Yqr Honor to Command, John Bailies, Daniel Denton, Thomas Benydick, Nathan Denton, John Foster, Luke Watson. From Jamaica, commonly so called, September 26, 1664. The application received the prompt attention of the new governor, and the paper was presently returned with the following endorsement : Upon perusal of this petition, I do consent unto the proposals and shall give the undertakers all due encouragement in so good a work. Given under my hand, in Fort James, this 30'h of Sej^tember, 1664. Richard Nicholls. The governor's warrant having been secured, the "undertakers" next sought a conference with the owners of the soil. Captain John Baker, of the city of New York, it is said, was employed as the English and Dutch interpreter, and one of the natives as the Indian and Dutch interpreter. The meeting between the parties was held at Staten Island, where the chief Sagamores of the Indians then lived, and 8 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY resulted satisfactorily to all the parties. A tract of land was purchased, for which the following deed was given : This indenture, made the 28th Day of October in the sixteenth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord Charles, By the Grace of God of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, King, defender of the faith, etc., between Mattano, Manatnowaouc and Coues- comen, of Staten Island of the one part and John Bayly, Daniel Denton, and Luke Watson, of Jamaica in Long Island, husbandmen on the other part; Witnesseth, That the said Mattano, Manamowaouc and Couescomen hath clearly bargened and sold to the said John Bayly, Daniel Denton, and Luke Watson, their associates, their heirs, execurs, one parcel of land bounded on the south by a river commonly called the Raritans river, and on the east by the river w'^'i parts Staten Island and the main, and to run northward up After-cull bay, till we come at the first river w^h sets westwardoutof the said bay afore- said, and to run west into the country twice the length as it is broad from the north to the south of the aforementioned bounds ; together with the lands, meadows, woods, waters, fields, fenns, fishings, fowlings, w* all and singular the appurtenances, w* all gains, profits and advantages arising upon the said lands and all other premises and appurtenances, to the Said John Bayly, Daniel Denton, and Luke Watson, w'h their asso- ciates, w'li their and every of their heirs, executors, admin^s or assignes for ever, to have and to hold the said lands with the appurtenances, to the said John Bayly, Daniel Denton, and Luke Watson, with their associates, their execu^s or assignes ; and the said Mattano, Manamowaouc and Couescoman covenant, promise, grant and agree to and w'h the said John Bayly, Daniel Denton and Luke Watson, and their associates, their heirs and execu''=. to keep them safe in the enjoyment of the said lands from all expulsion and incumbrances whatsoever may arise of the said land by any person or persons, by reason of any title had or growing before the date of these presents, for which bargain, sale, covenants, grants and agreements on behalf of the said Mattano, Manamowououc and Couescomen, to be performed, observed and done theforesd parties are at their enttery upon the said land to pay to sd Mattano, Manamowaouc and Cowescomen, twenty fathom of trading cloth, two made coats, two guns, two kettles, ten bars of lead, twenty handfuls of powder; and further, the s^ John Bayly, Daniel Denton and Luke Watson do covenant, promise, grant and agree to and with the s^ Mattano, Manamowoauc and Couescoman, the foresd Indians, four hundred fathom of white wampum, after a year's expiration from the day of the said John Bayly, Daniel Denton and Luke Watson entry upon ye said lands. In witness whereof we have hereunto put our hands and seals, the day and year aforesaid. The Mark of Mattano. The Mark of Sewakherones. n. The Mark of Warinanco. Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of us witnesses. Chari,es HorslEy. The mark of Randal R. Hewett. Having thus made, in good faith, a carefully worded deed of the said purchase, the associates proceeded to submit the transaction to Governor Nicholls, from whom presently afterward they obtained an official confirmation of their title by grant in due form. The description, though designed to cover the whole territory between the Hudson and the Delaware rivers, was peculiarly applicable to the region bordering on Achter Kol, or Newark bay, and its southern estuary. The purchase was made October 28, 1664, and the governor's patent or grant on the istof December following, and the final payment of four huudred fathoms of white wampum was acknowledged by the HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY 9 grantors, November 24, 1665. Appended to the Indian deed is the following receipt : "Received of John Ogden, in part of the above specified four hundred feet of Wampum ; I say, received one hundred fathoms Wampum by me, the 18 of August, 1665. Witnesses, Samuel Edsall, James BoUen, the mark of Mattano." Endorsed on the deed is the following: "The 24 November, 1665, paid to the Indians in full payment of this obligation : In wampum, one hundred and ninety fathoms (190). In a fowling piece and lead 40 for 180 gilders that was behind for the payment of Ivuke Watson. Oxen that were kild by the Indians, seventy fathom of wampum. The sum of three hundred fathom (300) I say in all." Witnesses : The mark of Mattano. Henry Creyk. Wareham. John Dickeson, Sewah Herones, Jeremiah Osbone, Manawaouc, James Boelen, Kawameeh, lyUTONEWACH. ' ' The precise date of the first occupation of this tract by the new proprietors is not on record. By tradition it is evident that four fam- ilies at least were there in August, 1665, and it is probable that besides these four mentioned in Nicholls' grant, their associates as well, or a number of them at least, were there before that time as occupants of the town. Denton, one of the projectors of the undertaking, writes, four or five years afterward, that the usual way is for a company of people to join together, either enough to make a town or a lesser number ; these go, with the consent of the governor, and view a tract of land, there being choice enough, and finding a place convenient for a town, they return to the governor who, upon their desire, admits them into the colony, and gives them a grant or patent for the said land for themselves and associates. These persons being thus qualified settle the place and take in what inhabitants to themselves they shall see cause to admit of till their town be full. From Hatfield we quote the following : " True it is, that, on the first settlement of the said purchases and associates it was agreed and understood that the lands so purchased should be divided, in proportion to the money paid for the purchase, to wit : Into the first lot, second lot and third lot rights, the second lot to be double and the third lot treble what was divided to those called first rights." In commenting upon this point, Hatfield concludes, "that ground was broken for the settlement of the town as early as in November, 1664." A considerable number of the associates for whom the land had been purchased arrived with their wives and children and took possession of their new homes in Achter Kol. CHAPTER IV. GOVERNMENT OF PHILIP CARTERET. :LIZABETH town was the seat of the first English government in New Jersey. In 1664 the Duke of York having sold Nova Csesarea, or New Jersey, to Lord John Berkeley and Sir John Carteret, two of the lords of the privy council of King Charles, Philip Carteret was appointed governor, with plenary authority to administer the civil affairs of the colony. Early in the month of August, in the year 1665, the ship " Philip " having arrived at New York, July 29th, now makes her appearance at the point or entrance of the creek on which the town is laid out. She brings Captain Philip Carteret, a sprightly youth of six and twenty, with a company of emigrants from the Old World. Among them is a French gentleman, Robert Vauquellin, a surveyor by profession, with his wife. Captain James Bollen, of New York, is also of the number. With these came also eighteen men of the laboring class, possibly a few others, — females, probably, of whom no special mention is made, — some thirty in all. Captain Carteret, with credentials to Ogden and his townsmen, comes accredited with papers from Governor Nicholls and a governor's commission from L,ord John Berkeley, baron of Stratton, Somerset county, England, and Sir George Carteret, knight and baronet, of Saltrum, in Devon (both of the privy council), to whom the Duke of York had granted the territory lying west of Hudson's river and east of the Delaware, to be known henceforth as Nova Csesarea or New Jersey. The new governor was met by the Elizabeth Town associates at the landing, when mutual explanations followed. The Indian deed was produced and Governor Nicholls' grant was brought forward, and the tradition says that Carteret, being informed of their right to the lands, approved of the same and readily and willingly consented to become an associate with them, and went up from the place of landing with them, carrying a hoe on his shoulder, thereby intimating his intention of becoming a planter with them. We quote the following from Murray's notes on the history of Elizabeth. ' ' By the concessions and agreement of the lords proprietors HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY 11 a general assembly was established, consisting of the governor, a council and a house of burgesses. This assembly held its first meeting at Elizabeth Town on the 26th of May, 1668. The council consisted of seven and the house of burgesses of eleven members. John Ogden, Sr. , and John Bracket were the members from Elizabeth Town. It is very easily inferred that a New England influence was predominant in the first colonial legislature, as we find the chief features of the Puritan codes transferred to the statute book of New Jersey. After setting four days and passing sundry laws, they adjourned to the 3d of November, when the burgesses were increased by the addition of some delegates from the river Delaware. They sit but a few days ; and from the letters which pass between the governor and council on one hand, and the burgesses on the other, we conclude that it was dissolved amid no little excitement." In May, 1668, it was enacted that the general assembly are to meet on the first Tuesday in November next, and so to continue their meeting yearly on the same day until they shall see cause to alter the said time of meeting, but there is no record of its meeting from November, 1668, to November, 1675. Up to 1682 the sessions of the supreme court were held here. Here were all the public buildings, but not a trace of these buildings exists today, "nor," says Murray, "does even the tradition point out the site on which they stood." In 1686 the assembly met at " Amboy Perth." It afterwards alternated between Amboy and Burlington, occasionally meeting here until it became stationary at Trenton. In 1693 the assembly, resolved that the township of Elizabeth Town shall include all the land from the mouth of Rahway river west to Wood- bridge stake, and from thence westerly along the line of the county to the partition line of the province ; and from the mouth of the said Rahway river up the sound to the mouth of Bound creek, and thence to the Bound hill ; from thence northwest to the partition line of the province. Mr. Murray thinks that Basking Ridge, Pluckemin, and a part of lyamington, now lying in Somerset county, were included within these lines. The land covered by Governor Nicholls' patent for the township of Elizabeth Town, extended from the mouth of the Passaic, on the north, a distance, in a straight line, of not less than seventeen miles and running back into the country twice the distance, or thirty-four miles. Besides embracing the whole of the present territory of Union county it included the towns of Woodbridge and Piscataway, part of the towns of Newark and Clinton, a small part of Morris county and a considerable portion of Somerset county, embracing in all about five hundred thousand acres of territory, May 21, 1666, the townships of Woodbridge and Piscataway, and also on the same day the township since become the flourishing city of Newark, were all set off from Elizabeth Town, which considerably reduced that territory, to boundary 12 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY lines extending only to Rahway river on the south and to the Bound brook on the north. Difficulties soon arose between the new governor and the legislature, the former becoming jealous of his prerogatives, and the latter body refusing to become creatures of the governor's will. In 1669 the affairs of the province were involved still further in much uncertainty, on account of the trouble which had overtaken the lords proprietors at home. Berkeley had been detected in the basest corruption, and deprived of his office. Carteret had long been under the accusation of parliament as a defaulter and was expelled from the house of commons in 1669. These circumstances led to the renewal of the scheme of annexing New Jersey to the province of New York, in which Colonel Nicholls, always having been interested, succeeded in having New Jersey transferred to the Duke of York's possessions. B)' some new turn, however, the lords retained possession of their charter, and Elizabeth Town remained the seat of government of the province and the residence of the governor and his officials. The governor, however, refusing to convene the assembly or to recognize its proceedings, the latter met in 1670 and again in 1671 ; and, as the governor refused to preside over the assembly, the members, as authorized by the concessions, appointed James Carteret, the son of Sir George (who was then residing in Elizabeth Town), to preside over them. William Pardon, the secretary of the house, taking sides with the governor, refused to deliver up the acts and proceedings of the assembly, and these records were, by the authority of the governor, destroyed. The newly appointed governor then ordered the arrest of Pardon. In the meanwhile Governor Carteret fled to Bergen, and Pardon escaped from Meeker, the constable, who made his arrest. The issue of Pardon's arrest is dated May 25, 1672. Upon the advice of the lords proprietors, Governor Carteret repaired to England, in July, 1672, to lay the grievances of the province before them, leaving Captain John Berry, deputy-governor, in his place. Captain James Carteret, how- ever, occupied the government house at Elizabeth Town. On the 9th of July he issued a writ of attachment against the house and lands and all the estate of William Pardon, who had fled to England. Captain James Carteret arrived in Elizabeth Town in the summer of 1671, on his way to North Carolina to take possession of his newly acquired domain as landgrave. He was the son of Sir George Carteret, the lord proprietor of New Jersey, who instructed him, in 1673, to look after his patrimony in Carolina. His brief authority was followed by that of Captain Berry until the return of Governor Carteret from England, in November, 1674. In the meantime the Dutch had retaken the country and had again surrendered it to the English. Berkeley had sold his half of the province to John Fenwick, and Sir George Carteret HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 13 had become the sole proprietor of East Jersey by a new patent from the Duke of York. The same ship which brought over Carteret brought over Colonel Edmund Andros, the newly appointed governor of New York. Now followed the disputes of Andros and Carteret over the government of East Jersey, the seizure of Carteret and his trial, May 27, 1680, for pre- suming to exercise jurisdiction over territory within the bounds of his Majesty's letters-patent granted to his Royal Highness, the Duke of York. The jury declared Carteret not guilty, but an order was appended to the judgment of the court requiring him to give security that he would not exercise jurisdiction, either civil or military, in the province of New Jersey. On June 2d, five days after Carteret's trial, Andros called a general assembly to meet at Elizabeth Town. He presented himself personally before the deputies, unfolded the king's letters-patent and thus claiming the rights, the governor gained their consent in behalf of the people to his right to rule until the authorities in England could be heard from. On March 2, 1681, Governor Carteret resumed office, but the remainder of his administration was unimportant. With the decease of Sir George Carteret and the transfer of East Jersey to the new proprietors, the necessity arose for a new administration. This was inaugurated under Thomas Rudyard, as the deputy governor of Barclay, in 1682. Carteret died four weeks after this time, his will, made just before his death, bearing date December 10, 1682. His administration was regarded as a complete failure. Elizabeth Town was the largest and most important town in the province for many years after the settlement. Here were all the public offices, and here was the residence of most of the officers. The place and people are thus described by Thomas Rudyard, in a letter dated May, 1683 : "My habitation with Samuel Groome is at Elizabeth Town, and here we came first. It lies on a fresh, small river, with a tide ; ships of thirty or forty tons come to our doors. We cannot call our habi- tation solitary ; for what with public employ, I have little less com- pany at my house daily than I had in George Yard, although not so many pass by my doors. The people are generally a sober, professing people, wise in their generation, courteous in their behavior, and respectful to us in office among them. As for the temperature of the air, it is wonderfully suited to the humors of mankind, the wind and weather rarely holding in one point or one kind for ten days together. I bless the Lord, I never had better health, nor my family ; my daughters are very well improved in that respect, and tell me they would not change their places for George Yard, nor would I. People here are generally settled where the tide reaches." Gawen Lawrie thus writes to the proprietors, in a letter dated 14 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY "Elizabeth Town, i Month, 2d, 1684" : "Here wants nothing but people. There is not a poor body in the province nor that wants. Here is abundance of provisions, — pork and beef at two pence per pound ; fish and fowl plenty ; oysters I think would serve all England ; Indian wheat, two shillings and six pence per bushel ; it is exceeding good for food every way and two or three hundred fold increase ; cyder good and plenty for one penny per quart ; good drink that is made of water and molasses stands about two shillings per barrel, wholesome like our eight-shilling beer in England ; good venison plenty, brought in at eighteen pence per quarter ; eggs at three pence per dozen ; all things very plenty, land very good as ever I saw ; vines, walnuts, peaches, strawberries, and many other things in plenty in the woods." CHAPTER V. THE TOWNSHIP OF ELIZABETH TOWN. HE township of Elizabeth Town was not fully organized until 1693. Such a government, however, as the original colony required for its local purposes, in addition to the government of the province itself, was established among the first planters in 1665. The infant plantation of Elizabeth Town was not only the seat of the first general English government in East Jersey, but also of the first English government in the province. It was the capital of the province and port of entry for twenty-one years, having the government-house and custom-house, the resident governor and principal provincial officers, and the highest courts of judicature. As has been said elsewhere, Governor Philip Carteret arrived at Elizabeth Town and assumed the government of the province in August, 1665. John Ogden was commissioned justice of the peace October 26, 1665. February 12, 1666, Captain Thomas Young was appointed one of the governor's council. Luke Watson was made constable, an office which at that time answered in the place of sheriff", there being no general district or county requiring the services of the latter officer. The town records prior to 1719 having been lost or secretly dis- posed of, the record of officers for the early years is somewhat meagre. August 24, 1668, Ivuke Watson was commissioned lieutenant and commander of a military company then organized, and John Woodruff^, ensign. Robert Vauquellin and William Pardon were the first judges appointed, associated with Captain William Sanford and Robert Treat in a special court convened in May, 1671. In 1668, Robert Bond, Robert Vauquellin and William Pardon were members of the council ; John Ogden, Sr., and John Bracket, representatives in the house of burgesses ; James BoUen, secretary. From 1682 to 1857 the territory we are considering was in the county of Essex. Isaac Whitehead was appointed, September 16, 1692, high sheriff" of the county of Essex ; Isaac Whitehead and Benjamin Price,. Jr., October roth, justices of the peace for Elizabeth Town ; Henry Norris and John Lyon, November 2d, deputies to the assembly ; George Jewell, December 3d, county clerk ; Isaac White- head, Benjamin Price, Jr., and John Lyon, Jr., January 29th, judges of small causes ; and, February 21st, Isaac Whitehead, lieutenant and 16 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Daniel Price ensign of the Elizabeth Town company of foot. Isaac Whitehead was also appointed, November 4, 1693, captain of the foot company, Daniel Price being appointed November 4, 1693, captain of the foot company, Daniel Price, Jr., being appointed at the same time lieutenant, and John Lyon ensign. Richard Townley also had been appointed, March 7, 1692, a member of Governor Fletcher's council of the province of New York. Mrs. Townley had a large estate on Long Island. James Emmet received the appointment, in 1683, of chief ranger, an officer chosen by the county to look after the estrays. Rev. John Harriman and Jonas Wood were appointed, November 3, 1693, deputies, and again in 1694. Benjamin Ogden received, October 10, 1694, the appointment of sheriff"; Ephraim Price, January 15, 1695, ensign ; and John Woodruff", January 29th, judge of small causes. Daniel Price was appointed. May 3, 1697, captain of the train bands ; William Brown and Ephraim Price,, lieutenants ; and Richard Baker and Samuel Oliver, ensigns. John Woodruff" (son of the old planter) received. May 30th, the appointment of high sheriff of Essex county ; John Harriman, (Rev.) and Andrew Hampton, December i, 1698, were chosen deputies ; Robert Smith (the first of the name in the town) became, December 26, 1699, high sheriff; and, February 15, 1699, George Jewell county clerk. In 1707 the town chose Captain Daniel Price as member of assembly ; 1708-9, Benjamin Lyon ; 1710, Joseph Marsh. In 1710 Colonel Richard Townley, Benjamin Price, Jr., Daniel Price and Jonas Wood, were justices of the peace ; John Hainds, constable ; and Samuel Melyen and Thomas Price were overseers of the highways for this town. Andrew Hampton and Richard Baker were on the committee for regulating the highways of the county. In 171 1, Isaac Whitehead, Benjamin Price, Benjamin L3'on, John Woodruff and John Blanchard were justices ; John Hainds and Benja- min Meeker were constables ; and Benjamin Ogden, Jr., and Samuel Ogden were overseers of the highways. In 1712 the justices were the same ; James Seers and Samuel Ogden were constables ; and Samuel Winans and John Scudder were overseers of the highways. In 1713, constables, Ebenezer Lyon and William Clarke ; overseers of the, highways, John Craine and Joseph Kellsey. In 1714, constables, John Thomson and Benjamin Spinning ; overseers, Daniel Gale and Robert Little ; assessors. Captain Price and John Harriman. In 1715 and 1716, constables, Richard Harriman and Elijah Davis ; overseers, James Hainds, Jr., and Jacob Mitchell. In 1717, constables, Benja- min Bond, Nathaniel Whitehead and William Strayhearn ; overseers, Joseph Bond, John Lambert, Jeremiah Peek and Benjamin Parkhurst ; on the county committee of highways, Benjamin L}on and Samuel Potter. In 1718, constables, John Gould, Nathaniel Whitehead and William Strayhearn ; overseers of the highways, Edward Frazey, HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 17 Benjamin Spinning, Robert Wade and Daniel Woodruff; surveyors of the highways, Captain Daniel Price and James Sayre. In 1719, constables, William Strayhearn, Samuel Oliver, Jr., and Thomas Currey, Jr., and Joseph Marsh, Jr. In 1716 and 1721, Joseph Bonnel was chosen to the legislature. These appointments, embracing a period of about ten years, may serve to show who they were of the second generation that were looked upon as men of activity and influence by their townsmen. In almost every instance they were the grandsons of the old planters, whose names are still represented in the town. In 1740 the town committee consisted of John Crane, Jonathan Dayton, John Magie, Thomas Clarke, Andrew Joline, Joseph Mann and Andrew Craig. Robert Ogden (the second son of the name), a young lawyer, twenty-four years old, was chosen, October 2, 1740, town clerk. June 4, 1741, John Ogden was justice, and John Halsted and John Stiles freeholders. The same in 1742 ; William Chetwood sheriff of the county. The town committee in 1750 for conducting the defense of the bill in chancery were John Crane, Andrew Craig, William Miller, John Halsted, Stephen Crane, Thomas Clarke and John Chandler. SUBDIVISIONS OF THE TOWNSHIP. For a period of one hundred and twenty-eight years from the date of the original settlement the township) remained undivided, the town laws and regulations and the authority of its magistracy extending over the whole area. At an early date, however, various hamlets and clusters of farm houses gradually sprung up in different localities. The facilities for navigation and the attractions of water privileges drew quite a number of early settlers to the banks of the Rahway river. Another group of planters, mostly of one family, gave name to the neighborhood called Lyons Farms. Still another, locating a few miles to to the west, gave name to Wade's Farms. ■ Soon after, a little to the north of west, just under the mountain, a few neighbors called their settlement by the name of Springfield. Seven miles to the west of the town proper Westfield began to attract settlers quite early in the eighteenth century. Two or three miles still west of this settlement were the Scotch Plains, where a large part of the Scotch emigration of 1684-6 found a pleasant home on the eastern side of the Green brook ; while at a later period, on the same side of the brook, two or three miles lower down, a few scattered habitations served as the nucleus of Plainfield, sixteen miles from the town proper, and yet within the township. Four or five miles over the mountains to the northwest of Westfield, and nearly as far to the east of Springfield, the beautiful valley of the upper Passaic very early drew from the other parts of the town a considerable number of hardy pioneers, to whose settlement was originally given the name of Turkey, afterward changed to New Providence. 18 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY In the administration of the township laws the several parts or neighborhoods were denominated "wards," as the Rahway ward, the Westfield, the Springfield, the Farms ward, etc. , the last referring to Connecticut Farms. In the selection of civil officers for the town, — aldermen, councilman, town committee, constables, overseers of the poor, surveyors and overseers of highways, assessors, collectors, pound- keepers, as well as sheriff, coroner, marshal, or mayor of the borough, — due regard was had to the claims of these several wards. As the population increased and churches and school-houses were built, these respective settlements began to feel the inconvenience of living so remote from the central authority, the seat of government in the town proper, and of being compelled to travel so far to the town meetings. Hence, one after another, they began to agitate the question of subdivision of the township, so as to give each of these localities a township of its own. Thus originated the townships, one after another, taking their legal places on the following dates : Springfield, 1793 ; New Providence, 1794, (organized independently in 1809); Westfield, 1794 ; Rahway, 1804 ; Union, 1808 ; Plainfield, 1847. The remaining townships were subdivisions of these at later dates. The celebrated Swedish naturalist. Professor Kalm, in his botani- cal explorations of these provinces, visited this part of the country, in 1748, and this is his description of the city of Elizabeth as it appeared that year. When at Fairfield he said : Elizabeth Town is a small town about twenty English miles distant from New Brunswick ; we arrived there immediately after sun-setting. Its houses are mostly scattered, but well built, aud generally of boards, with a roof of shingles and walls covered with the same. There were likewise stone buildings. A little rivulet passes through the town from west to east ; it is almost reduced to nothing when the water ebbs away, but with full tide they can bring up small yachts. Here are two fine churches, each of which made a much better appearance than any one in Philadelphia. That belonging to the people of the Church of England was built of bricks, had a steeple with bells, aud a balustrade around it from which there was a prospect of the country. The meeting house of the Presbyterians was built of wood, but had both a steeple and bells, and was, like the other houses, covered with shingles. The town house made likewise a good appearance, and had a spire with a bell. The banks of the river were red, from the reddish limestone. Both in and about the town were many gardens and orchards ; and it might truly be said that Elizabeth Town was situated in a garden, the ground hereabouts being even and well cultivated. At night we took our lodgings at Elizabeth Town Point, at an inn, about two English miles distant from the town, and the last house on this road belonging to New Jersey. The man who had taken the lease of it, together with that of the ferry near it, told me that he paid a hundred aud ten pounds of Pennsylvania currency to the owner. October 30th we were ready to proceed on our journey at sun-rising. Near the inn where we passed the night we were to cross a river, and we were brought over, together with our horses, in a wretched half- rotten ferry. The country was low on both sides of the river, and consisted of meadows. But there was no other hay to be got, than such as commonly grows in swampy ground for as the tide comes up in this river, these low plains were sometimes overflowed when th^ water was high. The people hereabouts are said to be troubled in summer with immense swarms of gnats or musquitoes, which sting them and their cattle. This was ascribed to the low, swampy meadows, on which these insects deposit their eggs, which are afterwards hatched by the heat. CHAPTER VI. BOROUGH OF ELIZABETH TOWN. N the 8th day of February, 1739, Lewis Morris being captain- general, governor and commander-in-chief of the province, and which was in the thirteenth year of George II., the borough of Elizabeth was given an act of incorporation. The charter constituted the Passaic river from the mouth of Dead river to the Minisink crossing, the western boundary of the borough. The territory was nearly coterminous with the present Union county. On the southwest, however, it included nearly the whole of the town of War- ren, in Somerset county. It was to be known "by the name of Free Borough and Town of Elizabeth." It appointed Joseph Bonnell, Esq., "Mayor and Clerk of the Market," coroner also; John Blan chard, Esq. , recorder ; Andrew Joline, Matthias Hatfield, Thomas Price, John Ross, John Crane, and Thomas Clarke, Esqrs. , aldermen ; Noadiah Potter, John Halsted, Nathaniel Bonnel, Samuel Woodruff, Samuel Marsh and Jonathan Hampton, Gent, assistants and common council ; William Chetwood, Esq^-, sheriff ; Jonathan Dayton, chamberlain ; Thomas Hill, marshal ; John Radley, George Ross, Jr. , Daniel Marsh and John Scudder, assessors ; Robert Ogden, John Odle, John Terrill and William Clark, collectors ; James Townley, high constable ; and Robert Dittle, Nathaniel Price, Richard Harriman, John Looker, John Craige, Daniel Dunham, to be petit constables ; Henry Garthwait, Cornelius Hetfield, John Radley, Seni^-, John Allen, Ephriam Marsh and Daniel Day, overseers for the poor ; and Michael Kearney, Esq"^-- common clerk. The incorporation of the borough was followed the same year by the scenes and excitements of the "Great Revival." The year follow- ing, 1741, witnessed one of the most remarkable panics to which a slave-holding community are ever liable. It was caused by the report of a negro conspiracy in New York to burn the city and murder the white population. Recorder Horsmauden in his "History of the Negro Plot," says "During the progress of this affair one hundred and fifty-four negroes were committed to prison ; of whom fourteen were burned at the stake, eighteen hanged, seventy-one transported, and the rest pardoned or discharged for want of proof Twenty white persons were committed, of whom four were executed. ' ' 20 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY The " Account Book of the Justices and Freeholders of the County of Essex," contains the following for this county : June 4, 1741, Daniel Harrison sent in his account of wood carted for burning two negroes ; allowed cury o.ii.o. February 25, 174^^ Joseph Heden acct. for Wood to Burn the Negroes. Mr. Farrand paid allowed 0.70. Allowed to Isaac Lyon 4 curry for a load of Wood to burn the first Negro o. 4. o. At the latter meeting were present Matthias Hatfield, Justice Bliz. Town ; John Halsted, freeholder for Eliz. town. At the former John Ogden, justice; John Halsted and John Stiles, freeholders for EHzabethtown. Zophar Beech was allowed 7 s. for Irons for ye Negro that was burnt. "Possibly" says Dr. Hatfield "there were three burned at the stake." William Chetwood of the town was then sheriff. PROCEEDINGS OF THE CORPORATION OF THE BOROUGH OF ELIZABETH UNDER THE ACT OF THE LEGISLATURE OF NEW JERSEY, ENTITLED AN ACT ' ' TO ESTABLISH AND CONFORM THE CHARTER RIGHTS Monday, the nth of January, 1790, Aaron Ogden, Esq., having produced a commission to be clerk of the borough of Elizabeth, was duly qualified into that ofiBce, according to law, by the mayor of said borough ; thereupon the said clerk proceeded to qualify according to law John D. Hart, Esq., to be mayor; Elias Daj'ton, Esq., to be recorder, and Jeremiah Ballard, Stephen Crane and Robert Wade, Esqs., to be aldermen ; and Messrs. John Hendricks, Obediah Meeker, John Tucker and Samuel Tyler to be common councilmen of the said borough, — the said mayor, recorder and aldermen having severally produced their commissions for their respective offices, and said common councilmen having been appointed by law ; Moses Austin and William Southwell, having been by law appointed constables of the said borough, were severally qualified duly into ofiice by said clerk. At a meeting of the corporation of the borough of Elizabeth, in common council assembled, at the house of Samuel Smith, inn holder within said borough, on Monday, the nth of January, 1790. Present: John D. Hart, Esq., mayor ; Elias Dayton, Esq., recorder. Jeremiah Ballard, Stephen Crane, Robert Wade, aldermen. John Hendricks, Obediah Meeker, John Tucker, Samuel Tyler, common councilmen. The following rules and orders were proposed, pvit to vote and agreed to : 1. That every member give his attendance precisely and punctually at the time and place to which they shall be called or adjourned ; any neglect or trivial excuse will be esteemed an abuse and contempt of the corporation. 2. On their meeting at the time and place appointed they shall speedily form themselves into order, and the mayor, deputy mayor, recorder and senior aldermen present shall preside. 3. They shall immediately proceed vipou business upon which they are met, to which they shall all attend without conversing upon subjects foreign from the business before them. (Rules 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 governed parliamentary debate.) 9. No drink shall be introduced during the sitting of the corporation. Elias Dayton and Jeremiah Ballard, Esqs., were appointed a committee to report to the board and to procure a proper place for the holding of the borough courts until a court house be built. The corporation adjourned till Thursday, the 21st inst., to meet at this place at ten o'clock in the forenoon. At the meeting on January 2rst, William Darby, David Crane, Jesse Clark and John Scudder were qualified as common councilmen before Mayor John D. Hart, and Jedediah HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 21 Swan, Bsq., produced his commissiou for an alderman, and was duly qualified; also on the same day Henry Norris qualified as one of the constables of said borough. At this meeting the only business transacted was the ordering that "the first thing done be to raise money for a court house and gaols ; and that ^1,250 be raised by tax for a common hall and gaol of brick." Elias Dayton, Jeremiah Ballard, Stephen Crane, Samuel Tyler and Jedediah Swan were appointed a committee to " procure plans and contract for and procure bricks and other necessary materials" for the buildings. At a meeting held on February i, 1790, Isaac Woodruff produced his commission as deputy mayor, and qualified before the clerk. Samuel Potter and Benjamin Petit also qualified as common councilmen, and seem to have completed the list of borough officials. The corporation at this session decided to build the common hall separate from the jail, and set the dimensions of the former at not more than 36x55 feet. The building was to contain three rooms, one for the court room, another for the grand jury and a third for the petit jury. These plans were subsequently altered. COURT HOUSE OF THE BOROUGH. The first court house of the borough of Elizabeth was burned by the British, together with the Presbyterian church edifice, in 1780. The next court house was erected in 1797, and had been occupied only about eleven years when it was reduced to ashes, April 3, 1808, and a poor lunatic, Andrew Ross, perished in the flames. Moses Austin, high constable of the town, had been the occupant and keeper of the house for many years. Measures were immediately taken by the corporation for "its reconstruction. Aldermen Thaddeus Mills and Richardson Gray, with the recorder, Andrew Wilson, were appointed a building committee, and means taken to obtain the needed funds. A year passed and the work was not done. Captain William Dayton was substituted on the committee for Mr. Wilson. It was not until the winter of 1810-11 that the building was in a condition to be occupied. This building continued to be used for the town courts until after the formation of the county of Union, in 1857, when it was enlarged and reconstructed into the present commodious county court house. Governor Jonathan Belcher resided in the borough of Elizabeth from November, 1751, until his death, August 31, 1757. He had previously, from the time of his appointment as governor of New Jersey, resided in Burlington, where the legislature also convened. Finding the air of that place did not agree with him, he removed to Elizabeth Town, where his official business and correspondence were carried on ever after. CHAPTER VII. THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. N the enactment of the "Boston Port Bill," March 25, 1774, which closed the port and transferred the seat of government to Salem, the parliament of Great Britain acted in a spirit of pure vindictiveness. When the news of the passage of this obnoxious measure reached this country, May 10, 1774, the colonists arose in fury to resent the insult. Town meetings were immediately called, whole counties assembled, and the provinces met in congress, — in fact, the whole American people determined to stand by the people of Boston in their opposition to British oppression. This spirit was manifested in the highest degree by the people of Elizabeth. A sturdy band of patriots, led by such men as William Livingston, William Peartree Smith and Elias Boudinot, — men who were able to wield a controlling influence, — were then in power. Stephen Crane, Esq., was the mayor of Elizabeth Town ; Ephraim Terrill was deputy mayor ; John Blanchard, Elias Dayton, John Ross, Abraham Clark, Ephraim Marsh, and William Eivingston were of the corporation. There were a few people in sympathy with the British, and some were conservative ; but the great majority were bravely loyal. They were impatient to give expression to their indignation at the wrongs inflicted upon them and also to extend their feeling to the people of Boston. A formal meeting was held at the court house in Newark, June nth, when it was decided to invite a provincial convention to assemble immediately to appoint delegates to a general congress. The gentlemen appointed on the committee to carry into effect these decisions, were : Henry Garritse, of Aquackanock ; Joseph Riggs and Isaac Ogden, of Newark ; while the other six, — Stephen Crane, William Livingston, William P. Smith, John D. Hart, John Chetwood and Elias Boudinot, Esquires, — were of Elizabeth. There- after Elizabeth was made the headquarters for the patriots of the province. The several county committees, with a circular letter issued by the Essex committee, met at New Brunswick, July 21, 1774, when Stephen Crane of Elizabeth was chosen to preside. James Kinsey, William Livingston, John D. Hart, Stephen Crane and Richard Smith were made delegates to a general congress. Of these five men three were from Elizabeth. The general congress met at HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 23 Philadelphia in September and October. When the results of their deliberations were published it gave renewed energy to the determina- tion of the people to resist the oppression of the British. Mr. Hatfield tells us that "the Essex County Committee of Correspondence issued a call for town meetings, to organize the respective towns for the more vigorous prosecution of the measures recommended by congress." In compliance with this call, the free- holders of this town met at the court house on Tuesday, December 6, 1774, Stephen Crane, Esq., in the chair when a large committeee was chosen for the above mentioned purpose, viz : Jonathan Hampton, Matthias Williamson, Elias Dayton, Isaac Woodrufi", William Barnett, William Herriman, Oliver Spencer, George Ross, Edward Thomas, Cornelius Hetfield, John Blanchard, Ephraim Terrill, Abraham Clark, Robert Ogden, Jr., Jeremiah Smith, Richard Townley, Jr., Samuel Shotwell, David Miller, Thomas Woodruff, John Clawson, Jonathan Dayton, Ephraim Marsh, Recompense Stanbury, Jedediah Swan, William Parsons, Samuel Potter, William Bott, Jonathan Williams, Christopher Marsh, Isaac Wynants, Daniel Halsey. Stephen Crane, John D. Hart, William lyivingston, William P. Smith, Elias Boudinot, and John Chetwood, Esquires, were unanimously re-elected, for the borough of Elizabeth, on the Essex County Committee of Correspond- ence. It was then voted, "that two certain pamphlets lately published, — the one entitled 'A Friendly Address, etc.,' and the other under the signature of 'A Farmer,' which the committee described as ' containing many notorious falsehoods evidently calculated to sow the seeds of disunion among the good people of America, grossly mis- representing the principles of the present opposition to parliamentary taxations, vilifying the late congress and intending to facilitate the scheme of the British ministry for enslaving the colonies,' — be publickly burnt in detestation and abhorrence of such infamous pub- lications." These pamphlets were accordingly committed to the flames before the court house. The first named pamphlet was the production of the Rev. Myles Cooper, D. D., president of King's College, New York. Such was the popular indignation against him, that his house was sacked, May 10, 1775, and he, barely escaping the hands of the mob, took refuge on board a ship of war, and fled to England. His Majesty gave him a pension of two hundred pounds per year. The latter pamphlet was entitled, "Free Thoughts on the Proceedings of the Continental Congress held at Philadelphia, September 5, 1774," by "A Farmer." It was written by Isaac Wilkins, subsequently Rev. Dr. Wilkins, of Westchester county, New York. He wrote also, "The Congress Canvassed ; or an Examination into the Conduct of the Delegates." It may have been to this last that the vote of censure refers. He too fled to England, in May, 1775, but returned the next year. 24 HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY The town having denounced these pamphlets, the committee next called the attention of the people, December 19, 1774, to the dangerous character of " Rivington's Royal Gazetteer," published in New York, declaring their determination, individually, to patronize it no longer, and calling upon all the people to follow their example and banish it from their habitations. The article was signed by "Jonathan Hamp- ton, Chairman." This was followed, February 13, 1775, by the following interdict : Whereas the inhabitants of Staten Island have manifested an unfriendly dis- position towards the liberties of America, and among other things have neglected to join in the General Association proposed by the Continental Congress, and entered into by most of the townships in America, and in no instance have acceded thereto, the com- mittee of observation for this town, having taken the same into consideration, are of opinion that the inhabitants of their district ought, and by the aforesaid association are bound, to break off all trade, commerce, dealings and intercourse whatever with the inhabitants of said island, until they shall join in the General Association aforesaid ; and do resolve that all trade, commerce, dealings, and intercourse whatsoever, be suspended accordingly, which suspension is hereby notified and recommended to the inhabitants of this district to be by them universally observed and adopted. George Ross, Clerk. CHAPTER Vlll. WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. — CONTINUED. HEN the battle of Lexington, Massachusetts, was fought, on April 19, 1775, it acted as an electric shock to arouse the people to united action. New York harbor was effectually closed against the export of supplies for the British at Boston. The old town of Elizabeth arose to arms at once. Among the young men of Elizabeth was Aaron Burr, whose mother was step- daughter of Rev. Jonathan Edwards. Mrs. Edwards had two brothers, Matthias and Aaron Ogden, the latter of whom was of Burr's own age, while Matthias was two years older and became his bosom companion. Young Burr was graduated in 1772, and in 1774 began the study of law, with his brother-in-law, at Litchfield, Connecticut. After the battle of Lexington he wrote to Ogden to come and go with him into the army. His father gave him leave to go. He was then in his twenty-first year, and Burr was nineteen. In years they were boys, but were men in the spirit of the times, and types of the men and boys who were their friends and associates, — ready to go at a call. The provincial congress of New Jersey met at Trenton, New Jersey, May 23d. Elizabeth Town was represented by William Peartree Smith, John Stiles, John Chetwood, Abraham Clark and Elias Boudinot. Smith and Boudinot were sent to Philadelphia, on the 25th, to confer with congress on some joint plan of action, and returned on the 30th. Great excitement was caused at Boston by British reinforcements coming- in, and congress was called upon to organize an army. Command was assumed over the New England recruits, and George Washington was appointed as general-in-chief of the Continental army on June 15, 1775. This strengthened and inspired the people with new hope and confidence, and the battle of Bunker Hill was heroically fought on June 17th, demonstrating the fact that the Americans not only could fight but would, while it was also certain that the British were not invincible. Ammunition was greatly needed. The committee of Elizabeth Town set about immediately to supply the demand as far as possible. On July 17th they '■'■Resolved^ That this committee, for every hundred weight of saltpeter made within this town for the first three months after this day will pay the sum of twenty pounds proclamation money 26 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY of New Jersey on the delivery thereof to this committee, and fifteen pounds of same currency for the like quantity of saltpeter made and delivered as aforesaid within the next three months thereafter." At the close of November, by order of congress, a recruiting agency was established and the town made the headquarters of the First New Jersey Regiment of regulars, under the command of William Alexander (Earl of Stirling). For several years he had resided at Basking Ridge, New Jersey, and had recently been chosen colonel of a Somerset county militia regiment, and had carried many of them with him into the Continental service. On account of restrictions laid on the commerce of the port of New York, by Captain Hyde Parker of the "Phoenix," man-of-war in the harbor, he took care that all vessels from foreign countries coming to New York should, if possible, enter at Elizabeth Town. This gave him cause to be apprehensive of a visit from some of the armed boats of the "PhcEuix." He, therefore, urged congress, December 19, 1775, "to furnish the town immediately with a supply of ammunition and also, if possible, with half a dozen field-pieces with some rounds of grape and cannister shot." On January 6, 1776, he wrote to the president of congress : "I have the pleasure to inform you that several vessels with valuable cargoes from foreign ports have arrived in this province, and, under the protection I have afforded them, have landed their cargoes. Among the rest are some hundred barrels of gunpowder." Lord Stirling recommended to congress that William Barnet, Jr., be appointed surgeon of the First Jersey Battalion, and Matthias Halsted, quartermaster, which was accordingly done. Four companies of the battalion were stationed at Elizabeth Town. The barracks not being sufficient to accommodate all of them, a part were quartered among the people. The ship, " Blue Mountain Valley," soon gave them an opportunity to show their energy. The following is a letter written by Robert Ogden, chairman of the town committee, to John Hancock, president of congress, dated Elizabeth Town, February 10, 1776 : Sir — I am ordered by the Committee of Elizabeth Town to acquaint the Congress of the Capture and state of the ship " Blue Mountain Valley," now lying at Elizabeth Town Point, and to desire particular directions from the congress what is to be done with the said ship, cargo, officers and seamen. On Monday, the 22d of January, between eleven and twelve o'clock. Lord Stirling, with about thirty men of his regiment, being near all that were armed at this place, the rest being at L,ong Island, set out for Amboy on a serious enterprise. In the evening of the same day an express arrived in this town with a letter directed to Lord Stirling, and, in his absence, to the chairman of the committee of this place, informing that an armed vessel, with a detachment of marines and seamen, was sent off from New York that day from the ships of war in New York, and to the transport ship. On the chairman's receipt of this letter, he immediately called the committee, which met about six o'clock in the evening, and from the letter and express collected and concluded that Lord Stirling left this place with an intention to procure a vessel at Amboy, and go in quest of the transport ship, which he then thought was in a defenseless HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 27 condition, not knowing of the reinforcement sent from New York, and that if intelligence should reach him that night, he would not be able to procure vessels and assistance in season at Amboy to secure success, and might be repulsed with loss. On which the committeee resolved to send a detachment of one hundred volunteers in three or four boats, by the way of the Narrows, to take, or assist I,ord Stirling to take, the armed vessel or transport, ot which they immediately notified Lord Stirling by an express, and to encourage volunteers to enter, assured them they should share of prizes, according to the regulations that were or should be made by the Continental congress. Vol- unteers were soon procured, and furnished by the committee with ammunition, provision and what arms were wanting, of the townsmen about eighty and of the Continental troops about thirty. The committee also procured three boats and fitted them in the best manner that the night and hurry would permit of. Between twelve and one o'clock at night the armament was ready to sail, but on account of the tide and ice they could not proceed by the way of the Narrows ; they therefore set out, with a fair wind, by the way of Amboy, where they stopped and called upon Lord Stirling, who, with a boat procured by him for the purpose, and about forty of his regiment, set out with them in quest of the ship and armed vessel. At sunrise, from the masthead, they descried the ship at sea, stood for, met, and boarded her without opposition, at ten o'clock in the morning ; they found her to be a transport from London, with coals, porter, potatoes, hogs and horse-beans, designed for the ministerial troops at Boston, commanded by John H. Dempster, brother of George Dempster, member of parliament for Dundee, etc. , in Scotland. But the armed vessel, by great good fortune, saved herself by returning to New York, not having discovered the ship, to the great disappointment of our people. Lord Stirling gave the command of the ship to Mr. Rogers, a sea captain, with orders to proceed to this place, but, being detained by tide and contrary winds, on Wednesday evening, sent a reinforcement of about eighty men to secure her against any such attempt, and on Friday she arrived in safety at Elizabeth Town Point, where she remained under the command of Lord Stirling, guarded by some of the troops under his command, until Tuesday last, when he and his troops were ordered to New York, since which time she has been, and now is, under the care of the committee. By order of Lord Stirling and the committee, the porter and beans are stored, the sails and rigging are taken on shore. The potatoes, which are chiefly rotten, and coal remain on board the ship. The captain and seamen remain prisoners at large in this town. The committee expected Lord Stirling would have, before this time, pro- cured the particular directions of the congress for the disposition of the ship and cargo, but in this they are disappointed, and everything respecting the ship is in suspense. The hogs remaining, being only seven out of eighty, and the remaining potatoes they have concluded to sell. The coal is in great demands for making arms, and is liable to be destroyed with the ship by an armed force which may be dispatched privately in the night from New York, which is but fourteen miles distance. The seamen, who are boarded out by the committee, are uneasy and soliciting the committee for their wages, which, they say, were promised by Lord Stirling. The captain is anxious to know how long he is to be detained, and the committee are desirous that he soon be dismissed, and at liberty to inform his friends and countrymen of the usage he has received from the Americans. This, sir, is the state of affairs relating to the store-ship called the "Blue Mountain Valley," and brought to this place. Lord Stirling's letter, written to congress, dated January 24, 1776, reads: "I immediately set out for Amboy, and there seized a pilot- boat, and, with forty men, was just pushing out, about two o'clock yesterday morning, when I was joined by three other boats from Elizabeth Town, with about forty men each, many of them gentlemen from Elizabeth Town who voluntarily came on this service, under the command of Colonel Dayton and Ivieutenant-Colonel Thomas." The ship he describes as "of about one hundred feet, from stem to stern 28 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY above, capable of making a ship of war of twenty six-pounders and ten three-pounders." The following Monday, the 39th, I^ord Stirling's letter was read in congress, when it was ^'Resolved, That the alertness, activity, and good conduct of Lord Stirling, and the forwardness and spirit of the gentlemen and others from Elizabeth Town who voluntarily assisted him in taking the ' Blue Mountain Valley,' were laudable and exem- plary, and that his lordship be directed to secure the capture until further order of congress, and that in the meantime he cause such part of the lading as would otherwise perish to be disposed of by sale." On February 4, 1776, General Lee sent orders to Lord Stirling to transfer his regiment to New York. Orders were sent to Mr. John Blanchard to take charge of the cargo of the transport, while Brigadier- General Livingston, and John D. Hart were requested to assist him in the management of it. The provincial congress of New Jersey finally disposed of the affair, on March 2, 1776, by ordering the vessel and cargo to be confiscated, and a commission appointed for the sale of both the ship and its contents, the proceeds to be divided among the captors. Orders were sent to deliver thirty-four chaldrons of the coal to Moses Ogden at the market price, he having a contract with the government for iron-work. The remaining goods was sold at auction March i8th. Much alarm was caused by General Washington's communicating to Lord Stirling his fears that the British army might be transferred from Boston to New York. New Jersey was called upon to furnish men to assist in fortifying the city and harbor. Stephen Crane, chairman of the Elizabeth Town committee, wrote to Lord Stirling that they had no right to send a detachment out of the province, and continued by saying : " The arming the two battalions in the Continental service hath drained us of our best arms, and in case a descent should be made at New York, we should be liable to continual excursions of the enemy." Abraham Clark, the signer of the Declara- tion of Independence, wrote, on March 15th, to the Committee of Safety, with regard to the provincial congress, asking for arms to equip a battalion for Canada. "If," said he, "all the congresses upon the continent required us to disarm ourselves at present, unless we are deemed dangerous to liberty, I would not obey." The situation at home was critical and it was necessary to be prepared for the enemy. Want of arms was the source of a general feeling of insecurity. On the 22d of March Lord Stirling came over to take a survey of the ground and lay out a line of fortifications at the Point. On the 24th he returned to the city to procure engineers to be employed on these works, under the directions of General William Thompson. When the British army evacuated Boston, on the 17th of March, it was supposed they would make a strong effort to make New York HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 29 their headquarters ; consequently the American army was speedily brought to this section of the country. General Washington reached New York on Saturday, April 13th, and took command, when prepar- ations for a reception of the British were carried on with the greatest vigor. The provincial congress of New Jersey, which was chosen on the fourth Monday in May, met in Burlington on the loth of June, when, John D. Hart having been permitted to resign his seat in congress, Abraham Clark, secretary of the New Jersey Committee of Safety, was chosen, on June 22d, in his place. William Livingston, another member from this town, who had been appointed commander-in-chief of the New Jersey militia, resigned his membership, and established his headquarters at Elizabeth Town Point. On June. 7, 1776, Richard Henry lyce, of Virginia, submitted the following measure to the general congress : "That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states ; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." After full discussion, this measure was adopted on the 4th of July, 1776. That Abraham Clark felt the deepest concern at the state of affairs at this time is seen in a letter written by him on August 6th, to Colonel Elias Dayton, in which he says : "As to my title, I know not yet whether it will be honorable or dishonorable ; the issue of the war must settle it. Perhaps our congress will be exalted on a high gallows. We were truly brought to the case of the three lepers. If we continue in the state we were in, it was evident we must perish ; if we declare our independence we might be saved ; we could but perish. I assure you, sir, I see, I feel, the danger we are in. I am far from exulting in our imaginary happiness ; nothing short of the almighty power of God can save us. It is not in our numbers, our union, nor valour I dare trust. I think an interposing Providence hath been evident in all the events that necessarily led us to what we are, — I mean independent states, — but for what purpose, whether to make us a great empire, or to make our ruin more complete, the issue can only determine." The British were at this time collecting all their forces, both military and naval, at New York. General L,ivingston was in command at Elizabeth Town, and Washington wrote him from New York that he had " information from the Hook that about forty of the enemy's fleet" had arrived there and that others were in sight, also that the whole fleet would be in, that day or the next, and, he writes : "I beg not a moment's time may be lost in sending forward such parts of the militia as Colonel Reed shall mention. We are so very weak at this post that I must beg you to order the three companies which I mention in my last for Staten Island, immediately to this city." 30 HISTORY O'P UNION COUNTY Almost immediately after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, by congress, an opportunity was given the new nation to demonstrate to the world her ability to cope with the enemy. Two field-pieces had been placed at Elizabeth Town Point, with a part of the company of artillery of this province, under Captain Neill. On the evening of the 4th of July an armed sloop of fourteen guns belonging to the enemy ran up to Elizabeth Point and, as related, "was attacked from the shore with two twelve-pounders; a great number of her men were killed, she set on fire, and entirely destroyed. ' ' The British army had now increased in number to between nine and ten thousand men. On the nth of July two British men-of-war ran up Hudson river and took possession of Tappan bay. L,ivingston was greatly in need of military stores. He wrote to the provincial congress, on the 6th of July, saying that "the number of men now in the service loudly called for more ample provision of supplies, — such as ammunition, flints, arms and indeed stores of every kind, and attention to which I cannot give in the manner I could choose in the present exigency." With the finely disciplined troops of the British in such great numbers on Staten Island, and reinforcements coming in so rapidly, the outlook at the Point was gloomy indeed, while the enemy was more and more encouraged. August 14th Governor Tryon wrote to L,ord Germain, from Staten Island, as follows: "The whole armament destined for this part of America, except the last division of the Hessians, being now assembled here, I expect, by the courage and strength of this noble army, tyranny will be crushed and legal govern- ment restored. (August 15th) Yesterday evening Sir Peter Parker brought into the Hook a fleet of twenty- five sail from the southward." The forces here referred to are the ones which failed to take Charles- town, South Carolina. In all there weire about three thousand troops under the command of Lord Cornwallis. On the 2ist of August plans had been laid to make an attack upon Long Island, and go on up the Hudson river, while fifteen Hessians were at the same time to attack Bergen Point, Elizabeth Town and Amboy. Nine thousand soldiers under Sir Henry Clinton landed at Gravesend, Long Island, on the 22d of August, without opposition. On the 37th the battle of Long Island was fought at Flatbush and in its vicinity, compelling the Americans to evacuate the island on the 29th. This was followed by the American army abandoning the city of New York and the British taking possession of it on September 15th. General Livingston was chosen the first governor of the state of New Jersey, August 31st. He then resigned his military command, to assume the duties of executive. The legislature now commissioned Colonel Matthias Williamson brigadier-general of the New Jersey militia, and he took command of the post at Elizabeth Town Point. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 31 The campaign was now almost wholly transferred to New Jersey, and General Washington wrote, urging Governor L,ivingston to put the New Jersey militia in the best possible condition, and see that the barracks at Amboy and Brunswick were in order. He informed congress, on November 14th, that he intended to quarter his army at Brunswick, Amboy, Klizabeth Town, Newark, and Hackensack. Washington having been followed up by the British under Lord Cornwallis, pushed on, reaching New Brunswick on Friday, and there remaining until Sunday, December ist, when he again took up the line of march toward Trenton, reaching there on Monday morning. Washington's army was obliged to retreat to the Raritan, their case apparently hopeless. The enemy, under Cornwallis, were in fine condition, vigorous and self-confident. They were taking possession of every town and hamlet. They were so sure of success that, on the 30th of November, a proclamation was issued by the Howe brothers commanding all persons who had taken up arms against his Majesty to disband and return home, and at the same time offering a full pardon to all who should sign a declaration within sixty days that they would neither take up arms themselves or encourage others to do so. The tide soon changed, however, and then the Americans were able to dictate terms. CHAPTER IX. UNION COUNTY IN THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. HE disastrous campaign on Long Island was followed by the abandonment, on the part of the American army, of the city of New York, on Sunday, September 15th, and its occu- pation by the British. On the 31st of August, 1776, General Livingston was chosen the first governor of the state of New Jersey, and his command of the post at Elizabeth Town then devolved upon Matthias Williamson, who received, a few days afterward, a com- mission appointing him a brigadier-general of the New Jersey militia. Ou Tuesday, September 24th, four transports arrived at Elizabeth Town with four hundred and twenty American soldiers who had been taken prisoners at Quebec the previous winter. They had been liberated on parole. The battle of White Plains was fought on the 28th of October ; Fort Washington was taken on the i6th of November, and Fort Lee evacuated on the i8th. The campaign was now transferred to the soil of New Jersey. Washington, with a fragment of an army, reduced by the expiration of militia enlistments, was compelled to retire before the vastly superior troops of the enemy. He wrote to Governor Livingston from White Plains, on November the 7th, urging the importance of placing the Jersey militia on the very best footing, and to forward to him new troops, and, on November the 14th, he informs congress that the army has left the other side of Hudson river, and that he intends to quarter them at New Brunswick, Amboy, Elizabeth Town, Newark and Hackensack. On November 21st, Washington fell back on the right bank of the Passaic river, and the next day he entered Newark, where his army remained unmolested for six days. During this time the people of Elizabeth and Newark removed their families and effects beyond the Newark mountains and Short Hills, and on November 28th, Washington, with his army of not more than thirty-five hundred in number, entered the old deserted town by the Newark road, the advance guard of Lord Cornwallis entering Newark as the rear of the American army left it. On Sunday, December ist, Washington left New Brunswick for Trenton, reaching there on Monday morning. On the approach of the enemy. General Williamson, with the militia under his command at Elizabeth Town, retired to the upper part of the county. On the 8th he wrote from Morristown of his HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 33 apparent inefficiency, as follows : " Very few men of the counties of Essex and Bergen joined my command. I have it from good intel- ligence that many who bore the character of warm Whigs have been foremost in seeking protection from General Howe and forsaking the American cause." Washington, in a letter, on November ist, to Governor Livingston, while speaking of this defection of troops, and of their weakness, says : "I have not, including General Williamson's militia, more than four thousand men." On the 5th Washington wrote to congress as follows : "By my last advices, the enemy are still at Brunswick;" and the account adds that "General Howe was expected at Elizabeth Town with a reinforcement to erect the king's standard and demand a submission of the state. ' ' The proclamation by the brothers Howe was issued on Saturday, November 30th, the day after the British entered Elizabeth Town. It commanded all persons who had taken up arms against his Majesty to disband and return home, and offered to all who should withdraw in sixty days and subscribe to a declaration that they would be peaceable subjects, neither taking up arms themselves nor encouraging others to do so, free and full pardon for the past. The outlook for the patriots was indeed a gloomy one. It seemed impossible to retrieve the fatal field of Flatbush, and even the most sanguine patriots now spoke in despondent tones. "I heard a man of some shrewdness once say," remarked Dr. Ashbel Green, "that when the British troops overran the state of New Jersey in the closing part of the year 1776, the whole population could have been bought for eighteen pence a head." It was regarded as certain that the authority of King George would soon be re-established in all the states ; such was the confidence, at least, of the well caparisoned troops of Cornwallis' army, and the one event greatly feared by the patriots. During these trying times General Charles Lee, with reinforcements for Washington, reached Chatham on the 8th of December, and on the nth, from Morristown, wrote General Heath, on his way from Peekskill, "that at Springfield, seven miles west of Elizabeth Town, about one thousand militia are collected to watch the motions of the enemy. ' ' They were Colonel Ford's troops. They were stationed at the Short Hills, just back of Springfield, from which point every movement of the enemy could be seen. An eighteen-pound gun was planted subsequently on the heights, near the residence (in after days) of Bishop Hobart, to give the alarm in case of the enemy's approach. To the top of a lofty pole near by was fixed a tar-barrel, to be set on fire when the alarin gun was discharged. These could be respectively heard and seen over a great extent of country. The movement of the troops under Lee and Heath, and the posting 34 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY of the militia under Ford at the Short Hills, had not escaped the eye of Cornwallis, and General Heath wrote to Washington on the 15th that "several thousand of the enemy landed at Elizabeth Town on yesterday or the day before." On the evening of the 17th, Ford, who was at Chatham, had a brush with the enemy, about four miles south of that village, and suffered a sore defeat. This battle, on the part of the British, was fought by Leslie's brigade, which came up from Elizabeth Town, probably, the day before, and on the morning after the brush with the patriots entered Newark. Colonel Ford found his forces so much scattered after this fight that only about two hundred of his men remained, and he himself was so greatly exposed during that short campaign that, soon after, he was seized with sickness, and died on the nth, at Morristown. General Washington, learning that about eight hundred of the militia had called at Morristown, sent General Maxwell to take command of them. On the 26th of December Washington sur- prised and captured nine hundred and eighteen Hessians at Trenton, with the loss of only four wounded. This brilliant manoeuvre com- pletely turned the tide of affairs and electrified the American army with delight. Following up this advantage, Washington once more crossed the Delaware, passed around the British at Trenton, marched forward by night, and surprised and captured Princeton on the morning of January 3, 1777. On the 30th Washington wrote to Maxwell to collect as large a force as possible at Chatham and as soon as possible " to strike a stroke upon Elizabeth Town or that neighborhood. ' ' General Maxwell, taking advantage of the consternation of the enemy, came down from the Short Hills and compelled the British to vacate Newark ; had a brush with them at Springfield ; drove them out of Elizabeth Town and fought them at Spank Town (Rahway) a couple of hours. At Spring- field Major Oliver Spencer had a fight with the enemy on Sunday morning, the 15th, when eight or ten Waldeckers were killed or wounded and the remainder of the thirty-nine or forty were made prisoners, with the ofiicers, by a force not superior in number, and without receiving the least damage, and on the 8th, our forces recovered possession of the post. For this heroic work Major Spencer was promoted to a colonelcy. The American army at Pluckemin marched to Morristown, arriving there January the 6th. General Maxwell advanced and took possession of Elizabeth Town and made prisoners of fifty Waldeckers and forty Highlanders. He also captured a schooner with baggage and some blankets on board. About the same time a thousand bushels of salt were captured of the enemy at Spank Town. The English troops, it seems, would not suffer the Waldeckers to stand sentry at Elizabeth Town, several of them having deserted and HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 35 gone over to the patriot army. On the day that the British force abandoned Newark and marched to Elizabeth Town, a company of Waldeckers was dispatched on some particular service towards Con- necticut Farms. Captain Uttell and his followers discovered and followed them, and he so disposed his small force in front and to their rear that the Germans on being attacked from ambush, being then on a retreat and finding the enemy firing on them under cover again, surren- dered without unloading a gun. The British, greatly exasperated at this loss under such favorable conditions to them, ordered out a body of Hessians to revenge the affront, when the superior knowledge of Littell again came to his rescue, and the enemy were again defeated. At this mortification, which seemed to be beyond measure, the British next, through a Tory, found Littell's house, and some three hundred men attacked the captain in his pent-up quarters, as they supposed, but to their dismay, they were again fired on from the rear and were again as badly discomfitted as before. The Rev. James Caldwell, of Revolutionary and patriotic memory, became chaplain for a portion of the patriot arm)-, and was for a time with his brother-in-law, Stephen Day, at Chatham. In the second week in January, 1777, he and his family with others returned to their homes in Elizabeth Town, after an absence of six weeks, and they found almost everything in ruins. The utter and needless destruction of property by the British and Hessians during their short occupancy of the town was a disgrace to human nature, the Tory neighbors from Staten Island being the most ruthless of any in laying waste the property. * The enemy had been driven out of the town on the 8th of January, but they remained still in the neighborhood. The situation of the inhabitants during the first half of the year 1777 was exciting enough, there being almost daily a skirmish with the British somewhere in the county. BATTLE OF ELIZABETH TOWN. General Knyphausen landed at Elizabethport June 8, 1780, with a force of five thousand men, with the intent to march against Wash- ington, then encamped at Morristown, and drive the whole Continental army out of New Jersey. The inhabitants resolved to fight to the end. At the Cross-roads the advancing army was attacked by an outpost of twelve men. General Stirling was severely wounded and a temporary retreat was ordered. An advance soon followed, and the invading force marched up Elizabeth avenue, and through the town to Springfield by the * A letter from one of Governor Livingston's daugliters, dated November 29. 1777, reads : " Kate has been to Elizabeth Town ; found our house in a most ruinous situation. General Dickinson had stationed a captain with his artillery company in it, and after that it was kept for a bullock's g:uard. Kate waited on the General and he ordered the troops removed the next day, but then the mischief was done ; every thing was carried off that mamma had col- lected for her accommodation, so that it is impossible for her to go down to have the grapes and other things secured ; the very hinges, locks and panes of glass are taken away." 36 HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY Galloping Hill road. Warning of their approach was given by the firing of an eighteen-pounder on Prospect Hill and the lighting of a tar- barrel on a signal pole. The militia, farmers and all who could bear arms, mustered and attacked the British. This little body, with the assistance of the regulars under Maxwell, made so gallant a fight that the enemy halted. Their commander, hearing that all of Washington's force was advancing from Short Hills, began a retreat at nightfall. During it all his force was pursued and harassed by the patriots, the loss of many men being inflicted. During the retreat Mrs. Caldwell, the wife of the fighting pastor, was killed in her house at Connecticut Farms. A cowardly British ruffian came to the window of the room where she was sitting with her children and shot her. Again, on the 23d of the same month, another invasion was made by a force of five thousand under General Clinton. Again was the warning given by the same means at Springfield, and again did the thousand brave Continentals and militiamen put them to flight and pursue them to the shores of the Sound. To the Elizabethans General Washington wrote : "The militia deserve everything that can be said ; on both occasions they flew to arms universally, and acted with a spirit equal to anything I have seen in the course of the war." With the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, in October, the conflict was prac- tically ended, and the fighting men returned to their homes. MRS. CALDWELL'S DEATH. The Rev. Mr. Caldwell, by the advice of his friends, rented the vacant parsonage at Connecticut Farms, and within the fall of 1779, moved there from Elizabeth Town. On the day of the battle at this place Mr. Caldwell had vainly endeavored, when the alarm was given in the morning, to induce his wife to seek, with him and the elder children, a place of greater security. She concluded to trust to Prov- idence and remain at home. She believed her presence would save the house from pillage, and that her person could not possibly be endan- gered. Thatcher says, in the Military Journal : "On the arrival of the royal troops Mrs. Caldwell entertained the officers with refresh- ments, and after they had retired she and a young woman, having Mrs. Caldwell's infant child in her arms, seated themselves on the bed. Upon seeing a British soldier looking at her, Mrs. Caldwell exclaimed : ' Don't attempt to scare me,' when he fired, shooting her through the breast. Soon after, a British officer came, and throwing his coat over the corpse carried it to the next house." THE FIGHTING CHAPLAIN KILLED. Prominent in all the battles was the Rev. James Caldwell, of the First Presbyterian church, the fighting chaplain of the New Jersey Brigade. He preached resistance to tyranny in his pulpit on Sunday, HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 37 and during the week practiced what he preached. On one occasion, at the battle of Springfield, when the wadding had given out, he rushed into the church, came out with an armful of hymn books, and cried out to the fighters, "Now put Watts into them, boys." The closing tragedy of the war was the murder, November 24th, 1781, of Parson Caldwell by one of the American soldiers. He was shot at Elizabeth Point, where he had gone for a young lady who had come to that place from New York under the protection of a flag of truce. The ball pierced his heart, but he did not die immediately, and was tenderly carried to the stoop of the famous Dayton house, nearly opposite the Boudinot house, and there expired. There his funeral was held, and there, when the time came for his people to take their last look of his loved features, his nine homeless and doubly orphaned children were led to his casket by a brother minister and were then taken to the homes of kind people, who brought them up in the fear of God, the love of their country and the hatred of its enemies. The remains of himself and wife lie together in the cemetery of the First Presbyterian church at Elizabeth Town. He died in the forty-ninth year of his age, leaving a name dear to the state and nation. ' He was shot by a man called Morgan, who was tried and found guilty of murder. It is said that he was bribed by British gold to commit the crime. He was hanged, giving signs of the most obdurate villainy. The day of his execution was intensely cold, and his last words were, addressed with an oath to the executioner, " Do your duty and don't keep me here suffering in the cold." The place of his execution is about half a mile north of the town of Westfield, and is called Morgan's Hill to this day. CHAPTER X. ELIZABETH town's GLORIOUS RECORD. HE publishers of this book are greatly indebted to the courtesy of the Journal Printing House and the Illustrated Elizabeth for the following sketch of Elizabeth Town's glorious record in the Revolutionary war. Speaking of these historical times, and of Washington's inauguration, the Journal says : "In General Washington's triumphant journey to his inauguration at New York, on April 30th, 1789, Elizabeth played an important part. On April 22d he was met at New Brunswick by Governor lyivingston, of Elizabeth, and rode to Woodbridge, where he spent the night. On the following morning he was met there by a number of military companies, among them Captain Condit's, of Newark, Captain Wade's, of Connecticut Farms, and Captain Meeker's, of Elizabeth, and escorted to Elizabeth by way of Bridgeton, or Lower Rahway. General Matthias Ogden, of Elizabeth, of Revolutionary fame, commanded the procession, which escorted him to Samuel Smith's tavern, on or about the site of Mrs. Buckmaster's house, on the southwest corner of Broad street and the present Rahway avenue. Here he held a brief reception. Then he went to luncheon at Boxwood Hall, on East Jersey street, the residence of the Hon. Elias Boudinot, now remodeled and occupied as the Home for Aged Women. There Washington met the committee of congress and an illustrious company representing nearly all the quarters, if not the states, of the Union. Among those present were John Eangdon, president of the senate, from New Hampshire ; Richard Henry Lee, Theodoric Bland and Arthur Lee, from Virginia ; General Knox, the secretary of war, from Maine ; Tristam Dalton, from Massachusetts ; William Samuel Johnson, from Connecticut ; Charles Carroll, from Maryland ; Ralph Izard and Thomas Tudor Tucker, from South Carolina ; Governor Livingston, from New Jersey ; Egbert Benson, John Lawrence, Walter Livingston, Chancellor Livingston, Samuel Osgood, John Jay and others from New York. "Elias Boudinot, the statesman and philanthropist, was then in his fiftieth year, in the very prime of his active and useful life, a lawyer of wealth and eminent Christian character ; had been classically educa- ted and highly cultivated by reading and study, was affable and yet HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 39 remarkably dignified in his manners, and a hospitable, genial and delightful companion. He had been sent as a delegate to the Conti- nental congress in 1777, and in 1782 was chosen president of that body, and in that capacity signed the treaty of peace with England. After the adoption of the constitution he was naturally the first choice of New Jersey to the new congress." THE BOUDINOT HOUSE. The home of Boudinot in Elizabeth was a great, square, com- fortable structure, with an old-fashioned gable roof, tall chimneys, suggestive of forefatherly fire-places, and a massive door with a brass knocker in the centre of a somewhat imposing front. It stood among lawns and gardens and lofty trees, very much embowered and hidden in summer time with aspiring vines, attractive shrubbery and gay- colored flowers. There was no Jersey street then, but the house was reached by a private carriage-way from the old road to Elizabethport. Its entrance hall and staircase are of the style so much in fashion before the Revolution, the former being broad enough for a cotillion party. Two stately apartments on either side of this central hall reveal even at this late day many traces of former elegance and taste. The mantels with their quaint carving and the curious cornices are worthy of note. Two stories have been added to the building, which has been converted into a home for aged women, but the charm of its historic associations still remains. After an hour or two spent here Washington was escorted by a great procession, amid enthusiastic popular demonstration, to Elizabeth- port, where at noon he embarked on an elegantly decorated barge, and was rowed to New York by thirteen sailors dressed in white, of whom Thomas Randall was coxswain. A numerous, gaily decked fleet accompanied him, and at Trenton thirteen young ladies of the leading families, symbolically garbed as the thirteen original states, gave him greeting and farewell. LIBERTY HAI,!.. This was owned and occupied by Governor Livingston. It was built in 1773 by Livingston himself The house was named Liberty Hall, and it is interesting to note that it was the first refuge of Alexander Hamilton when he arrived in America from the West Indies, a pale, delicate, blue-eyed boy of fifteen. He brought letters to Livingston from Dr. Hugh Knox, and through the advice of the former entered the school of Francis Barber, in Elizabeth Town. Liberty Hall was always open to him, and it was in listening to the table-talk of its many and delightful guests, among whom were the Ogdens, Stocktons, Boudinots and the learned Dr. Witherspoon, that Hamilton obtained his first lessons in statesmanship. Mrs. Livingston 40 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY and her daughters took a deep interest in the country's affairs, and the young ladies became full-fledged politicians long ere they had attained complete physical stature. The knotty problems of the hour prior to the outbreak of hostilities, and the methods of solving and settling them, were discussed daily in the household. Even in the most familiar correspondence with his children at school, the subject upper- most in Livingston's thoughts occupied the chief space. Liberty Hall has had an upper story and extension in the rear added within recent years, modern glass has taken the place of small panes in many of the windows, and the deep fireplaces are framed in marble mantels that had not come into use when the house was new. But the narrow doors and wide staircases — bearing still the cuts of the angry Hessian soldiery when thwarted in their purposes — and the innumerable little cupboards and artful contrivances for hiding things in the paneling of the walls, are tenderly preserved. It stands on elevated ground some rods from the street (what was the old Springfield turnpike), about a mile from the railroad station, and the front yard retains the lofty shade-trees of a century ago. One large tree in the yard was planted in 1772 by Susan, the eldest daughter of Governor William Livingston, the same who with such heroism and tact saved her father's correspondence with Washing- ton and congress from falling into the hands of the British. It was this lady, Susan Livingston, who became the wife of Hon. John Cleve Symmes, whose daughter became the wife of President William Henry Harrison, and thus the grandmother of President Benjamin Harrison. The 'enemy made several attempts to burn Liberty Hall during the Revolution. When the British made their memorable incursion into New Jersey in June, 1780, and burned Springfield and Connecticut Farms, the flames of which were in full view, and soldiers continually passing Liberty Hall throughout that dreadful day, the ladies were alone with the women-servants, the governor being at Morristown, and the men- servants all hiding in the woods. In the morning three ©r four British officers called and had a short interview with Mrs. Livingston and her daughters ; but they left so full of admiration at the coolness and intrepidity of the ladies as to swear they should not be harmed. The house was accordingly spared. Late in the evening some British officers sent word that they should lodge at Liberty Hall. This was regarded as additional assurance of safety to the family. About midnight there was a sudden uproar, and the officers were called away hastily by startling news. There was firing along the road. Presently a band of drunken refugees came staggering through the grounds, and with horrid oaths burst the door open into the hall. The women- servants huddled into the kitchen, and the ladies locked themselves into one of the chambers. Their retreat was soon discovered, and HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 41 there was a great pounding upon the door ; as it was about to be burst in, Kitty Livingston stepped forward and resolutely opened it. A drunken ruffian seized her by the arm, and she, with the quickness of thought, grasped his coat-collar. Just then a flash of lightning revealed to the assailant the lady's white robes and equally white, scared face, and the wretch fell back, exclaiming, "Good God ! It is Mrs. Caldwell, whom we killed today!" The same merciful light showed Sarah Livingston the face of one of their former neighbors among the ruffians, and she quickly secured his intervention, and the house was cleared. It was in this historic home that Mrs. Washington was enter- tained, in May, 1789, when on her way to New York, after the inauguration of her husband as first president of the United States. The mansion was decorated with flowers, and Governor Livingston's children — a gifted gathering of men and women — were present to help do the honors. The guest-chamber occupied by Mrs. Washington was over the library. The one set apart for the use of Mrs. Robert Morris was over the hall, in the centre of the front of the mansion. The next morning Washington, accompanied by John Jay, Robert Morris and other distinguished gentlemen, arrived at Liberty Hall in time for breakfast. No queen was ever escorted into a capital with more conspicuous ceremony than Mrs. Washington into New York. After the death of Governor Livingston, in 1790, the beautiful country seat passed into the hands of strangers. It had a romantic episode, being purchased by Lord Bolingbroke, who ran away from England with the school-girl daughter of Baron Hompasch, leaving an estimable wife to break her heart. Later on, the property was purchased by the daughter of the governor's brother, Peter Van Brugh Livingston, who was the widow of Hon. John' McKean. She subsequently married Count Niemcewicz, a Polish nobleman and poet, and the mansion once more became the centre of attraction for statesmen, scholars and celebrities. It has ever since been in the possession of the Kean family. THE GENERAL SCOTT HOUSE. The original owner of this celebrated family domicile in Elizabeth, and by whom, doubtless, it was erected, was Dr. William Barnet, an eminent physician of the old borough, who occupied it for a period antecedent to the Revolution, as well as during and for several years subsequent to the war. It is certainly one of the oldest private houses in the city of Elizabeth, as well as one of the best preserved. During the perilous septennial period of the Revolution Dr. Barnet' s house, probably, had more than one narrow escape from destruction by the enemy, one of which is recorded in the Rev. Dr. Hatfield's admirable "History of Elizabeth," page 484, in an alccount there given of its 42 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY being "plundered in a most barbarous manner" by a British raiding party, together with Mr. Herriman's house, next door north, and several other residences. That was in February, 1781. Dr. Barnet died in 1790, aged sixty-seven, and in September, 1794, his house, lot and appurtenances were sold to Dr. Jonathan Hampton, Esq., by Dr. Oliver Barnet, of Tewksbury, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, executor of his last will and testament. In 1805 this property was sold and conveyed to Colonel John Mayo, by Elizabeth Oilman, "guardian of Jonathan Hampton," presumably a son of the purchaser from Dr. Oliver Barnet. This deed was recorded September 15, 1807, "by order of the orphan's court," ancj the lot is stated as containing three acres, which was the same as when sold to Hampton. Of that transfer the witnesses were Jonathan Dayton, Matthias Williamson, George C. Barber, and Aaron Ogden, clerk. Sworn before Jeremiah Ballard. At the death of Colonel Mayo this pioperty was left to his widow, Mrs. Abigail DeHart Mayo, and their three children, — Edward C. Mayo, Mrs. Juliana Cabell and Mrs. Maria M. Scott. Mrs. Abigail Mayo died about the year 1843, when her portion descended to her daughter, Mrs. General Scott, who having survived her brother and sister, became eventually sole possessor ; and at her decease her three children became equal sharers of the Elizabeth estate. They were Camelia, wife of Henry D. ; Camilla, who married Gould Hoyt; and Marcella who married Charles C. McTavish. The years of Colonel Mayo's occupancy of this house, and of his distinguished son-in-law, Major-General Winfield Scott, constituted, in some respects, the most important and interesting epoch in its history. Colonel Mayo, representing a rich and aristocratic family of Richmond, Virginia, had married, some years previously, a daughter of the Hon. John De Hart, a prominent and patriotic citizen of Elizabeth Town, and was accustomed, with his family, to spend the summers in the place. During such seasons he is said to have driven a four-horse family coach, and to have brought with him several black servants. General Scott and his beautiful wife, when dwelling in the Hampton-place house, are still held in pleasant memory by old inhabitants. After General Scott left this house Mr. Archibald Gracie, as on of the old New York merchant of that name, moved into it and lived there many years, until he purchased the property on Elizabeth avenue, known as the old Salter place, where he also lived many years, and which property still belongs to his heirs. During Mr. Grade's occupancy of it the house on Hampton place was an abode of elegant hospitality, and very many prominent men of that day were entertained within its walls. In the former residential periods of Colonel Mayo and General Scott, the visitor's roll would undoubtedly contain names representing celebrities from all parts of our country, as well as from other lands. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 43 The full story of this historic house, second to few in age and claims on modern notice, who shall adequately tell ? Its ancient face commands respect, and summons us to think of former generations, lyike its noted compeers in Elizabeth, "Ursino," the famed "Liberty Hall" of the Revolution, General Dayton's and the Governor Belcher and the Ogden mansions, near by, its associations are highly worthy of commemoration. We cannot close this record without expressing our gratification that the "General Scott House," once the charming abode of a gallant soldier who fought for his country in many fields and for many years, is in the hands of a gentleman, as owner and occupant, who takes a warm interest in its past history and future preservation. HON. ABRAHAM CLARK. Abraham Clark, known as one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was born at the home of his ancestors, on the upper or western road, about midwa}' between Elizabeth Town and the village of Rahway, where his father, Thomas Clark, his grandfather, Thomas, and probably his great-grandfather, Richard, had lived before him. The last named became a resident of the town in 1678. The Clark mansion was about half a mile north by west of the Wheat-sheaf tavern. Thomas Clark had at least three sons and one daughter, — Thomas, born 1701 ; Abraham, born 1703 ; James, of Connecticut Farms ; and Mrs. Day. Abraham, the only son of Thomas was born at the home- stead on February 15, 1726. He received a good business education for the times, and entered into business as a surveyor and conveyancer. He made himself familiar with the common points of law, and was ever ready to aid his neighbor with legal advice gratuitously, and so obtained the sobriquet of "The Poor Man's Counselor." In 1764 he was appointed by the legislature one of the commissions to survey and divide the common lands of the old township of Bergen. He held the' ofi&ce of high sheriff of Essex county in 1767, and of clerk to the colonial assembly ; he was a member of the committee on safety, in December, 1774, and subsequently their secretary; he was chosen to- the provincial congress in September, 1775, and was elected by them, June 32, 1776, one of the delegates from New Jersey to the Continental congress in September, 1775, in which capacity he had the honor of afiixing his name to the Declaration of Independence. He was rechosen to congress in 1776 and in 1777, serving until April 3, 1778 ; again in 1780, 1781, 1782, 1786, 1787, and 1788. He was appointed to the first constitutional convention, at Annapolis, in 1786, and again in 1787, but did not attend the latter on accoimt of ill health. He was chosen by the people under the new constitution to the second and third congresses, and died before the completion of his last term. During his long public career he proved himself the incorruptible 44 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY patriot, an active and judicious legislator, a prudent counselor and a true friend of the people. His death occurred September 15, 1794, from sunstroke. No history of Union county would be complete without a short sketch of four of the greatest men of their period. General Elias Dayton, Colonel Jonathan Dayton, Governor Aaron Ogden and Colonel Francis Barber. They were closely associated with General Washington, the Revolutionary war, and with the United States and state government. GENERAL ELIAS DAYTON was born in Elizabeth Town in 1737. His father, Jonathan Dayton, was one of the incorporators of the borough. General Dayton served with the British troops as captain in the French war on the frontiers. He took an active part in the measures which led to the forming and signing of the Declaration of Independence. In the beginning of the American struggle for freedom he was placed by congress at the head of the Third New Jersey Regiment. Before the end of the war he was made major-general. He was a gallant soldier, respected and loved by the men he led during those years of conflict. He was the first president of the Society of the Cincinnati ; was chosen for congress in 1779 ; was a delegate 1787-8. In both the temporal and spiritual affairs of his native town he held positions of trust. In character he was open and generous, ever upholding the right and just. In person he was said to closely resemble General Washington. He died October 23, 1807. HON. JONATHAN DAYTON, the son of General Elias Dayton, was born in Elizabeth Town, October 16, 1760. He was educated at Princeton College, graduating there in 1776. At the age of eighteen he entered the army, and was with General Sullivan in his western expedition. He became a captain in his father's regiment. He was one of the six chosen to represent New Jersey at the convention that framed the federal constitution. He was a member of the legislature, re-elected three times, and was speaker from 1795 to 1799, when he was chosen United States senator, and served from 1799 to 1805. He was appointed brigadier- general by President Adams ; at first he declined, but on being informed that this would not deprive him of his seat in the senate, he accepted. With Symmes and others he became interested in the settlement of western military lands. The town of Dayton, Ohio, was named for him. He was an honor to his native town, which contributed largely in shaping the politics of state and nation. He died October 9, 1824. GOVERNOR AARON OGDEN, son of the Hon. Robert Ogden, was born at Elizabeth Town, December 3, 1756. He was educated at Princeton College, graduated 1773 ; HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 45 joined the army with the rank of colonel, serving with great bravery until the close of the war. He then commenced the practice of law and took a high position at the bar. In November, 1796, he was appointed one of the presidential electors of New Jersey, and in February, 1801, was appointed to the United States senate. In October, 1812, he was chosen by the legislature, governor of New Jersey. In 1829 he was made general president of the Society of the Cincinnati. In February, 1813, he was appointed by President Madison one of the six major-generals provided by act of congress, February 24th. He was considered one of the most honored citizens of his native town, and died April 19, 1839. COLONEt FRANCIS BARBER was born at Princeton, New Jersey, 1780, and was the son of Patrick Barber. When a young man, he taught in the celebrated old academy that stood where the chapel of the First Presbyterian church, Elizabeth, now stands. At the commencement of the Revolutionary war he resigned his position, Matthias Williamson (son of General Williamson), then only a lad of sixteen, succeeding him. Alexander Hamilton was a pupil there at that time. One of the first acts of the war in New Jersey, was the capture of the British frigate the "Blue Mountain Valley." Francis Barber, then lieutenant, with Captain Oliver Spencer, Captain William Brittin and other brave men, under Colonel Elias Dayton, on the night of January 22, 1776, assisted Eord Stirling, with his men, in capturing this frigate that lay in the waters between Elizabeth Town Point and the New York shore. He was appointed by congress major of the Third Battalion of New Jersey, but long before the war ended he was advanced to the rank of colonel. All records of those years, when brave men fought for liberty, show that Francis Barber was a brave soldier. When yet a young man he met with a most tragic death. On the day that General Washington announced to the army the signing of the treaty of peace, he invited several ofBcers to dine with him. Colonel Barber being one of them. It was at New Windsor, New Yo^fk. A brother ofl&cer asked him before going to this dinner to do an official errand for him. He went on horseback, and while passing a piece of woods where some men were cutting trees was killed by one as it fell. The news of his death was brought to Washington as he sat at dinner. He said, " Men of higher rank and more wealth may die, but there is but one Francis Barber." CHAPTER XI. UNION COUNTY IN THE WAR OP THE REBELLION. HIS county was not represented by any organized body of troops in the first militia sent out for three months' service in the war of the Rebellion. The second call for troops was for three hundred thousand men, and was issued by the presi- dent of the United States May 3, 1861. On the 17th of May the governor of New Jersey received a requisition from the war department for three regiments of infantry (volunteers), to serve three years or during the war, and a general order detailing the plan of organization. Union county had three companies in the First, Second and Third Regiments of the First Brigade, New Jersey Volunteers, viz : Com- panies A of the First and Second respectively, and Company K of the Third Regiment, officered as follows : Company A, First Regi- ment — captain, David Hatfield ; first lieutenant, Thomas T. Tillou ; second lieutenant, I/Uther Martin. Company A, Second Regiment — captain, James Wilson ; first lieutenant, Bradbury C. Chetwood ; second lieutenant, William J. Cree. Company K, Third Regiment — captain, John H. Whelan ; first lieiitenant, John B. lyutz ; second lieutenant, David Fairly. The field and staff" ofScers of the First Regiment were : Colonel, William K. Montgomery ; lieutenant-colonel, Robert McAllister ; major, David Hatfield ; adjutant, William Henry, Jr. ; quartermaster, Samuel Read ; surgeon, Charles C. Gordon ; chaplain, Robert B. Yard. Of the Second Regiment the colonel was George W. McLean; lieutenant- colonel, Isaac M. Tucker ; major, Samuel L,. Buck ; adjutant, Joseph W. Plume ; quartermaster, William E. Sturges ; surgeon, Gabriel Grant ; assistant surgeon, L,ewis W. Oakley ; chaplain, Robert R. Proudfit. Third Regiment, colonel, George W. Taylor ; lieutenant- colonel, Henry W. Brown ; major, Mark W. Callett ; adjutant, Robert T. Dunham ; quartermaster, Francis Sayre ; surgeon, Lorenzo Cox; assistant surgeon, Edward L. Welling ; chaplain, George R. Darrow. Company A of the First Regiment (from Elizabeth) was the first company mustered into the United States service under the first call for volunteers to serve three years or during the war. It was mustered in May 21, 1861, at Camp Olden, near Trenton, where the various other companies encamped till the completion of the organization. The material of these regiments was excellent, being identified with some of the best militia organizations of the state. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 47 The First, Second, and Third Regiments left the state June 28, 1861, and, immediately on their arrival in Virginia, entered upon the active duties of the soldier. They formed part of General Runyon's division of reserves in the battle of Bull Run, and aided materially in covering the retreat of our forces on that fatal day. Immediately afterward the First and Second Regiments went into camp near Alexandria, and were soon joined by the other regiments of the brigade. On the 25th of July, Major Philip Kearney was appointed to the command of the New Jersey troops. He had greatly distinguished himself in the Mexican war and was appointed brigadier-general of the New Jersey volunteers. He was assigned to his command early in August ; his troops were attached to Franklin's division, and the brigade headquarters ■ were established at Fairfax Seminary, three miles from Alexandria, Virginia. The experience of the brigade during the fall and winter months was marked by but few important incidents, the time being mainly occupied in drill and the ordinary camp duties. On the 7th of March, 1862, this brigade was ordered to Burke's Station, on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, for the purpose of guarding a party of laborers. On the morning of the loth, a detachment from the First Regiment, under Major Hatfield and Captain Vansicle, was sent forward from Fairfax Court House (where the regiment was stationed), to Centre- ville, at the first Bull Run, having the honor of being the first to occupy the place in the second advance. On the same day the remainder of the brigade pushed cautiously forward, reached and, at ten o'clock in the morning, entered the abandoned works at Manassas Junction, — eight companies of the Third being the first to take possession and hoist the regimental flag. The withdrawal of the enemy at this point had evidently been precipitated, and an immense amount of hospital and commissary stores was found, together with eighty baggage wagons, several locomotives, four or five cars, two hundred tents and other property of value. Among the trophies were seven flags, — one of white silk with the motto, "Carolinans in the Field: Traitors Beware," and another, bordered with heavy silver fringe, with the inscription " State Rights : Sic Semper Tyrannis.''^ The New Jersey Brigade took part in the battle of West Point, fought May 7, 1862, but, aside from much skirmishing and unimpor- tant engagements , little of interest took place in the history of the regiment till the battle of Gaines' Farm, which occurred on the 27th of June. Of this battle we give General Taylor's official report, which is as follows : " My command, by order, left our intrenched camp on the right bank of the Chickahominy, on Friday afternoon, the 27th of June, and crossed the said stream by the Woodbury bridge. "The battle begun the day previous had been renewed near 48 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Gaines' Farm, where we arrived about four o'clock, p. M. I immedi- ately formed my brigade in two lines,— the Third and Fourth Regiments in front, and the First and Second Regiments in the second line. " My line was scarcely formed when the Third Regiment, under the command of L,i en tenant- Colonel Brown, was ordered to advance forward into the woods, where a fierce combat was raging. Colonel Brown immediately formed his regiment in line of battle, led it into the woods, and began a rapid fire upon the enemy. As this was the first of my regiments engaged, I will complete my report of it by saying that they continued to fight in the woods until the close of the action. They were all this time under a galling fire, often a cross fire, but maintained their grounft until near sunset, when the whole line fell back. They had at this time expended (a large majority of the men) their last cartridge, sixty rounds to the man. It is but justice to say that this regiment bore itself most heroically throughout the entire action. Their conduct was all that could be desired. With their comrades falling around, they stood up like a wall of iron, losing over one-third of their number, and gave not an inch of ground until their ammunition was expended, and the retrogade movement became general ; they were under this fire one hour and a half. " The First Regiment entered the woods about half an hour after the Third and remained until the close of the action. Colonel Torbert being unwell, the regiment was led by Lieutenant-Colonel McAllister and well sustained by his presence and courage. I shall, however, say that Colonel Torbert, though suffering from low fever, followed us to the field and was present. " I take great pleasure in saying, for both these regiments fought under my own eye, that the First Regiment showed the same indomit- able courage as the Third Regiment, exposing themselves to the leaden hail of an often unseen foe, advancing with the Third Regiment, and stood steadily under a most galling fire until the close of action. Their loss was enlisted men killed, twenty ; wounded, eighty ; missing, fifty- seven. The loss of commissioned officers was one killed, four wounded and one missing, making a total of one hundred and sixty-three. " I have now to speak of the Second and Fourth Regiments, the first of which, under Colonel Tucker, numbered only four companies, the other six being on duty in the field-work at Camp Lincoln, and left behind under Lieutenant-Colonel Buck. While absent to the front, these four companies, by order of General Porter, without my knowl- edge, were sent to the woods, suffering a most galling fire. Their loss was : enlisted men killed, twelve ; wounded, forty-five ; missing, forty, making a total of ninety-seven enlisted men. I also regret to record the death of Colonel I. M. Tucker, and probably Major Ryerson, both of whom were left upon the field ; also Captain Danforth, mortally wounded, and Lieutenants Blewit, Root and Bogert, severely wounded, HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 49 and lyieutenant Callan, missing. Thej^, however, sustained themselves most gallantly, and proved their courage against superior numbers. The fate of the Fourth Regiment, one of the most ef&cient regiments as regards officers and men, was most painful. "At the moment when victory seemed wavering in the balance, an aide of General McClellan took them from my command, and ordered them into the woods. All the account I can give of them is that but one ofl&cer (wounded) and eighty-two men have joined my command ; all the rest, if living, are believed to be prisoners of war. "I learn from those who have come in that up to the time the regiment was surrounded they had received from and returned the enemy a most galling fire. I annex a report of the casualties of the day, showing the total loss of my brigade. "In conclusion, I would say that, so far as I am at present informed, my officers, commissioned and non-commissioned, nobly performed their duties, and it might therefore be invidious to par- ticularize. Still, in justice to the gallant dead who have devoted their lives to their country, I must record the names of Captain Brewster, of the First Regiment, and Captain Buckley, of the Third ; also Second-Ivieutenant Howell, of the Third,— all officers of dis- tinguished merit. These officers fought under my eye. As regards the conduct of the Second and Fourth Regiment officers, I am told that it was all that could be desired, but these regiments having been taken from me, I did not see them during the action. "It is due to my staff-ofiicers to say that they carried out my orders intelligently and promptly, and did not hesitate, and were often exposed to the hottest fire of the day." These companies with their regiments and brigades participated in over forty engagements, beginning with that of Bull Run, Virginia, July 21, 1861, and including others fought by the Army of the Potomac, the last of the series being that of Lee's surrender, Appoma- tox, Virginia, April 9, 1865. In all these engagements the regiments and companies of the brigade made for themselves an honorable record. ' The Ninth Regiment contained two companies, G and K, from Union county. They were officered as follows : Company G,— captain, John P. Ritter ; first lieutenant, William Zimmerman ; second lieutenant, William Benton. Company K,— captain, Elias J. Drake; first lieutenant, W. B. S. Boudinot ; second lieutenant, Jonathan Townley, Jr. Joseph W. Allen was colonel of the regiment ; C. A. Heckman, major ; Francis S. Weller, surgeon ; Louis Braun, assistant surgeon ; Abraham Zabriskie, adjutant ; Samuel Keyes, quartermaster ; Thomas Drumm, chaplain. The regiment was splendidly equipped with Springfield rifles, and on the 4th of December, 1861, proceeded to Washington, D. C. Janu- ary 4, 1862, it proceeded by rail to Annapolis, and was then assigned 50 HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY to the brigade of General Jesse L. Reno. The operations of this regiment were confined to the states of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The regiment participated in about thirty engagements during the war, and maintained its organization from time to time during 1863-4-5. Their gallant and succe.ssful operations in a swamp during the action at Roanoke Island were the cause of General Burn- side's promulgating an order, on the loth of February, that the Ninth Regiment should have the words "Roanoke Island, February 8, 1862" emblazoned on their banners, in compliment for their gallantry on that day. The gallantry of this regiment in different engagements is well known. The New York Tribune, speaking of the battles of New Berne, says : "In the capture of New Berne the Ninth New Jersey Regiment sustained the honor of their state with characteristic gallantry. Though their position in that brilliant engagement was one of great exposure, they bore themselves through the conflict like veterans, suffering more severely than any other regiment on the field. Out of a total loss of three hundred and sixty-four killed and wounded they lost sixty-two, or one-sixth of the whole, although twelve regiments were in the battle. Bravo for the Blues ! " On the 24th of December, 1862, the regiment was made the recipient of a beautiful stand of colors, costing seven hundred dollars, presented by the legislature of New Jersey, and accompanied by suitable resolutions presented by that bod}'. The Eleventh Regiment had two companies of men from Union county, viz : Companies B and D, with the following officers : Com- pany B, — captain, William H. Meeker; first lieutenant, lyott Bloomfield; second lieutenant, Alexander Beach, Jr. Company D, — captain, Luther Martin ; first lieutenant, Sydney M. Lyton ; second lieutenant, James H. Carr. Robert McAllister, who had been lieutenant-colonel of the First Regiment and who subsequently became brigadier major-general by brevet, was commissioned colonel of the Eleventh Regiment, on the 30th of June, 1862, and on the 25th of August following, the regiment left for Washington. On November i6th it was attached to the brigade of General Carr, Sides' division. The initiation of the regiment into actual war was in that merciless slaughter at Fredericks- burg, where they sustained a loss of two men killed, four wounded and six missing. The reputation of the regiment for fighting qualities was maintained through all the campaigns to the surrender of L,ee and the close of the war. In all, the regiment participated in twenty-nine engagements. FOURTEENTH REGIMENT. Companies C and E of this regiment were from the county of Union, the former being under the command of Captain Chauncey Harris, with Ebenezer Muddell as first lieutenant, and Joseph W. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 5] Walker as second lieutenant ; and the latter commanded by Captain James W. Bodwell, Isaac T. Tingley, first lieutenant, and James O. Bedell, second lieutenant. William S. Truax was colonel ; Caldwell K. Hall, lieutenant-colonel ; Peter Verdenburgli, Jr., major ; F. Lemuel Buckalew, adjutant ; Enoch L. Cowart, quartermaster ; Ambrose Treganowan, surgeon ; Joseph B. Martin and Herbert B. Chambers, assistant surgeons ; Frank B. Rose, chaplain. The regiment was mustered into the United States service at Freehold, New Jersey, August 26, 1862. It left the state on the 2d of September and was first sent to Baltimore, Maryland. Following this came picket duty and skirmishing around and about Frederick City, South Mountain, Antietam, Harpers Ferry, and other points in Virginia and Maryland. The regiment took part in the chase after Lee in his retreat from Gettysburg, and at Locust Grove made a gallant fight, receiving congratulations from their brigade commander for their bravery and "great steadiness throughout the battle." During the winter a deep religious interest was awakened in the regiment through the earnest labors of Chaplain Rose. Regimental churches were built of logs and covered with tents furnished by the sanitary commission. In May, 1865, Grant began his advance upon the Wilderness. The Fourteenth Regiment was now placed in the Sixth Army Corps, but still remained in the First Brigade, and on the 3d of May the forward movement was made against the eneni}-, now concentrated at the Wilderness. All day on the 5th a furious battle raged, in which the Fourteenth Regiment fought bravely and lost heavily. Upon emerging from the Wilderness the regiment again went into action, the enemy being driven back, with a loss of fifteen hundred men. General Norris was wounded in the action, and Colonel Truax was placed in temporary command of the brigade. Fighting, skir- mishing and manoeuvering continued until June ist, when the march to Cold Harbor was begun. In this battle the Fourteenth Regiment suffered heavily, losing in two hours two hundred and forty, in killed and wounded, —Lieutenant Stults, of Company H, and Lieutenant Tingley, of Company E, being among the former. The Fourteenth Regiment lost heavily again at Petersburg. The next fighting of this regiment was on a diSerent field. Hunter, with a large Union force, having abandoned the Shenandoah valley, Lee sent Early northward with all the force he could muster. The Union force at Martinsburg retreated to Harpers Ferry. Grant now deemed it necessary to send more forces into Maryland, and on the 6th of July he detached the Third Division of the Sixth Corps, and hurried it forward to Locust Point, near Baltimore, where it arrived, under General Rickets, on the morning of the 8th. From this point the division, numbering five thousand men, proceeded to Monocacy, the old familiar ground of the 52 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Fourteenth Regiment, wliich was now first to arrive on the spot. At the battle of the Monocacy the regiment suffered dreadfully. Captain Chauncey Harris, of Company C, was wounded through the left breast while in command of the regiment, and, after being placed in an ambulance, was shot through the right knee-joint by a rebel birllet. The command of the regiment then devolved upon Captain Janeway, of Company K, the only ofiScer left able to take charge of it. Of the nine hundred and fifty men who left New Jersey in the Fourteenth Regiment, but ninety-five remained for duty on July 9, 1864, and these without an officer to command them. The Fourteenth Regiment next engaged the enemy at Opequon Creek, on July 19th, and here lost seven men killed, and sixty-two wounded. Among the killed was Major Verdenburgh, who was struck by a shell in the breast, while at the head of his regiment ordering a charge upon a rebel battery. He expired in a few moments. In this engagement Captain Bodwell, of Company E, was wounded. The great battle of the Shenandoah was that of Cedar Creek, now made famous by the inspiring genius of Sheridan, who, after defeat by the rebels, came upon the field in time to revive the courage of his men and insure a signal victory. This battle occurred on the i8th of October, the rebel loss being great. The campaign having rescued the Shenandoah valley and insured the safety of the national capital, the brigade, with its Fourteenth Regiment, was transferred to City Point, where, on the 25th of March, the regiment participated in the battle of Hatcher's Run, resulting in the downfall of Petersburg and the surrender of Lee two weeks later. The Fourteenth Regiment was mustered out of service at Wash- ington, D. C. , on the iSth of June, 1865. It left New Jersey with nine hundred and fifty men and, notwithstanding the many recruits which had strengthened it from time to time, it had, at the expiration of three years, only two hundred and thirty men to muster out of the service. The Thirtieth Regiment, which contained one company, viz.. Company B, from this county, was mustered into service for nine months, at Flemington, New Jersey, September 17, 1862, and placed under the command of Colonel Alexander E. Donaldson. The officers of Company B were : Captain, John N. L,ewis ; first lieutenant, James D. Vanderveer ; second lieutenant, Thomas Moore. Captain Lewis resigned December 26, 1862, and Lieutenant Vanderveer took his place, serving as captain till June 27, 1863, when the regiment was mustered out. The regiment left the state September 30, 1862. It was sent to Washington, and was assigned to the provisional brigade, Casey's division, defenses of Washington, and participated in but one battle, that of Chancellors ville, May 2 and 3, 1863. CHAPTER XII. SOCIETIES, COLONIAL AND REVOLUTIONARY. — FREE MASONRY. HE following history of Elizabeth Chapter, No. i, of the New Jersey Society, Sons of the American Revolution, is contributed by Miller C. Earl. The article is one which is peculiarly apropos at this point, since the association serves as one of the potent factors by which memories of noble deeds are kept alive and the fire of patriotism kept burning. SOkS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. On July 4, 1893, a patriotic celebration was held in the historic First Presbyterian church of Elizabeth, under the auspices of the resi- dent members of the Sons of the American Revolution. Much local interest being manifested at that time in the object and purposes of the Sons of the American Revolution, it was decided, at a meeting held September 13th, following, to organize a local chapter composed of members of the Sons of the American Revolution residing in Union county. On September 26, 1893, a constitution and by-laws were adopted, and officers elected, as follows : President, Walter Chandler ; vice-president, Joseph G. Ogden ; secretary, Charles H. K. Halsey ; treasurer, Bauman E. Belden ; managers, George T. Parrot, Edward M. Wood, Erastus G. Putnam. This organization, thus commenced, was the first of the local oiFshoots from state societies of the Sons of the American Revolution taking the name of ' ' chapters. ' ' The purpose of the organization is to arouse interest in its locality in matters relating to the Revolutionary war, and thereby increase the membership and usefulness of the state society, mark places in the city and county of Revolutionary interest and celebrate historic events. Among the principal events connected with the chapter thus far, may be mentioned the dinner of June 8, 1894, on the anniversary of the battle of Elizabeth Town. It was held after the annual meeting, was attended by many of the members of the chapter and distinguished guests, and was made interesting by patriotic addresses. Another important action of the chapter took place on the 4th of July, 1896, when it assembled in the First Presbyterian church, Eliz- abeth, and, after appropriate preliminary exercises, proceeded to mark the graves of eighteen Revolutionary patriots, in the adjoining 54 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY graveyard, with the official metallic markers of the Sons of the American Revolution. The graves marked included those of many notable patriots, including Rev. James Caldwell and his wife (both killed during the war, as is familiarly known). General Elias Dayton, and others. Members of Boudiuot Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, were in attendance and joined in the ceremonies. The chapter, starting with twenty-eight members, now numbers forty-six. Two have been lost by death, one of whom was the Hon. Robert S. Green, ex-governor of New Jersey and former president of the New Jersey Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. The membership list of Elizabeth Chapter, No. i, is as follows (June, 1897) : Atwater, Edward S. Eachman, Horace S. Barber, William P. Bassett, Fred. B. Belden, Bauman L. Brewster, Lewis O. *Brown, George C. Bull. Archibald H. Cannon, Henry B. Cannon, Henry R., M.D. Chandler, Walter Chester, William W. Corbin, William H. Crane, Augustus S. Crane, Moses M. Downer, David R. Earl, Miller C. Earl, Robert N. Gray, Joseph H. *Green, Robert S. Halsey, Charles H. K. Johnson, Harris L. Kiggins, C. Symmes Ludlow, Gideon E Luf berry, John H. tMiller, William H. Mulford, Aaron D. Mulford, Ernest D. Ogden, James C. Ogden, Joseph G. Opdyke, Charles W. Parrot, George T. Parrot, Samuel B. Peck, George, M.D., U.S.N. Pierson, David H. Putnam, Erastus G. Scott, Julian Stillman, William M. TainA)r, Charles C. Tenney, George C. Thomas, George C. Thomas, Robert McK. Thomas, William P. Timms, Walter B. Wetmore, John C. Whitehead, Harrie P. Williams, Nathaniel D. Wood, Edward M. Woodruff, Anthony J. DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. [by MARY N. PUTNAM.] The celebration of the centennial of American independence, in 1876, roused the enthusiasm of many a patriotic heart, and caused him to ask the question, " Did my ancestors do anything for the cause of independence? " This led later to the formation of patriotic societies, such as the Sons of Revolutionary Sires, in California, the Sons of the Revolution, in New York, and the Sons of the American Revolution, in New Jersey. The main motive of these societies is love of country, and the leading object of their efforts is to perpetuate a spirit of true Americanism. Daughters of Revolutionary patriots were not admitted to these organizations, and a plan was adopted to organize an independent society to be named Daughters of the American Revolution. On the nth of October, 1890, about thirty women of Washington, filled with patriotic impulses, met at the Strathmore Arms and organized the society, Mrs. William D. Cabell being the presiding officer. A * Deceased, f Resigned. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 55 constitution was framed, thoroughly revised, and adopted by the national society, which met May 26, 1891. Mrs. Benjamin Harrison, wife of the president of the United States, was elected first president- general. The first continental congress met on Washington's birthday, February 32, 1892. For convenience the society is divided into chapters, whose officers are responsible to the national society. These chapters, at the continental congress, elect a state regent, who represents their interest in the board of management, — every state regent being, by the constitution, a member of that board. There are no state societies. The first chapter organized was in Chicago, March 20, 1891, five months after the formal organization of the national society. On April 17, 1891, a preliminary meeting was held at Morristown, New Jersey, of New Jersey Daughters, and officers of the society were appointed. On April 29th these officers met at the residence of Mrs. Alexander McGill, in Jersey City, to perfect its organization. The ladies present were Mrs. Alexander McGill and Mrs. Joseph Warren Revere, honorary regents ; Mrs. William W. Shippen, state regent ; Mrs. DeWitt C. Mather, registrar ; Mrs. Howard C. Richards, secretary ; Mrs. Richard F. Stevens, treasurer, — forming the New Jersey Chapter, and inviting members from all parts of the state. Their numbers increased so fast that local chapters were formed, and now number sixteen. The name of the New Jersey Chapter was changed to Nova Csesarea, of which Mrs. David A. Depue, of Newark, was appointed regent. Mrs. E. G. Putnam was requested by Mrs. Shippen, state regent, to form a chapter in Elizabeth, and this she organized September 27, 1893, ■«^ith fifteen members. Regent, Mrs. E. G. Putnam ; vice-regent, Mrs. B. H. Campbell ; secretary, Mrs. C. M. Pyne ; treasurer, Mrs. Otis A. Glazebrook ; registrar, Mrs. L. M. Bond ; historian, Mrs. H. P. Whitehead, — giving it the name of the Boudinot Chapter. Mrs. E. G. Putnam and Mrs. B. H. Campbell are lineal descendants of the Huguenot refugee, Elie Boudinot, who left France after the revocation of the edict of Nantes and came to New York, in 1687. Her great- grandsons, Elias and Elisha Boudinot, were the celebrated Revolutionary patriots of Elizabeth, New Jersey. General Elias Boudinot's residence was on East Jersey street, now occupied by the Home for Aged Women. Mrs. Putnam presented the chapter with a gavel having the following inscription engraved on a silver plate : " This gavel was carved from an original solid oak beam in the Boudinot mansion, Elizabeth, New Jersey, where General Elias Boudinot entertained General Washington at luncheon, April 23, 1789, on his way to his inauguration as first president of the United States ; and presented to the Boudinot Chapter, Elizabeth, New Jersey, Daughters of the American Revolution, organ- ized September 27, 1893, by Mary N. Putnam, regent." 56 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Among the members of this chapter are descendants of the Rev. James Caldwell, Governor William Livingston, Colonel Francis Barber, Colonel Oliver Spencer and Captain William Brittin, of Elizlabeth Town ; also Commodore Thomas Truxton, General Philip Schuyler, Colonel Samuel Washington, Colonel Adam Comstock, Major Rufus King, and Captain Henry Putnam. As it is the proud privilege of Elizabeth to have played a very prominent part in the great war drama of 1776, it becomes the duty of the Daughters of the American Revolution to transmit to succeeding generations the history of the high character, sterling virtues, simple manners and immortal principles of their ancestors. THE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF THE COLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICA. [by MARY N. PUTNAM.] While the period of eligibility of the Revolutionary societies commences with the legislation of committees and congresses leading up to the Declaration of Independence, and finishes with the proclamation of peace, in 1783, that of the Society of Colonial Dames begins with the first settlement of the country, and ends with the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The objects of the society are, "with a true spirit of patriotism to seek to inspire genuine love of country in every heart, to create popular interest in American history, to collect manuscripts, relics and memen- toes of bygone days for preservation, and to teach the young that it is a sacred obligation to do justice and honor to heroic ancestors, whose ability, valour, sufferings and achievements are beyond all praise." The eligibility consists in "being descended from some ancestor of worthy life who came to reside in an American colony prior to 1750, and who rendered some efficient service to his country during the Colonial period," such as provincial officers, members of assemblies, conventions and committess, and of the judiciary ; commissioned officers of the army and navy, and, in New Jersey, founders of Princeton and Rutgers Colleges. The national society is divided into state societies, composed of the thirteen original states, and the District of Columbia. Each colonial state has its own by-laws, eligibility list and board of management, uniting under a national board, which meets in council, once in two years, in the city of Washington. Their deliberations are private and communications to the public press are given only by permission of the board of management. In the non-colonial states there are associate societies, and the members must be admitted through the colonial state in which their ancestors resided. On April 10, 1892, the New Jersey Society of the Colonial Dames of America was incorporated at Trenton, New Jersey. The names of the incorporators are as follows : Mrs. S. Meredith HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 57 Dickinson, Mrs. S. Duncan Oliphant, Mrs. Elmer E. Green, Miss Mary Dickinson, Miss Elizabeth A. Smith, Miss Caroline E. Nixon, Miss Annie B. McIUvaine, Miss Justina h. Atterbury, Mrs. Frederick C. Lewis, Mrs. W. W. L. Phillips, Mrs. Cleaveland Hilson, Mrs. Hugh H. Hamill, Mrs. Henry M. Barbour, Mrs. Hughes Oliphant, Miss Helen Griswold Green. The official corps chosen comprised : Mrs. S. Meredith Dickinson, president ; Miss Caroline E. Nixon, secretary; Miss Mary Dickinson, treasurer; and Mrs. Frederick C. Lewis, registrar. ' ' The places in the state where the business of such corporation is to be conducted are the city of Trenton- and such other cities as the business of the corporation may from time to time require." In the larger cities of the' state prominent members are selected and called "founders," to invite those who are eligible and acceptable to join the society. Two general meetings are held during the year. The spring, or annual, meeting is always at Trenton, when officers of the state board are elected. The autumn meeting may be held else- where, and is called the "commemoration" meeting. To this the officers in the thirteen colonial states are invited. It is an intellectual and social treat. Such a combination of women of position, beauty, refinement, talents and cultivation forms a high social order, which cannot be surpassed. FREE MASONRY IN UNION COUNTY. The first Masonic lodge in the state of New Jersey was constituted at Newark, in the county of Essex, on the 13th day of May, in the year 1761, by the name of St. John's Lodge, No. i. The warrant for this lodge was granted by R. W. George Harrison, Provincial Grand Master of the state New York. The first celebration of the festival of St. John, the Evangelist, was held on Monday, December 27, 1761. A few Master Masons from Elizabeth Town were included in the list of visiting brethren. This constitutes the earliest record of the presence of members of the fraternity residing within the limits of the present county of Union. A warrant was granted on the 24th of June, 1762, by R. W. Jeremy Gridley, " Provincial Grand Master of North America," to Jonathan Hampton, Esq. , to constitute a lodge by the name of Temple Lodge, No. I, at Elizabeth Town. This lodge was duly organized, but the records of its proceedings have never been obtained. Jonathan Hampton was one of the foremost citizens of the town. He took an active interest in all the efforts made to obtain a redress of grievances from the government of Great Britain, but when the time arrived to dissolve allegiance from that government, he could not surrender his attachment to the mother country. He removed to the city of New York, at that time in the possession of the British army. 58 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY During the war of the Revolution many of those who volunteered their services from Elizabeth Town became members of the fraternity. Of this number Captain Aaron Ogden was appointed Junior Warden of the Army Lodge, No. 31, warranted by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. At the convention of Free and Accepted Masons of the state of New Jersey, held at New Brunswick, December 18, 1786, "for the purpose of establishing a grand lodge in the said state," Daniel Marsh, John DuVan and James DuVan, all residents of Elizabeth Town, were present. Daniel Marsh was at that time a member of the general assembly, and was unanimously elected Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge. At the first meeting of the Grand Lodge, after the organization, held at New Brunswick, January 30, 1787, a warrant of dispensation was issued by the M. W. Grand Master, David Brearley, Esq. , to the " Honorable Brother Elias Dayton," for the purpose of establishing a Masonic lodge at Elizabeth Town. At the next meeting of the Grand Lodge, held April 2, 1787, the dispensation was returned and a new dispensation was issued by the Grand Master to "Brother John DuVan, for Master of the lodge at Elizabeth Town." The effort at that time to organize a lodge proved unsuccessful. At the celebration of the festival of St. John the Baptist, held by the Grand Lodge in the city of New Brunswick, on June 24, 1788, Daniel Marsh and John DuVan were present. At the session of the Grand Lodge held at Newark, December 30, 1788, the Hon. Jonathan Dayton and Captain Aaron Ogden were present. There was an interval of many years before any attempt was made to organize a lodge within the limits of the present county of Union. The first lodge was warranted in the (then) township of Westfield, (now city of Plainfield) on November 11, 1817, as Jerusalem Lodge, No. 40. The warrant was granted to John Allen, W. M. ; Elias Runyon, S. W., and William D. Sherwood, J. W. This .lodge continued its work until the year 1834, when it was obliged to suspend its regular meetings, owing to the cruel opposition to Masonry at that time. Colonel John Allen and Dr. Elias Runyon continued their membership up to the time when the lodge closed. The second lodge was warranted by the Grand Lodge, on November 18, 1818, under the name of Washington Lodge, No. 41, at Elizabeth Town. The first officers under the warrant were, Oliver Hatfield, W. M. ; Alfred Stone, S. W. ; and Thomas P. Walworth, J. W. This lodge ceased work in the year 1828. The third lodge was organized at the town of Rahway, November 9, 1824, under a warrant from the Grand Lodge, to Robert Dennis, W. M. ; David Albertson, S. W. ; Noah Silvers, J. W. It was known and distinguished as La Fayette Lodge, No. 49. This lodge continued HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 59 to meet until the year 1830. There were no lodges of Free and Accepted Masons within the limits of the present Union county from the year 1834 until the year 1853. On May 18, 1853, the old lodge known as Jerusalem Lodge, No. 40, was reopened by the authority of the Grand Master, granted to Elias Runyon, W. M., and Richard Manning, S. W. The Grand Lodge, afl its annual session on January 11, 1854, ordered the warrant to be restored to Dennis W. Dorman, W. M. ; Stephen HaflF, S. W. ; and Samuel Scott, J. W. , and that the lodge be thereafter known as Jerusalem Lodge, No. 26. The officers of the lodge for the year 1896 were Daniel C. Adams, W. M. ; Stephen Beeching, S. W.; Warren T. Bartlett, J. W. ; Alexander Titsworth, treasurer; and Charles Yaeger, secretary. The lodge formerly known as La Fayette Lodge, No. 49, was resuscitated by the Grand Master on June 6, 1853, under the following officers : George Waters, W. M. ; Abijah O. Houghton, S. W. ; and Benjamin C. Watson, J. W. The warrant was restored by the Grand Lodge, January 11, 1854, to John H. Janeway, W. M. ; Crowell Marsh, S. W. ; and Stewart C. Marsh, J. W. , and the number of the lodge was changed from 49 to 27. The officers of the lodge for the year 1896 were Albert P. Goodell, W. M. ; Valentine N. Bagley, S. W. ; and William H. Randolph, J. W. Washington Lodge, No. 41, at Elizabeth Town, was revived, by the authority of the Grand Master, on June 24, 1854, under the follow- ing officers : James S. Green, W. M. ; James W. Woodruff, S. W. ; Wallace L. Crowell, J. W. The warrant of the old lodge was granted to the same officers, by the Grand Lodge, January 17, 1855. The number of the lodge was changed from 41 to 33. The officers of the lodge for the year 1896 were George B. Hooker, W. M. ; Edgar B. Moore, S. W. ; and William H. Hoover, J. W. At the annual session of the Grand Lodge, held January 14, 1857, a warrant was granted to Samuel L. Moore, W. M. ; William J. Tenney, S. W. ; and David Crowell, J. W. , for a lodge, to be known and num- bered as Essex Lodge, No. 49. Officers of this lodge for the year 1896 were John H. Holly, W. M. ; Thomas P. Banks, S. W. ; and Theodore B. Townley, J. W. This lodge was located at Elizabeth Port. The fourth lodge was warranted by the Grand Lodge, on January 22, 1868, to Mayer Sontheimer, W. M.; Frederick W. Schroeder, S. W. ; and John Graff, J. W. This lodge was known and numbered as Hermann Lodge, No. 81. The officers for the year 1896 were Charles Joseph Jensen, W. M. ; John W. Simmenroth, S. W. ; and Charles Kaimer, J. W. On January 18, 1872, the Grand Lodge ordered a warrant to William A. Macquoid, W. M. ; Henry E. Harris, S. W. ; and Addison S. Clark, J. W., for a lodge, to be known and numbered as Atlas Lodge, No. 125. 60 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Officers of the lodge in the year 1896,— John O'Blenis, W. M. ; John B. Green, S. W. ; and William J. Kennedy, J. W. This lodge is located in the town of Westfield. Another warrant was ordered, January 18, 1872, to William H. Mcllhanney, W. M. ; John Whittaker, S. W. ; and Nathaniel K. Thompson, J. W. , for a lodge to be known and numbered as Orient Lodge, No. 126, and to be held at the city of Elizabeth. The officers for the year 1896 were George F. Chapman, W. M. ; Farley S. Taylor, S. W. ; Frank W. Gallandet, J. W. On the same date (January 18, 1872,) the Grand Lodge ordered that a warrant issue to Adrian W. Smith, W. M. ; Thomas B. Kingsland, S. W.; and William A. Mulford, J. W., for a lodge to be known and numbered as Azure Lodge, No. 129, the lodge to be located in the town of Roselle. The officers of the lodge for the year 1896 were Walter S. Mead, W. M. ; John Wilson, S. W. ; and William Shaw, J. W. A warrant was ordered by the Grand Lodge, January 23, 1873, to William A. Green, W. M. ; George W. Smith, S. W. ; and David Sprague, J. W. , for a lodge to be known and numbered as Tyrian Lodge, No. 134, to be held at Elizabeth Port. The officers for the year 1896 were William Dontlein, W. M. ; John D. Barr, S. W. ; and George C. Otto, J. W. On January 22, 1879, the Grand Lodge ordered that a warrant issue to William A. Freeman, W. M. ; Henry E. Harris, S. W. ; and William P. Scott, J. W. , for a lodge to be known and numbered as Anchor Lodge, No. 149, to be held at the city of Plainfield. The officers of the lodge for the year 1896 were Charles C. Howard, W. M. ; William Coddington, S. W. ; and Judson E. McClintock, J. W. A warrant was ordered by the Grand Lodge, January 24, 1889, to be issued to Charles A. Hoyt, W. M. ; William A. L. Ostrander, S. W. ; and George W. Brown, J. W. , for a lodge to be known and numbered as Overlook Lodge, No. 163, to be located at Summit. The officers of this lodge for the year 1896 were George N. Williams, W. M. ; Atwood L. De Coster, S. W. ; and Robert William Clucas, J. W. The whole number enrolled in the year 1896 is nine hundred and twenty-eight. The following brethren belonging to lodges in Union county have served in the station of Grand Master : Joseph W. Scott, of Jerusalem Lodge, No. 40, in the years 1830-1-2-3 ; Henry R. Cannon, of Jerusalem Lodge, No. 26, in the years 1868-9 ! William A. Pembrook, of Washington Lodge, No. 33, in the years 1874-5 ; Joseph W. Martin, of La Fayette Lodge, No. 27, in the year 1881 ; Robert M. Moore, of Washington Lodge, No. 33, in the years 1887-8 ; James H. Durand, of La Fayfette Lodge, No. 27, in the years 1893-4. ROYAL ARCH MASONS. The first chapter of Royal Arch Masons was organized in the city of Elizabeth in the year 1866, under the following officers : H. P. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 6] Price, H. P. ; Adrian W. Smith, K. ; Henry L,. Norton, S. Officers, 1896,— E. W. G. Ladd, H. P. ; Joseph E. Buzby, K. ; Edward A. Day, S. This chapter is known and distinguished as Washington Chapter, No. 16. The second chapter of Royal Arch Masons was warranted Septem- ber 13, 1871. Officers, 1871,— Benjamin Squire, H. P. ; E. St. Clair Moore, K. ;' Frederick A. Clarkson, S. Officers, 1896,— Charles H. Jackson, H. P. ; John Patterson, K. ; James H. Lyon, S. This chapter is known and distinguished as La Fayette Chapter, No. 26. The third chapter of Royal Arch Masons is known and des- ignated as Jerusalem Chapter, No. 24. Officers, 1896,— Charles M. Ulrich, H. P. ; William I. Ford, K. ; Daniel C. Adams, S. KNIGHTS TEMPLAR. The first commandery of Knights Templar in the county of Union was organized under a dispensation issued by John Woolverton, Grand Commander, in the year 1868, to William H. Mcllhanney, Eminent Commander ; David D. Buchanan, Generalissimo ; John Whittaker, Captain General. This commandery received its warrant from the Grand Com.mandery in the year 1869. Officers, 1896, — Noel R. Park, Eminent Commander ; George A. Squire, Generalissimo ; Jacob W. Sheppard, Captain General. This commandery is designated as St. John's Commandery, No. 9. The second commandery of Knights Templar in the county of Union was organized, under dispensation issued by Isaac C. Githens, Grand Commander, in February, 1889, to William H. Sebring, Eminent Commander ; G. L. Cook, Generalissimo ; C. M. Goddard, Captain General. This commandery was duly warranted in May, 1889. Officers, 1896, — Jacob Kirkner, Eminent Commander ; N. Y. Dungan, Generalissimo ; William H. Freeman, Captain General. CHAPTER XIII. REPRESENTATIVE PHYSICIANS OF UNION COUNTY. T is signally appropriate that a specific chapter be devoted to a consideration of the lives and deeds of those members of the medical profession who have lived and labored to goodly ends within the confines of Union county ; and also to give due recognition to those who are still pursuing their humane mission here. The matter in the pages immediately following can not fail to be of distinct interest and historical value. ABRAHAM COLES, the widely known poet, scholar, philanthropist, and eminent physician and surgeon, was born in the old homestead of his family, at Scotch Plains, New Jersey, December 26, 1813, and died, during a visit to California, at the Hotel del Monte, near Monterey, May 3, 1891. He was of Scotch and Dutch descent, his ancestors being among the earliest settlers of New York and New Jersey. His great-grandfather, William Coles, had, with his wife, established himself, in early colonial days, at Scotch Plains, and there Dr. Coles' grandfather, James Coles, was born in 1744. The latter married Elizabeth Frazee. Their son, Dennis, born at Scotch Plains, in 1778, died there in 1844. The father of Dr. Coles was "a man of great culture, skilled in mathematics, a lover of polite literature, a polished speaker, a member of the state legislature, a charming reader, and an accomplished writer." He acquired the printers' art, and in 1803 established at Newburgh, New York, a newspaper, the Recorder of the Times, which he conducted for three years, — a literary and financial success, which, also, under another name, it continued to be as late as 1876. He married, in 1802, Katrina Van Deurzen, daughter of one of the prominent citizens of Newburgh, and a descendant of the famous Dutch dominie, Everardus Bogardus, and his noted wife, Anneke Jans. At the solicitation of his parents, Dennis Coles sold out his Newburgh business (1806) and returned to Scotch Plains, where his son was born, as stated above. Dr. Abraham Coles was educated by his parents until the age of twelve, when he entered the dry-goods store of a relative in New York city, with whom he remained five years. Here he acquired a thorough business education, while at the same time devoting his spare time to reading and study. At the age of seventeen he withdrew from this HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 63 business to accept a position as teacher of Latin and mathematics in the academy of the Rev. Lewis Bond, at Plainfield, New Jersey. Subse- quently, for six months, he studied law in the office of Hon. Joseph C. Hornblower, of Newark, and although the law was not to prove his chosen vocation, he, during this time, acquired a taste and solid foundation for legal study, which he never abandoned and which in after years was invaluable to him in his association with eminent jurists. After reading Blackstone's and Kent's Commentaries with care, and in the meantime consulting his natural tastes and inclina- tions, which drew him strongly toward medicine, he chose the latter, and, first attending a course of lectures at the University and College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York city, he entered the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at which he graduated in 1835. The following year he opened an office, as physician and surgeon, in Newark, New Jersey. In 1842 he married Caroline E. Ackerman, daughter of Jonathan C. and Maria S. Ackermau, of New Brunswick, New Jersey. She died in 1845, leaving one son and one daughter. Dr. Coles soon won a high position in his profession, becoming especially distinguished in surgical cases, to which he was frequently called in consultation. In 1848 he went abroad, visiting England and France and making a special study of their hospitals and schools of medicine. He was in Paris during the stormy days— May and June, 1848— of the dictatorship of General Cavignac and the so-called French republic that followed, and, as correspondent of the Newark Daily Advertiser, described the bloody scenes of which he was an eye-witness. Returning to Newark he at once resumed practice. At, this time he was regarded as the most accomplished practitioner in Newark, eminent alike for his professional and literary acquirements. In 1853 and 1854 he was again abroad, traveling extensively, studying the continental languages and adding largely to his store of medical knowledge by contact with the most eminent physicians and surgeons of Europe. He also wrote charming letters from Italy, as corres- pondent again of the Daily Advertiser. At Florence he made the acquaintance of the Brownings, Hiram Powers and others then and subsequently distinguished for their attainments in literature and art. In September, 1854, he took passage for home, on the Arctic, but after leaving Liverpool, he had his ticket made good for the following steamer, and then disembarked at Queeustown . The Arctic proceeded on her voyage, was run into by a small French steamer, called the Vesta, off Cape Race, in a dense fog, and sunk, with a loss of three hundred and twenty-two lives. But the life, character, and celebrity of Dr. Coles, eminent as he was as physician and surgeon, are chiefly connected with his literary and scholarly attainments, his published writings, and particularly his 64 HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY religious hymns and translations, which have given him a world-wide reputation. He had early iu his professional career been a contributor to various periodicals, and short isolated poems had appeared from his pen, but it was not until 1847 that he brought out the first of his eighteen translations of "Dies Irse," and made a pronounced impression upon the literary world. This hymn, the composition of a monk, was written originally in the L,atin of the thirteenth century. It is a ter- rible picture of a soul that in vision seeing death, the righteous Judge, the doom of the lost, pleads for mercy and rescue, and in the terseness, vigor, power, and yet rhythmic beauty of the original lyatin is peerlessly presented. It has not only commanded the admiration of critics generally, but exercised a powerful influence upon many eminent DEERHURST characters. Dr. Johnson could not read the original without bursting into tears. Sir Walter Scott repeated portions of it in his dying moments. It was also upon the lips of the Earl of Roscommon the moment he expired. Goethe introduced portions of it iu his " Faust. " It has been set to the sublimest music and forms the subject of Mozart's immortal Requiem. It had been translated into various languages, but an English version had hitherto signally failed. The translation of Dr. Coles attracted immediate and wide attention, both in this country and in Europe. It was set to music in Henry Ward Beecher's " Plymouth Collection of Hymns ; " a portion of it was introduced into "Uncle Tom's Cabin;" and James Russell L,owell gave it a most favorable criticism in the Atlantic Monthly. In 1859 he published, with some slight changes, his first translation HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 65 of the "Dieslrse," together with twelve other versions which he had made since 1847. This vohime, entitled "Dies Irse in Thirteen Original Versions" (sixth edition, 1892), appeared in the Appletons' best style of binding, and contained an introduction, history of the hymn, music, and photographic illustrations of the Last Judgment, by Michael Angelo, Rubens, Cornelius, and Ary SchefFer. The book met with immediate success. Richard Grant White, in a critical review, spoke of the work as "one of great interest, and an admirable tribute from American scholar- ship and poetic taste to the supreme nobility of the original poem. Dr. Coles," he says, "has shown a fine appreciation of the spirit and rhythmic movement of the hymn, as well as unusual command of language and rhyme ; and we much doubt whether any translation of the 'Dies Irse,' better than the first of the thirteen, will ever be pro- duced in Knglish, except perhaps by himself * * As to the translation of the hymn, it is perhaps the most difiicult task that could be undertaken. To render ' Faust ' or the ' Songs of Egmont ' into fitting English numbers would be easy in comparison." James W. Alexander, D. D. , and William R. Williams, D. D. , scholars whose critical acumen and literary ability were universally recognized, pronounced the first two "the best of English versions in double rhyme," while the Rev. Samuel Irenseus Prime, D. D. , in the New York Observer, said, "We are not sure but that the last version, which is in the same measure as Crashaw's, but in our judg- ment far superior, will please the general taste most of all." The Christian (Quarterly) Review said, — " Dr. Coles' first translation stands, we believe, not only unsurpassed, but unequaled in the English language." The Rt. Rev. John Williams, D. D., L,h. D., bishop of the diocese of Connecticut, wrote, — "Your first version is decidedly the best one with which I am acquainted." William Cullen Bryant, in the Evening Post, wrote, — " There are few versions that will bear to be compared with these ; we are surprised that they are all so well done. ' ' Rev. Dr. James McCosh, D. D. , I^I,. D. , president of the College of New Jersey, Princeton, wrote to Dr. Coles — "I wonder how you could have drawn out thirteen translations of the ' Dies Irse,' all in the spirit and manner of the original, and yet so different. I thought each the best as I read it." "If not all of equal excellence," said George Ripley, in the New York Tribune, "it is hard to decide as to their respective merits, so admirably do they embody the tone and sentiments of the original, in vigorous and expressive verse. The essays which precede and follow the hymn, exhibit the learning and the taste of the translator in a most favorable light, and show that an antiquary and a poet have not been lost in the study of science and the practice of a laborious profession. ' ' 66 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Ivady Jane Franklin, wife of Sir John Franklin, while on her visit to this country, met Dr. Coles at the home of a mutual friend. Conge- niality of tastes, as well as the interest taken by Dr. Coles in the search for her husband, ripened the acquaintanceship into that of mutual regard and friendship. Among the Doctor's letters we find the following, in Lady Franklin's handwriting : " New York, October 22, i860. " Dr. Abraham Coles : " Dear Sir:— I cannot deny myself the pleasure of thanking you once more for your most beautiful little book, the ' Dies Irae in Thirteen Original Versions,' which I value, not only for its intrinsic merit, but as an expression of your very kind feelings toward me. Believe me, "Gratefully and truly yours, Jane Franklin." While visiting, in 1855, on his second European tour, the lake district, Westmorelan'd, England (associated with the memory of Wordsworth, Southey, Coleridge, and De Quincey), Dr. Coles wrote his much admired poem, entitled "Windemere." Following is Dr. Coles' first translation of the "Dies Irse," (1847) '• DIES IR^. Seeking me Thy worn feet hasted, Day of wrath, that day of burning, Seer and Sibyl speak concerning, All the world to ashes turning. Oh, what fear shall it engender, When the Judge shall come in splendor. Strict to mark and just to render ! Trumpet, scattering sounds of wonder, Rending sepulchres asunder. Shall resistless summons thunder. All aghast then Death shall shiver. And great Nature's frame shall quiver. When the graves their dead deliver. Volume, from which nothing 's blotted, Evil done nor evil plotted, Shall be brought and dooms allotted. When shall sit the Judge unerring. He '11 unfold all here occurring. Vengeance then no more deferring. What shall I say, that time pending? Ask what advocate 's befriending. When the just man needs defending? Dreadful King, all power possessing. Saving freely those confessing, Save thou me, O Fount of Blessing ! Think, O Jesus, for what reason Thou didst bear earth's spite and treason, Nor me lose in that dread season. On the cross Thy soul death tasted ; Let such travail not be wasted ! Righteous Judge of retribution ! Make me gift of absolution Ere that day of execution ! Culprit-like, I plead, heart-broken. On my cheek shame's crimson token : Let the pardoning word be spoken ! Thou who Mary gav'st remission, Heard'st the dying Thief's petition, Cheer'st with hope my lost condition. Though my praj'ers be void of merit, What is needful. Thou confer it. Lest I endless fire inherit ! Be there. Lord, my place decided With Th}- sheep, from goats divided, Kindly to Thy right hand guided ! When th' accursed away are driven, To eternal burnings given, Call me with the blessed to heaven ! I beseech Thee, prostrate lying, Heart as ashes, contrite, sighing, Care for me when I am dying ! Day of tears and late repentance, Man shall rise to hear his sentence ; Him, the child of guilt and error, Spare, Lord, in that hour of terror ! HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY 67 In 1865 he published his first translation of the passion hymn, "Stabat Mater Dolorosa," which, like "Dies Irse," has been made the theme of some of the most celebrated musical compositions. It was set to music in the sixteenth century by Palestrina, and has inspired the compositions of Haydn, Bellini, Rossini, and others. The prima donna, Clara I^ouise Kellogg, in Rossini's "Stabat Mater," used Dr. Coles' translation. Dr. Philip Schaff, alluding to some eighty German and several English translations that had been made up to that time said: "Dr. Coles has best succeeded in a faithful rendering of the Mater Dolorosa. His admirable English version carefully preserves the measure of the original." In 1866 appeared his "Old Gems in New Settings" (third edition, 1891), in which many treasured old Eatin hymns, including " De Contemptu Mundi" and "Veni Sancti Spiritus," are skillfully and gracefully translated. In the following year he published his translation of "Stabat Mater Speciosa" (second edition, 1891). In 1866, before the centennial meeting of the New Jersey State Medical Society, held in Rutgers College, New Brunswick, and of which he was president. Dr. Coles read his poem entitled "The Microcosm," which was published with the proceedings of the society. This poem was subsequently (in 1881) published in a volume containing "The Microcosm (fifth edition, 1891), National Lj^rics, and Mis- cellaneous Poems," together with three additional versions of " Dies Irse." The volume was favorably criticised both in this country and Europe. The Hon. Justin McCarthy, of England, wrote: "I am surprised to see, in looking through your volume, ' The Microcosm, and other Poems,' that you have been able to add three more versions to those you have already made of that wonderful Eatin hymn, ' Dies Irse. ' Certainly it is the most difficult to translate. I like your last version especially. " "The idea of 'The Microcosm,'" said John G. Whittier, "is novel and daring, but it is worked out with great skill and delicacy. ' ' In lines of easy and flowing verse the author sets forth with a completeness certainly remarkable, and with great power and beauty, the incomparable marvels of structure and functions of the human body. As an example, we quote a few lines from the section on ' ' Muscular Dynamics. '■' Bundles of fleshy fibres without end, Directs and guides them, quickens or re- Along the bony Skeleton extend strains ? In thousand-fold directions from fixed See the musician, at his fingers' call, points All sweet sounds scatter, fast as rain drops To act their several parts upon the Joints ; fall ; Adjustments nice ofmeansto ends we trace, With flying touch, he weaves the web of With each dynamic filament in place ; song. But Where's the Hand that grasps the Rhythmic as rapid, intricate as long. million reins, Whence this precision, delicacy and ease ? 68 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY And where's the Master that defines the keys? The many-jointed Spine, with link and lock To make it flexile while secure from shock, Is pierced throughout, in order to contain The downward prolongation of the brain ; From which, by double roots, the Nerves arise — One Feeling gives, one Motive Power sup- plies ; In opposite directions, side by side. With mighty swiftness there two currents glide — ■ Winged, head and heel, the Mercuries of Sense Mount to the regions of Intelligence ; Instant as light, the nuncios of the throne Command the Muscles that command the Bone. In Europe one of the most enthusiastic admirers of "The Micro- cosm," was the late Dr. Theodor Billroth, professor of surgery in Vienna. The New York Herald says: "The poems that follow 'The Microcosm,' are mainly religious, and, for simplicity, feeling and, withal great scholarship, have been equaled by no hymn writers of this country. ' ' "The flavor of 'The Microcosm,' said the New York Times, "is most quaint, suggesting on the religious side George Herbert, and on the materialistic side the elder Darwin. Some of the hymns for children are beautiful in their simplicity and truth." EVEN ME. Out the mouths of babes and sucklings. Thou canst perfect praise to Thee ! Wilt thou not accept the worship. Humbly rendered. Lord, by me ? Even me. Things that to the wise are hidden. Children's eyes are made to see ; Thee to know is life eternal, O reveal Thyself to me ! Even me. Thou hast given me power of loving, Give me power of serving Thee, Is there not some humble service Which can now be done by me ? Even me. Hands and feet should ne'er grow weary When employed, dear Lord, for Thee ; Tongue should never cease the telling Of Thy grace who diedst for me. Even me. Infant mouths need not be silent. Stammering lips can publish Thee, Sound Thy name o'er land and ocean. Be it sounded. Lord, by me I Even me. The chii^dren's TE dedm. We praise, we magnify, O Lord, As little children can, That wondrous love which brought Thee To die for sinful man. [down While here on earth Thou didst not frown And bid them to depart. When mothers brought their children near, But took them to Thy heart. Encouraged by Thy voice and smile. We toward Thy bosom press ; O, lay Thy hands upon our heads. And mercifully bless ! Help us to sing, dear Lord ! we feel That silence would be wrong ; Now every bird, with rapture stirred. Is praising Thee in song. The Critic (New York), after referring to "many beautiful and stately passages" in "The Microcosm," says, "following it is to be HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 69 found some of the best devotional and patriotic poetry that has been written in this country. " The following is from his poem Forevermore, from thee, Niagara ! 'A Sabbath at Niagara. Religious cataract ! Most Holy Fane ! A service and a symphony go up Into the ear of God. 'Tis Sabbath morn. My soul, refreshed and full of comfort, hears Thy welcome call to worship. All night long A murmur, like the memory of a sound, Has filled my sleep and made my dreams devout. It was the deep, unintermittent roll Of thy eternal anthem, pealing still Upon the slumbering and muffled sense, Thence echoing in the soul's mysterious depths With soft reverberations. How the earth Trembles with hallelujahs, loud as break From banded Seraphim and Cherubim Singing before the Throne, while God vouchsafes Vision and audience to prostrate Heaven ! My soul, that else were mute, transported finds In you, O inarticulate Harmonies ! Expression for unutterable thoughts. Surpassing the impertinence of words. For that the petty artifice of speech Cannot pronounce th' Unpronounceable, Nor meet the infinite demands of praise Before descending Godhead, lo ! she makes Of this immense significance of sound, Sublime appropriation, chanting it anew. As her " Te Deum," and sweet Hymn of Laud. THE I,AND OF The free. (Air, Star Spang-led Banner.) We hail the return of the day of thy birth. Fair Columbia, washed by the waves of two oceans ! Where men, from the farthest dominions of Earth, Rear altars to Freedom, and pay their devotions ; Where our fathers in fight, nobly strove for the Right, Struck down their fierce foemen or put them to flight ; Through the long lapse of ages, that so there might be An asylum for all in the Land of the Free. Behold, from each zone under Heaven, they come ! And haughtiest nations, that once far outshone thee. Now paled by thy lustre, lie prostrate and dumb. And render due homage, and no more disown thee. All the isles for thee wait, while that early and late, Not a wind ever blows but wafts hither ricU freight. And the swift sailing ships, that bring over the sea Th' oppressed of all lands to the Land of the Free. As entranced I look down the long vista of years, And behold thine existence to ages ex- tended, What a scene, O my Country, of wonder appears ! How kindling the prospect, surpassing and splendid ! Each lone mountain and glen, and waste wilderness then, I see covered with cities, and swarming with men. And miraculous Art working marvels for thee To lift higher thy greatness, thou Land of the Free ! From our borders expel all oppression and wrong. Oh ! Thou, who didst plant us and make us a Nation ! In the strength of Thine arm make us ever- more strong ; On our gates inscribe Praise, on our walls write Salvation ! May Thyself be our light, from Thy heavenly height Ever flashing new splendors and chasing our night. That united and happy we ever may be To the end of all time, still the Land of the Free ! July 4, 1853. 70 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY MY NATIVE LAND. (Air, America.) O beautiful and grand I honor thee, because My own, my Native Land ! Of just and equal laws, Of thee I boast : These make thee dear : Great Empire of the West, Not for thy mines of gold. The dearest and the best. Not for thy wealth untold. Made up of all the rest. Not that thy sons are bold, I love thee most. Do I revere. Thou crown of all the Past, God of our fathers ! bless. Time's noblest and the last. Exalt in righteousness. Supremely fair ! This Land of ours ! Brought up at Freedom's knee, Be Right our lofty aim. Sweet Child of Liberty ! Our title and our claim. Of all, from sea to sea. To high and higher fame, Th' undoubted heir. Among the Powers. In 1874 he published " The Evangel " (pages 400, second edition, 1891). " The purpose of this volume," said George Ripley, in the New York Tribune, "would be usually regarded as beyond the scope of poetic composition. It aims to reproduce the scenes of the Gospel history in verse, with a strict adherence to the sacred narrative, and no greater degree of imaginative coloring than would serve to present the facts in the most brilliant and impressive light. But the subject is one with which the author cherishes so profound a sympathy, as in some sense to justify the boldness of the attempt. The Oriental cast of his mind allures him to the haunts of sacred song, and produces a vital com- munion with the spirit of Hebrew poetry. Had he lived in the days of Isaiah or Jeremiah, he might have been one of the bards who sought inspiration at Siloa's brook, that flowed fast by the oracle of God." The Rev. Charles Hodge, D. D. , LL,. D. , of Princeton, referring to the work, said, — "I admire the skill which 'The Evangel' displays in investing with rainbow hues the simple narrations of the Gospels. All, however, who have read Dr. Coles' versions of the ' Dies Iras ' and other L/atin hymns must be prepared to receive any new productions from his pen with high expectations. In these days, when even the clerical office seems in many cases insufficient to protect from the present fashionable form of skepticism, it is a great satisfaction to see a man of science and a scholar adhering so faithfully to the simple Gospel." Henry W. Longfellow, in a cordial note to Dr. Coles, remarks, — "As your work is narrative and mine dramatic, he must be a very captious critic who should venture to suggest any imitation." "Dr. Coles," says John G. "Whittier, " is a born hymn writer. No man living or dead has so rendered the text and the spirit of the old and wonderful Latin hymns. He has also written some of the sweetest of Christian hymns. His ' All the Days ' and ' Ever with Thee ' are immortal songs. It is better to have written them than the stateliest of epics." HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 71 AI,L THE DAYS. (Tune, " Kinney Street."} From Thee, begetting sure conviction. When round our head the tempest rages, Sound out, O risen Lord, always, And sink our feet in miry ways, Those faithful words of valediction, Thy voice comes floating down the ages, " Lo ! I am with you all the days. " " Lo ! I am with you all the days. ' ' Refrain— All the days, all the days, O Thou who art our life and meetness, " Lo ! I am with you all the days." Not death shall daunt us nor amaze, What things shall happen on the morrow. Hearing those words of power and sweet- Thou kindly hidest from our gaze ; °^^^' But tellest us in joy or sorrow, " ^° ' ^ ^™ "^'^^^ y°'^ ^^^ ^he days." " Lo ! I am with you all the days." EVER WITH THEE. (Tune, "Bethany.") Ever, my Lord, with Thee, River of Life there flows Ever with Thee ! As crystal clear ; Through all eternity The Tree of Life there grows Thy face to see ! For healing near : I count this heaven, to be But this crowns all, to be Ever, my Lord, with Thee, Ever, my Lord, with Thee, Ever with Thee. Ever with Thee ! Fair is Jerusalem, No curse is there, no night, All of pure gold. No grief, no fear ; Garnished with many a gem Thy smile fills heaven with light. Of worth untold : Dries every tear : I only ask to be What rapture, there to be Ever, my Lord, with Thee, Ever, my Lord, with Thee, Ever with Thee ! Ever with Thee ! In 1884 the Appletons issued Dr. Coles' poem, " The Light of the World," as a single volume also bound together with a second edition of "The Evangel" under the general title " The Life and Teachings of our Lord in Verse, being a complete harmonized exposition of the four Gospels, with original notes, etc." Among the many foreign letters received by Dr. Coles, in which reference is made to this work, we find one from the Right Hon. William E. Gladstone, M. P. , written from 10 Downing street, White- hall, London, and one from Stephen Gladstone, written from Hawarden Rectory, Chester, England. The Rev. Alexander McLaren, D. D. , writing from Manchester, England, says, — "I congratulate you upon having accomplished with success a most difficult undertaking, and on having been able to present the ever inexhaustible life in a form so new and original. I do not know whether I have been most struck by the careful and fine exegetical study, or the graceful versification of your work. I trust it may be useful, not only in attracting the people, which George Herbert thought could be caught with a song, when they would run from a sermon, but may also help lovers of the sermon to see its subject in a new garb." The Rev. Horatius Bonar, D. D., of Edinburgh, wrote, — "I am 72 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY struck with your command of language, and your skill in clothing the simplicities of history with the elegance of poetry. Your ' L,ife of Our Lord ' is no ordinary volume, and your notes are of a very high order indeed, — admirably written, and full of philosophical thought and scriptural research." THE NATIVITY. In that fair region — fertile as of yore, Watered of Heaven ; its valleys covered o'er With corn ; with flocks its pastures ; scene in truth Of that sweet Idyl called the Book of Ruth, Where David, son of Jesse, tending sheep. In deep glen seated, or on mountain steep. Sung to his harp in morn or evening calm, Many a holy pastoral and psalm — As certain shepherds, simple and devout, Under the starry heavens were lying out, Watching their flocks, while one lifts up the chant, "The Liord my shepherd is, I shall not want." Or, as with upturned face, he ravished sees Belted Orion and the Pleiades, Singing, "When I the heavens consider, made And fashioned by Thy fingers, thick inlaid With stars and suns in numbers numberless, Lord, what is man that Thou shouldst come to bless ?■' — An Angel of the Lord beside them stood : The glory of the Lord in mighty flood Shone round about them luminous and clear, And all the shepherds feared with a great fear. THE SERMON * " * ■* * i. He stood On a raised plain mid a vast multitude, Composed of His disciples— and all them Who from Judea, and Jerusalem, And from the shores of Tyre and Sidon came To hear Him and be healed — His blessed name, Now on all lips, because there was no case Too desperate for His relieving grace ; The virtue that went out of Him was such That men were healed with one believing touch. All hushed. He sat, and lifting up His eyes On His disciples, taught them in this wise. " Fear not," the Angel said, "good news I bear. Cause of great joy to people everywhere. In David's city is a Saviour born. Who is the Christ the Lord, this happy morn. And this the sign to you : Ye shall not find Prepared a stately edifice, designed For His reception : this great Potentate And Prince of Heaven and Earth, assumes no state ; Comes with no retinue ; conceals and shrouds His proper glory under veils and clouds Of lowliness, in stable of an inn His Showing and Epiphany begin. There look and you shall find in manger laid The Infant Christ in swaddling clothes arrayed. ' ' Then suddenly were present, height o'er height, A countless multitude of the sons of light, In mighty chorus singing loud and clear, Charming celestial silences to hear : ' ' Glorj' to God ikere in the highest heaven ! Peace /lere on earth, good will to men for- given ! " [The Evangel, pages 59-61.] ON The mount. Happy the poor in spirit, who their deep demerit own, In them My Kingdom I set up ; with them I share my throne. Happy are they, who mourn for sin with smitings on the breast, The Comforter shall comfort them in ways He knoweth best. Happy the meek, who patient bear unconscious of their worth. They shall inherit seats of power, and dominate the earth. Happy who hunger and who thirst for righteousness complete. Their longings shall fulfillments have and satisfactions sweet. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 73 Happy the merciful, who know Happy are they who suffer for to pity and forgive, adherence to the right, They mercy shall obtain at last, They shall be kings and priests to God and evermore shall live. in realms of heavenly light. Happy the pure in heart, whose feet Happy are ye when men revile with holiness are shod, and falsely you accuse, They shall run up the shining way Be very glad, for so of old and see the face of God. did they the prophets use. Happy the friends of peace, who heal Happy are ye, when for My sake, the wounds by discord given, men persecute and hate, The God of Heaven shall hold them dear Exult ! for your reward in heaven and call them sons of heaven. is made thereby more great. [The Light of the World, pages 76-77.] " Dr. Coles," says a prominent critic, "was a man who possessed and enjoyed a religion founded upon the teachings of the Old and New Testaments. It was a religion which pervaded all the recesses of his heart, which gave a temper to all his thoughts, which entered into all the transactions of his life, — a religion of the soul, a religion of the closet, a religion which he cared not whether the world was cognizant of or not, never seeking to thrust it upon others, or to display it as a beautiful, well fitting garment. He recognized God as a being to be worshiped, to be loved and to be obeyed ; and he accorded to his neighbor the same love that he had for himself He was, however, a man of strong convictions, and in religious matters those convictions were the result of a thorough investigation by a mind well equipped, and influenced in its labors only by a desire to find out the truth. So earnest and thorough a student of the Scriptures as he was, reading them in the languages in which they earliest appeared, he was fully able to give a reason for the faith that was in him, which was strictly evangelical." In "The Evangel," speaking of the wine Christ made, he says : Mahomet forbade wine, and Christ made it. The difference between Christ and Mahomet was that of divine knowledge and human ignorance. Mahomet mistook a part for the whole, and with his axe of prohibition struck at a branch, supposing it to be the trunk. The Omniscient Christ was guilty of no such error. He knew that the bane was manifold, and that to single out wine for special prohibition was folly. The truth is, Christ forbade nothing. Not but ten thousand things are forbidden,— everything hurtful is so. Nature forbids, and nature is final. Why re-enact nature? reaffirm creation? deal in dittoes and deuteronomies ? repeat laws established? settle what was never unsettled? Christ left nature as He found it, inviolate, unrepealed. His walking on the water did not abolish gravitation. Fact was fact the same as before ; arsenic was arsenic ; alcohol was alcohol. So far as nature forbade these they were forbidden ; so far as nature permitted them they were permitted. Christ could go no farther than nature and be the Lord of nature. Consequently Christ could not have forbidden wine absolutely and been God. Wine is many and different. There is a kind of wine which is not, and another which is, intoxicating ; that is, has a toxic or poisoning power, for that is the meaning of the term. Was the wine Christ made the latter ? Christ's character is the answer. If that says no, it is no ; for the wine is to be judged by Christ, not Christ by the wine. Christ we know ; the wine we do not know. That which best befitted Him to make. He undoubtedly made. * * * * Taking our stand, therefore, on the immovable rock of 74 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Christ's character, we risk nothing in saying that the wine of miracle answered to the wine of nature, and was not intoxicating. No counter proof can equal the force of that drawn from His attributes. It is an indecency and a calumny to impute to Christ conduct which requires apology. In opposition to those who deny (for what is not denied by somebody?) that unfermented grape-juice is wine at all, we maintain that not only is it wine, but wine pre-eminently, the original, the true, as being nearest to the parent vine, and overflowing with the abundance of its life. Every step of that process called fermentation, whereby innocent sugar is converted into alcohol, is of the nature of a removal and eloignment. Wine and vine are etymologically the same. The Greeks called the vine ' ' the mother of wine" [oinometor) . Properly "oinos" is only then the child of the vine when vinous and vital it represents "the wine of the cluster," "the pure blood of the grape." Death follows life, and corruption death, and there results a deadly something which men call wine, but wrongly, for it is no longer vinous. The vine disowns it. It is a corpse, not a living thing. Alcohol is not wine, but an atrocious usurper of its name and rights. Christ made wine. He was maker, not manufacturer. The key-note to the miracle is creation. This alone renders it worthy and intelligible. Christ was no Demiurge, but God. Not inferior nor different. "The Word was with God, and the Word was God." " All things were made by Him. " It was fitting that He should in the outset make this appear ; and so He did. In a miraculous moment he did what, in His ordinary working in nature. He takes four months to do. Such was His debut— an epiphany of Godhead; a demonstration to the whole universe that He was "over all, God blessed forever." " This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory ' ' — giving, in His own Divine Person , by a new genesis, as "in the beginning ' ' of the world, needed practical proof and illustration that God is ; and that He is one, not two nor many ; that He created matter ; that nature is from Him ; that though He exists and operates in nature, He is not nature, but a power apart from it and above it, acting upon it from without in omnipotent freedom of will, and directing it to beneficent ends ; that the God who feeds us is identical with the God who saves us, — thus sweeping away all the hoary diabolisms of disbelief, bearing the names of Atheism, Dualism, Polytheism, Materialism, Pantheism and Fatalism. It is assumed, for this view necessitates it, that the wine of miracle was the same as the wine of nature, the wine of the cluster, holy and life-giving, the tj'pe of all nourishment, and the type of salvation. The wine of art is not this. It represents evil rather than good. It is better fitted to typify destruction than creation. It is less a making than an unmaking. Alcohol is unmade sugar. Men brand it poison. Thus far we have limited ourselves to asserting that Christ did not make intoxicating wine ; whether He ever drank it is another question. Here, too. His character is everything, — far more than doubtful philology. Anything He drank must, we know, have been a safe and unhurtful beverage, wherein there was no " excess." We are not permitted to suppose that the Saviour from sin was an example of sin ; that He who taught self-denial practiced self-indulgence. Rather must we believe that every meal he ate was a lesson of temperance. He, knowing what is in man, the liability of the best to fall, ceased not to warn against a vain self-confidence and a false security. "Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat ; but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. " * * * * " Pray that ye enter not into temptation." That the wine of communion was azymous wine, new wine, sweet and sacred, made the festal token of a heavenly renewal of divine fellowship, is proved by His own words : "I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new {kainon) with you in my Father's Kingdom." * * * * It is stated that all points in dispute have their final answer in the settlement of the one question, — " Does ' wine,' standing alone, mean, as is claimed, ojily and always the juice of the %x3.-^e. fermented, and never the juice of the grape unfermented ; and was the same made and drunk by Christ and used by Him as one of the elements of the Last Supper?" The pivot, evidently on which everything turns, are the words ^^ only and HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 75 always," so that if it can be shown, in a single instance, that the word "wine," uncoupled with "new," is clearly used anywhere in the Bible in the sense of "new wine" or "must," the learning which denies it goes for nothing, and the whole argument based on that erroneous assumption falls to the ground. In Matt, ix.: 17, we read : " Neither do men put new wine {oinon neon) into old bottles, else the bottles ('old' omitted) break, and the wine {oinos, alone, with neos omitted) runneth out." In the parallel passage in Mark ii.:22, there are the same omissions in the second clause of the verse. In Luke, it is "new wine" in both places, thus confirming the identity of the two. * * * Here we have the Holy Ghost for a witness and a divine example of usus loquendi, clearly showing that oinos is properly used to denote the unfermented grape juice without the qualifying epithet neos as well as with it. * * * * Undoubtedly, opium and alcohol produce effects which differ, but they agree in this, that used habitually, they alike tend, by a law as constant as gravitation itself, to establish a tyranny, compared with which chains, racks, dungeons, and whatever else go to make up the material apparatus of the most cruel despotism, are as nothing. For these are outside of the man, and leave the soul untouched. It is a good reason for abstinence if our use is others misuse, if it merely lends sanction to a dangerous custom. Christianity is a principle, not a law. * » * * Christianity is infinitely more than Judaism or Mohammedanism, but then it is Christianity in the sense of Christian love. This fulfills all claims, abstinence among the rest. In 1888 he put forth another volume, of more than three hundred and fifty pages, entitled "A New Rendering of the Hebrew Psalms into English Verse, with notes, critical, historical aud biographical, including an historical sketch of the French, English and Scotch metrical versions." The New York Tribune, in a lengthy critical review of the work, said : "Dr. Coles' name on the title page is a sufficient indication of the excellence and thoroughness of the work done. Indeed, Dr. Coles has done much more than produce a fresh, vigorous and harmonious version of the Psalms, though this was alone well worth doing. His full and scholarly notes on the early versions of Clement Marot, Sternhold and Hopkins, and others, his sketches of eminent persons connected in various ways with particular psalms, his literary and bibliographical information, together impart a value aud interest to this work which should insure an extensive circulation for it. Very much of the historical and other matter thus brought within the reach of the public is inaccessible to such as have not means of access to public libraries. In his version of the Psalms he has wisely preserved the rhythmical swing and the terse language which distinguish the early renderings." The Rev. Frederic W. Farrar, D. D., F. R. S., chaplain in ordinary to the queen, in a letter to Dr. Coles, said : " The task of versifying the Psalms was too much, even for Milton, but you have attempted it with seriousness and with as much success as seems to be possible. I was much interested in your introduction." S. W. Kershaw, F. T. A., the librarian of the Ivambeth Palace Library, London, England, also writes to Dr. Coles : "I am ^greatly 76 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY interested in the introduction, in reading about the psalms of Clement Marot, and in the allusion to the Huguenots." On the scroll in the hand of the beautiful symbolical figure of Poetry, by J. Q. A. Ward, in the lyibrary of Congress, at Washington, the artist has memorialized Dr. Coles' version of Psalm xix., which is as follows : The rolliug skies with lips of flame His precepts are divinely right, Their Maker's power and skill proclaim : An inspiration and delight ; Day speaks to day, and night to night His pure commandment makes all clear, Shows knowledge writ in beams of light, Clean and enduring in His fear. And though no voice, no spoken word ^j^^ judgments of the Lord are true, Can by the outward ear be heard, And righteous wholly, through and through; The witness of a traveling sound ^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^1^^ Reverberates the world around. r\ci,- u n n, j r u Of higher worth a thousand fold ; In the bright east with gold enriched More sweet than sweetest honey far, He for the sun a tent has pitched, Th' unfoldings of their sweetness are : That, like bridegroom after rest. They warn Thy servant, and they guard ; Comes from his chamber richly drest, In keeping them there 's great reward. An athlete strong and full of grace, ^^^ ^^^ ^-^ ^^^^^^ understand ? And glad to run the heavenly race,- ^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^j^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ . Completes- his round with tireless feet, -o i.u ^ „ i -n,- ^ . . . ' From these me cleanse, make pure within. And naught is hidden from his heat. a j i <■ „ t ° And keep me from presumptuous sin ; But, Nature's book sums not the whole : Lest sin me rule and fetter fast, God's perfect law converts the soul ; And I unpardoned die at last. His sure unerring word supplies My words and meditation be The means to make the simple wise ; O Lord, my Rock, approved of Thee. During his travels abroad. Dr. Coles had been greatly impressed with the private and public parks of Europe, and as early as 1863 inaugurated a unique project of landscape gardening upon seventeen acres of his ancestral farm, at Scotch Plains, New Jersey, converting it into a park of rare and enchanting beauty. It was adorned with native groves, every attainable choice variety of tree and shrub, with imported statuary, garden and lawn effects. It was named " Deerhurst," from its herd of deer. Here he had his library and study, built of brick, stoue, and foreign and native woods, memorable alike for its architectural beauty, its "easy-chair," its works of art, and as the rendezvous of distinguished guests. Many charming pictures of "Daerhurst" have been sketched by poet, philosopher and sage, who once enjoyed the delights of its hospitality. Here the Doctor spent the last thirty years of his life, with his son and daughter as constant asso- ciates, the latter gracefully presiding over their father's establishment, among literary and professional friends, who recognized in him not only the eminent physician, the scholar of wide literary culture, and the linguist proficient in Greek, lyatin, Hebrew, Sanscrit, and the modern languages, but above all, the poet of international reputation. While on a visit with his son and daughter to California, Dr. Coles died suddenly, May 3, 1891, from heart complication, resulting from an attack of la grippe. At the time of his decease his life and works HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 77 were extensively commented upon by the press, secular and religious. Innumerable dispatches and letters of condolence were received from distinguished authors throughout the literary world, from the execu- tive mansion, Washington, D. C, from distinguished members of the bench and bar, from those chief among the clergy, and from distin- guished personages abroad. The funeral services were held in Newark, New Jersey, — the private services at the home of his married life, on Market street, and the public services in the Peddie Memorial church. The Rev. Dr. Philip Schaff, by reason of the serious illness of his son, was prevented from preaching the funeral sermon. An address, by Rev. Charles F. Deems, D. D., of New York, was preceded by prayer by the Rev. Dr. Robert Lowry, and the singing of Dr. Coles' hymns, "Ever with Thee," and "All the Days." An address, by George Dana Board- THE LIBRARY AT DEERHUHST man, D. D., was followed by the singing of Dr. Coles' translation of St. Bernard of Clairvaux's hymn, " Jesu Dulcis Memoria." The memory of Jesus' name Is past expression sweet ; At eacli dear mention, hearts aflame With quicker pulses beat. But sweet, above all sweetest things Creation can afford, That sweetness which His presence brings, The vision of the Lord. Sweeter than His dear Name is nought ; None, worthier of laud. Was ever sung, or heard, or thought. Than Jesus, Son of God. Thou hope to those of contrite heart ! To those who ask, how kind ! To those who seek how good Thou art ! But what to those who find ? No heart is able to conceive. Nor tongue nor pen express ; Who tries it only cau believe How choice that blessedness ! 78 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY The New Jersey Historical Society attended in a body. James Russell Lowell, in a sympathetic note, one of the last he wrote, said : "I regret very much I cannot share in the sad function of pallbearer, but my health will not permit it." The pallbearers were: Vice- Chancellor Abram V. Van Fleet, Judge David A, Depue, ex-Chancellor Theodore Runyon, Hon. Amzi Dodd, Hon. Thomas N. McCarter, Hon. Cortlandt Parker, Hon. A. Q. Keasbey, Hon. Frederick W. Ricord, Noah Brooks, Alexander H. Ritchie, Spencer Goble, James W. Schoch, William Rankin, Charles Kyte, Edmund C. Stedman, Dr. Ezra M. Hunt, Dr. A. W. Rogers, Dr. S. H. Pennington, Dr. B. L. Dodd, Dr. J. C. Young and Dr. T. H. Tomlinson. His body was laid to rest by the side of that of his wife, in Willow Grove Cemetery, New Brunswick, New Jersey. " Dr. Coles' style," says a prominent critic, " has individuality as much as that of Samuel Johnson or Thomas Carlyle. One certainly sees how thoughts sublime find expression in terse and stately sentences, and how words are chosen, such as come out of the depth of inspiration and genius. There is not conformity to the style of any favorite author, or to the modes of thought of any favorite logician, but a forging of weighty words wrought out from the depth of quiet inner feelings and conceptions." " Dr. Coles' researches," says Edmund C. Stedman, " made so lovingly and conscientiously in the special field of his poetic scholarship, have given him a distinct and most enviable position among American authors. We of the younger sort learn a lesson of reverent humility from the pure enthusiasm with which he approaches and handles his noble themes. The ' tone ' of all his works is perfect. He is so thoroughly in sympathy with his subjects that the lay reader instantly shares his feeling ; and there is a kind of white light pervading the whole prose and verse which at any time tranquilizes and purifies the mind." Noah Brooks, LD- D., author and editor, said: "Dr. Coles, although playful and mirthful in some phases of his disposition, was never trivial, and the most of his work which he has left us is an indication of the seriousness, even solemnity, with which he regarded human existence, its necessities, its responsibilities, and its future. He had no time to devote any part of his commanding talents to daintiness or superficialities. ' Christ and His Cross are all my theme ' was evidently his maxim in life. His poetry was suffused with love and admiration of Christ's character and attributes, and he never saw man without beholding in him the image of the Master." Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, speaking of Dr. Coles, says : "I have always considered it a great privilege to enjoy the friendship of so pure and lofty a spirit^— a man who seemed to breathe holiness as his native atmosphere, and to carry its influences into his daily life." As regards his writings, he says : "There was no line which, dying, he could have wished to blot, and there was no line which the purest of HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 79 God's angels, looking over his shoulder, would not have looked upon approvingly. His memory will long be cherished as one of our truest and sweetest singers. ' ' In addition to his published works. Dr. Coles left, at his death, in manuscript, translations of the whole of Bernard of Clairvaux's "Address to the Various Members of Christ's Body Hanging on the Cross;" the whole of Hildebert's "Address to the Three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity ;" selections from the Greek and Latin classics, and various writings on literary, medical and scientific subjects. The titles of Dr. Coles were : A. M., from Rutgers College ; Ph. D., from the University of I,ewisburg, Pennsylvania; and LL,. D., conferred in 1871, b}' the College of New Jersey at Princeton. " In the presence of several thousand people, an heroic bronze bust of the late Dr. Abraham Coles, by John Quincy Adams Ward, with its val- uable and unique pedestal," says the New York Herald, "was formally unveiled in the city of Newark, New Jersey, July 5, 1897. "In deference to Mr. Ward's j\idgment and correct taste, a bust of Dr. Coles was decided upon in preference to a full-length statue. The base of the bust represents two large folio volumes, bearing the titles of the published works of Dr. Coles. These rest upon the capstone of the pedestal, consisting of a monolith from the Mount of Olives, which, in turn, rests on one from Jerusalem, beneath which are two from Nazareth of Galilee, resting on two stones from Bethlehem of Judea. ' ' The stones are highly polished on three sides, and are very beautiful. This is especially true of the monolith from Solomon's quarry, under Jerusalem, believed to be like unto those used in the construction of the Temple, and to which Christ's attention was called by one of His disciples, as He went out of the Temple on His way to the Mount of Olives. (Mark, xiii., i). The fourth side, or back of each stone, has, for geological reasons, been left rough, as it came from the hands of the Judean or Galilean workmen. ' ' The foundation stone is a huge bowlder of about seven tons weight, brought from Plymouth, Massachusetts, the homeland of the Pilgrim Fathers ; combined with this is a portion of one of the monoliths of Cheops, the great pyramid of Egypt. The memorial is surrounded by monoliths of Quincy, Massachusetts, granite, each fourteen feet long, bolted into corner stone posts, quarried not far from Mount Tabor, nigh unto Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee. "Cast in solid bronze on the front of the pedestal is a copy of Dr. Coles' well known national song of praise, 'The Rock of Ages,' while riveted to Plymouth rock is a solid bronze tablet containing an oft-repeated extract from a treatise by Dr. Coles on law in its relation. to Christianity. 80 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY "The song inscribed on the bronze tablet is as follows : THE ROCK OF AGES. [Isaiah xxvi,, 4.] A National Song of Praise. Let US to Jehovah raise 'Midst the terror of the fight, Glad and grateful songs of praise ! Kept them steadfast in the right ; Let the people with one voice, ' Taught their Statesmen how to plan In the Lord their God rejoice ! To conserve the Rights of Man ; For His mercy standeth fast. For His mercy standeth fast. And from age to age doth last. And from age to age doth last. He, across untraversed seas, Needful skill and wisdom lent Guided first the Genoese ; To establish Government ; Here prepared a dwelling-place Laid foundations resting still For a freedom-loving race ; On the granite of His will ; For His mercy standeth fast, For His mercy standeth fast. And from age to age doth last. And from age to age doth last. Filled the land the red man trod Wiped the scandal and the sin With the worshippers of God ; From the color of the skin ; When Oppression forged the chain Now o'er all, from sea to sea, Nerved their hands to rend in twain. Floats the Banner of the Free ; For His mercy standeth fast. For His mercy standeth fast, And from age to age doth last. And from age to age doth last. Gave them courage to declare Praise the Lord for freedom won What to do and what to dare ; And the Gospel of His Son ; Made them victors over wrong Praise the Lord, His name adore In the battle with the strong. All ye people, ever more ! For His mercy standeth fast. For His mercy standeth fast, And from age to age doth last. And from age to age doth last. Abraham Coles, July 4, 1876. " The tablet on the Plymouth rock reads as follows : " 'The State, although it does not formulate its faith, is distinctively- Christian. Christianity, general, tolerant Christianity, is a part of the law of the land. Reverence for law is indissolubly interwoven with rev- erence for God. The State accepts the Decalogue, and builds upon it. As right presupposes a standard, it assumes that this is such a standard, divinely given and accepted by all Christendom ; that it underlies all civil society, is the foundation of the foundation, is lower than all and higher than all ; commends itself to reason, speaks with authority to the conscience ; vindicates itself in all government, giving it stability and exalting it in righteousness. — Abraham Coles, Memorial Volume, p, xxxvi.' " The stones of Palestine were secured through the agency of the Rev. Edwin T. Wallace, A. M., our consul at Jert^salem. The foundation bed is composed of Palestine, Egyptian and Newark broken stone, bound together with Egyptian cement, taken from the Pyramid of Cheops, mixed with American cement. Imbedded beneath the stones are a copy of the Bible ; a complete list of the passengers of the Mayflower, with a sketch of their lives, from the Boston Transcript ; the Declaration of Independence, with the signers thereof; the Constitution HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 81 of the United States of America ; a list of the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution ; the new constitution and list of members of the New Jersey Historical Society ; list of the members of the American Medical Association ; all the published wOrks of Dr. Abraham Coles ; some BRONZE BUST OF ABRAHAM COLES WASHINQTON PARK, NEWARK, N. J. water taken from the Dead Sea by Dr. Coles ; a stone ornament from Caesar's palace at Rome, and other objects of local, state and national interest. Mindful of the services rendered the state by the late Dr. Abraham Coles, Dr. J. A. Coles, in a letter, dated June i6th, to the Hon. 6 82 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY John W. Griggs, governor of New Jersey, had offered to give the bronze and its pedestal to the state, provided it could be located at Newark. The Governor, in a friendly reply, and at a subsequent personal interview, explained to Dr. Coles, that, if given to the state, the memorial would, like the Doctor's recent gift of the famous painting of " The Good Samaritan," by Daniel Huntington, have to be located at Trenton, in order that the state might have the care and custody of the same, which it would not have if placed in the city of Newark. It being, therefore, left to Dr. Coles to choose between Trenton and Newark for the location of his gift, he decided in favor of his native city. "That the unveiling might occur on July 5th, the Newark board of works," says the New York Tribune, "held a special meeting on June 2 2d, to consider the matter. The letter written by Dr. J. Ackerman Coles to Mayor Seymour, proffering the bronze bust of the late Dr. Abraham Coles, by J. Q. A. Ward, and its pedestal, to the city of Newark, was read, as was the mayor's communication on the subject. Commis- sioner Van Duyne then offered a resolution that the gift be accepted, and that Dr. Coles be authorized to place the same in Washington Park. The resolution was unanimously adopted." The 4th of July occurring on Sunday, twenty thousand copies of a little book, consisting of patriotic songs, by the late Dr. Abraham Coles, set to music, were previously printed and given to the school children throughout the city ; these were used in the Sunday schools and churches on July 4th, and on the occasion of the unveiling of the bronze. " On the afternoon of July 5th, Mayor Seymour presiding, the exer- cises in Washington Park were begun," says the Newark Daily Adver- tiser, "by the band playing and the large assemblage singing Dr. Coles' national hymn, 'My Native Land,' the music being under the direction of John C. Day, of St. Luke's Methodist Episcopal church. Letters were received from President and Mrs. William McKinley, executive mansion, Washington, D. C; from Vice-President Garret A. Hobart, president of the United States senate ; from Governor John W. Griggs, of New Jersey ; from Bishop John H. Vincent, chancellor of Chautauqua University, and from others prominent in political and literary circles." After prayer by the Rev. Dr. Robert Lowry, the large American flag surrounding the bronze bust and its pedestal was unfurled by President William A. Gay, of the board of education, revealing, amid hearty cheers, the benignant and classical features of the late Dr. Abraham Coles. Dr. Jonathan Ackerman Coles, the donor, then made the address of presentation . " In recognition and appreciation," said Dr. Coles, "of the bond of fellowship that existed between the people of Newark and my father, the late Dr. Abraham Coles, on account of his active efforts in the promotion of the physical, religious, educational and HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 83 scientific development of this city, it is with civic pride and pleasure I now present to your Honor the pedestal and bronze just unveiled by the president of the board of education, — an historic memorial different and distinctive from that possessed by any other city or nation, and, in editorial language, 'in harmony with the life career of the physician and scholar it commemorates.' " The statue was formally accepted on behalf of the city by Mayor James M. Seymour. The Mayor said : On behalf of the people of this city it gives me great pleasure to accept from our respected fellow citizen, Dr. J. Ackerman Coles, this fine memorial of that distinguished gentleman, Dr. Abraham Coles. Nothing could be more appropriate on this spot, opposite our new free public library, than this bust. Dr. Coles was one of America's greatest scholars. His cultured mind roamed through many fields and gave to the world some of its choicest treasures in literature, poetry and art. He was a scholar, a statesman, and a physician. He found time in his busy life to do and know many things, and do and know each better than most men know one. When on yonder plot of ground our new building shall have been erected and stored with the learning of all lands, there will stand in proxmity an invitation and an object lesson to the youth of our city ; yonder the offer of intellectual wealth ; here a mon- ument to its attainment ; there the seeds of knowledge ; here the emblem of its fruition. Dr. Coles spent the greater part of his life in Newark. Here were his friends, of whom I am proud to have been one, his home and his family. His books and writings are known and read over all the world, but here we knew the pleasant, courteous, kind- hearted gentleman. His personality is still so fresh and strong in my remembrance that in offering this verbal testimony to his fame, I cannot forget that, like many other great men in all ages, he was greatest in meekness, charity, and kindness of heart. It is eminently fitting that this memorial should be surrounded by and mounted upon these tokens indicative of the bent of his mind. His predilections from his 3'outh were toward religion, and whether engaged in the relief of his fellow men, through the medium of medicine or surgery, penning those beautiful lines "Rock of Ages," or delving among the dead tongues of bygone days, it is easy to find in all his work a predominating desire to serve, as best he knew how, his God. On behalf of the city of Newark I accept this bust, and though it cannot last as long as the memory of him whom it memorializes, let us hope that while it stands here in this public park it will have a widespread influence upon our young men, and incite them to . emulate Dr. Coles' useful, studious, earnest life. In accepting the statue on behalf of the board of works, President Stainsby said : There is little that I need say at this time. It is a pleasure to commend both the filial and public spirit which prompted this donor. The men of means of Newark have not hitherto permitted their public spirit to take shape for the beautification of the city. With good streets and elaborate parks should come beautifying statuary, and all that speaks for culture and pride in our public men and the perpetuation of objects of interest in our city. In this park now stand two monuments : One speaks for the foundry and the mechanic, the foundation of this city's strength. The other speaks of the professional man and the man of literature, made possible by our material greatness. The founda- tion stone will recall to all passers the sterling worth and fixity of principles of the Puritan fathers, and the superstructure bearing the bust will bring to our minds the religious in man, and both will be found typified in the life and character of Dr. Coles. Mr. Stainsby was followed by the Rev. Dr. A. H. Tuttle, who 84 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY delivered a review of the works of "Abraham Coles, the Physician- Poet." Dr. Tuttle said : Dr. Abraham Coles is called the physician-poet, not because he is the only one of his profession who has put great thoughts into immortal verse, but because of a single work in which he has sung, with genuine poetic genius, of the organs and functions of the human body. " Man, the Microcosm " is a perilous theme for a poet. It awakens the scientific rather than the poetic faculty. Nothing of the kind had appeared before in our speech. Armstrong's " The Art of Preserving Health," published over one hundred and fifty years ago, can hardly be called an exception. Only one with the daring of Lucretius and the genius of Pope, both of whom in many respects the Doctor resembled, could so set scientific and philosophic facts as to make them sensitive to the breath of the Muse. Usually scientific accuracy is the death of poetry. Darwin laments that he, who, in the beginning of his studies, took the greatest pleasure in Shakespeare, in later years lost all relish for the great dramatist. On the other hand, a glowing imagination is apt to wing its flight beyond the sphere of proven facts which accurate science demands. But this poem, which is an address delivered before the Medical Society of the State of New Jersey, illumes the theme of a learned profession with the sacred speech of Polyhymnia. It at once commanded the attention and commendation of both physicians and artists ; and from the time of its delivery its author has been known as the physician-poet. This characterization, however, does not do him justice. We might with equal inaccuracy speak of David as the "warrior-psalmist," because the divine bard was a soldier, and sometimes sang of war. "The Microcosm " is but one of the many products of Dr. Coles's lyre, and the spirit that breathes here, as in them all, is not anatomy, but divinity. Correct as is his science, this is the spirit that prevades his song. " For such as this, did actually enshrine Thy gracious Godhead once, when thou didst make Thyself incarnate, for my sinful sake. Thou who hast done so very much for me, let me do some humble thing for Thee ! 1 would to every organ give a tongue. That Thy high praises may be fitly sung ; Appropriate ministries assign to each. The least make vocal, eloquent to teach." Though the learning is that of the physician, the language and the spirit are those of a seraph. We must place our author among the sacred poets. We cannot pause to consider at length the perplexing question, What is sacred poetry ? We are among those who believe in the sanctity of the art, altogether aside from the theme in which it is employed. It is the voice of the soul's innermost life, expressing itself in form of creative speech, which kindles the feeling while it carries the thought. To turn such a gift to unholy uses is like turning the language of prayer into profanity. But in order to fix our author's place in the sacred choir, we accept the common thought that sacred poetry is that which treats of sacred things. It may be epic, as in Job and Milton, or dramatic, as in the Song of Solomon and Bach's " Passion," or lyric, as in all the Psalms and hymns. The most copious of our sacred poetry is the lyric. It is distinguished from others not by its metrical forms, nor altogether by the material it fashions, but by its personal thought or passion and its easy adaptation to song. There are four distinct grades of lyric poetry by which the rank of the poet is determined. The first is what we may call the natural, and is characterized by the outburst of impassioned personal experience; the second is artistic, and is distinguished by the exquisite finish of its structure ; the third is didactic, and is differentiated by its aim, which is to teach certain truths and facts. There are doubtless poets of high merit in this class, but its dominant motive is sure to give it the air of the school room, and these lyrics are often only doctrine in rhyme. The fourth class is the liturgical. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 85 It is arranged for a service already prepared, and is set to music already composed. It it usually characterized by poverty of ideas, wearisome repititions and a fatal lack of passion. The foremost poet of the natural order is David, the creator of the Hebrew lyric, who, at the very beginning, gave to the world the very finest specimens of the art. There is in all his songs a spontaneous outpouring of the passion of the moment. Every creation only images the soul of the poet, and his utterance is an elegy or an idyl, according as he is grave or gay. To this class belong also many of the old Latin hymns, as those of Thomas of Celano; Bernard of Clairvaux, and Francis Xavier. They utter the soul's innermost consciousness. Measured by this standard, Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley are highest in the first rank of English hymnists. The doctrines of saving truth had become verities in their experience ; and they poured them out in rushing torrents of song. Their hymns are their own souls' biography. Dr. Coles has written more than fifty original poems, many of which merit a place high in the first class of lyrics. Some of them have the intuition, the passion, the imagery which remind us of Cowper. In a poem entitled "Prayer in Affliction," he describes himself as bowed in sorrow in his home, made desolate by the death of his wife. But in his grief his faith discovers the promise of good out of ill. Then he cries : " O, that my smitten heart may gush Melodious praise — Hke as when o'er /Eohan harp strings wild winds rush. And all abroad, sad music pour. So sweet. Heaven's minstrelsy might hush - _ j Brief time to listen, for I know, The hand that doth my comforts crush. Builds bliss upon the base of woe." The whole poem is wondrously suggestive of the genius of him who wrote the immortal, "My Mother." Some of his hymns throb with a spirit so akin to that of the matchless Wesley that we could readily believe they came from the Methodist's pen. Such is the following: " Upon His bosom, thus to rest. While I love Him and He loves me, I cannot ask to be mqre blest ; I care no other heaven to see ; To know my sins are all forgiven. And if there be some higher bliss. For Jesus' sake, O, this is heaven. I am content while I have this." But the Doctor did not devote his strength to the product of original hymns. He deliberately chose to turn masterpieces of ancient tongues into' English verse. Accord- ingly we are compelled to rank him in the second order of lyrists. He is "a poet of culture," whose aim is perfect, artistic expression. .i , ' What determined his choice was partly his .scholarship, partly his intensely spiritual nature, and partly the elegant refinement in which he was born and lived. His learning was varied and accurate. He was a recognized authority in his profession, an accomplished linguist, a master of the classic and Sanskrit tongues, and a critical writer on the profoundest theological themes. The vastness of his learning gave him such ample material for his verse that his' poetic passion made no imperious call for the invention of the intuitive faculty. We cannot think of him as we do of Burns, walking out under the stars, writhing in pain for some adequate- form in which to embody the tumultuous passion he must express. He had but to lift his eyes, and select from his calm, wide vision the form he needed. Had he been an unlettered peasant, the poetic gift would probably have travailed - in birth of song, which would have come forth in varied and original imagery. His poems would have shouted and danced like the Psalms of the Macabees. But wealth of advantage is oftentimes poverty of invention. As it was, his imagination was constructive rather than creative. Its images are more remarkable for their exquisite finish- than for the original boldness of their conception. It was a fortunate thing for the world, and probably for the fame of our author, that he devoted his superb gift to rendering the best of the Hebrew and classic 86 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY lyrics into English verse. He is not alone among the seraphs who have made the attempt, but is conspicuous in this goodly company as the recognized chief. Others have copied the ancient masterpieces with wonderful accuracy, but in most instances have failed to reproduce that indescribable charm that gives to a poem its chief value. The spirit that breathes cannot be made to order. It must be born again. Otherwise the poem is a corpse. Dr. Coles has not used his art to exhume mummies. In his verses we have the living voices of the old-time singers. As Corot caught the varying movement of the trembling foliage in the deepening twilight, and so placed it on his canvas that one can almost see the shadows lengthening and hear the rustling of the leaves, so our poet has reproduced the very soul of the Hebrew and Latin verses. They are not versified translations — they are regener- ations. They are not wrought from without, but from within. Hence they retain that inestimable something that gives to a poem its immortality. As a single illustration, we name his " Dies Irse," eighteen versions of which come from the strings of his restless lyre. This sublimest masterpiece of sacred Latin poetry and noblest Judgment hymn of all languages has, through many ages, been inviting gifted tongues to voice its majestic solemnities in English speech. More than thirty have had the temerity to respond. Among them are Earl Roscommon, Sir Walter Scott, Lord Macaulay, Archbishop Trench and General Dix, some of whom have given renditions of considerable merit. But among them all, Dr. Coles wears the greenest laurels. Competent critics, like Dr. Philip SchafF and John G. Whittier, unite in affirming that no man, dead or living, has succeeded so well in render- ing the text and spirit of the wonderful hymn. The doctor's baton has made our speech throb with the ancient rhythm and reproduced in astonishing degree the characteristic features of the original. Here are its artless simplicity, its impassioned solemnity, its trumpet-like cadences which appall the soul with woeful terrors ; its triple rhyme which " beats the breast like a hammer," and gives it an awful music of its own, making the heart shudder with dread apprehension. And in all this quivering of judgment-terror there breathes the intense Christian spirit of the original, which finds its strongest utterance in the appeal : " Jesus kind, do not refuse me ! O, remember Thou didst choose me ! Lest Thou on that day shalt lose me. Seeking me Thy tired feet bore Thee, Cruel nails for my sake tore Thee, Let all fail not, I implore Thee." With equal skill he has put in English verse, hymns from Thomas of Celano, Fortunatus, St. Bernard of Cluny, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and others, together with many selections from the Greek and Latin classics. It was natural for one with our poet's deeply spiritual life to turn with special fondness to those fountains of sacred song that spring from the Hebrew Psalter. There rather than at Helicon the voice of his Muse was heard. He was himself a careful student of the Orient and familiar with the Hebrew tongue. He believed that the life of the past was better expressed and preserved in its song than in its history, — that the inspiration of the Psalms was not merely poetic, but really and truly divine. He also believed that the much praised antiphonal parallelism which Herder describes as "that language of the heart which has never said all, but ever has something more to say," is not adapted to the Saxon genius or knowledge. If then, while he translates the Hebrew into English, he also translates the ancient antiphonal into modern meter, he brings the divine soul of the psalm in living presence before us. The correctness of his view has been often demonstrated. Clement Marot's metrical version of the Psalms proved to be a potent factor in the French Reformation. There are few things that have told so mightily on the Scotch character as Rouse's version. It is asserted that in the time of the Reformation, psalm-singers and heretics became almost identical terms. Il is an interesting fact, if it be true, as stated, that such was the value our Puritan forefathers placed on psalms in meter, that this was the title of the first book printed in New England. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 87 The Church, however, has in a large taeasure ceased the use of metrical psalms in public worship. This is due partly to the evolution of the English hymn, under the inspiration of Watts and his successors ; partly to the vitiated taste occasioned by the use of jingling ditties, and partly to the poor quality of many of the meterized psalms, which are in reality only mechanical paraphrases. We believe that if Dr. Coles' thought can only be adequately realized, if accurate translation can be wedded to genuine poetry and set to fitting music, it will be a boon to the Church, which is now so sadly agitated with the question of the choral features of its service. We will not affirm that in his version of the Psalms he has in every instance satisfied either the critic's eye, or the Christian's heart. Even the wings of Jove's bird sometimes grew weary. The peerless Milton often stumbled in his meter. Are David's own Psalms equal ? But the Doctor has given us a noble volume, which, aside from the other products of his pen, will place his name on the walls of "the immortals." And if psalm-singing never again becomes general in the home and in the Church, this rich collection will abide as a most helpful interpreter of the heavenly meanings of the Hebrew songs. DRAWING ROOM AT DEERHURST— DEBORAH ' We can barely speak of one other work which this poet lived to complete, — the rendering of the Gospel in verse. To some souls the whole Christian life is a poem — the Gospel is music itself. But he is a brave man who attempts to sing it all. Samuel Wesley, the father of John and Charles, made the daring effort to versify the Gospels. It was both a literary and financial failure. With what success Dr. Coles has made a similar effort, it remains for the coming generations to declare. In the meanwhile, we listen to the judgment of the Right Honorable John Bright, of England, who says : " When I began your volume I thought you had attempted to gild the refined gold, and would fail ; as I proceeded in my reading that idea gradually disappeared, and I discovered that you had brought the refined gold together in a manner convenient and useful, and deeply interesting. I have read the volume with all its notes, many of which seem to me of great value. I could envy you the learning and the industry that 88 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY have enabled you to produce this remarkable work. I hope it may have readers in all countries where our language is spoken." One who consecrates his genius to echoing the thoughts and spirit of the peerless intellects of the past is not apt to command popular affection. There are few Platos and Boswells whose names appear on the scroll of immortality. But if ever that ambition enticed the heart of our author, he can sleep tranquilly on the pillow of his deathless work. Only six years ago, at the age of 78, he descended to the tomb. Already his hymns have been placed in many hymnals. His Greek and Latin translations are ranked by critics the very foremost. His psalms and gospels occupy an honored place in every great library of Europe and America. As the years separate us wider and ever wider from those great productive periods of sacred song, which made glad the ages past, more and more will the coming gener- ations feel the need of Dr. Abraham Coles' rich echoes. After the benediction by the Rev. Dr. D. J. Yerkes, there was more music. In the words of the New York Observer, " the whole occasion was a delightful tribute of honor to the memory of a noble man." JONATHAN ACKERMAN COLES, onl}' son of Abraham and Caroline E. Coles, was born in Newark, New Jersey, May 6, 1843, ii^ the building No. 222 Market street, purchased by his father in 1842, and rendered historic by reason of its having, by its brick construction, stopped the spread of the great fire of 1836. He was prepared for college at the collegiate school of Forest & Quackenbos, in New York city, where he was awarded the prizes for proficiency in rhet- oric and German. In i860 he entered the freshman class of Columbia College, New York. In his senior j'ear, by the unanimous decision of Professor Charles Davies, Professor Murray Nairne, and Professor William G. Peck, he received the Philolexian prize for the best essay. He graduated in 1864, and in 1867 received the degree of A. M. After graduation he began the stud}- of medicine and surger}' in the of&ce of his father, in Newark, New Jersey, and, after matriculating at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York city, entered as a student of medicine, the office of Professor T. Gaillard Thomas. At the annual commencement of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1867, he received, from Professor Alonzo Clark, the Harzen prize for the best written report of clinical instruction given during the year in the medical and surgical wards of the New York hospital. He graduated with honor in 1868, and after serving in the New York, Bellevue, and Charity hospitals, opened an office in the cit}- of New York, becoming a member of the New York Academy of Medicine and the New York County Medical Societ)-. The years 1877 and 1878, he spent for the most part in Europe, attending lectures and clinics at the universities of London, Edinburgh, Paris, Heidelberg, Berlin, and Vienna. While at Edinburgh he was the guest of Professor Simpson. At Paris, he was the guest of his father's friend and college classmate. Dr. J. Marion Sims. At Munich, Bavaria, in company with Dr. Sims, he attended the meetings of the International /./ ^^r^^z,^ /%2^n^ . HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 89 Medical Congress, and, by invitation, there participated in the honors bestowed upon this disting-uished American surgeon, whose excellent bronze statue now adorns Bryant Park, in the city of New York. After visiting Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, he returned home and became asso- ciated with his father in the practice of his profession, which he has continued in Newark and Scotch Plains to the present time. During his absence, by reason of his father's letters and those of Hon. Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, then secretary of state, at Washington, D. C, he was everywhere received with marked courtesy. Soon after his return, at a literary gathering of friends, he, by request, read the following epitome of his travels : HOME AND ABROAD. Returned from foreign travel, I No longer care to wander,^ Of that dear spot I call my home My fond heart has grown fonder. Drawn by the fame of far-off lands, I sought to see them nearer ; And while they justified report I felt my own was dearer. Three years ago to carry out Ivong-cherished dreams romantic, I waved farewells, and found myself Upon the broad Atlantic. The warring winds began to blow And make the cordage rattle, And with the angry surges join In fierce and mighty battle. The tossing of the sea was grand. But, Oh ! too sympathetic, The stomach, maugre the sublime. Succumbed to the emetic. From Queenstown, on your way to Cork, You hear "the bells of Shandon," As up you sail the river I,ee, That stream they " sound so grand on." I 've barely time to tell you how I went to kiss the Blarney, And then proceeded to the lakes Of lieautiful Killarney. With much to see, I rested not, To every wish compliant ; Saw all the sights, and, last of all. The Causeway of the Giant. Then, rich in memories precious, I, St. George's Channel crossing, Exchanged the Emerald for the Pearl — Gem-isles the deep embossing. Fair Albion, no words can tell The debt of love I owe it ; It gave me language, gave the lore Of prophet and of poet. Gave Shakespeare, Milton gave, and ope'd The door of school and college, Whence I enjoy the sweet delights. And blessedness of knowledge. Hail, Father-land ! Through all my veins The warm blood warmer gushes ; Because of thee myjoyful heart Is musical as thrushes. With keen delight, six crowded weeks I roamed the country over ; And then to see the Continent I crossed the straits of Dover. I passed through France, the beautiful ; Through Leopold's dominions ; Through Holland, earliest free, of which Dutch blood has Dutch opinions. I coasted Norway to the Cape, Where I beheld that wonder, The midnight sun, which scarcely dips The red horizon under. The Pole I could not see, nor Poles, For Poland, I found later. Was placed far distant from the Pole, — What error could be greater. I Sweden, Denmark, visited. And steppes and cities Russian ; Saw Warsaw, which war saw, when joined Russ, Austrian, and Prussian. I did the German capitals, Up rivers, over bridges, — Did Switzerland, the land of ice. Crossed Alpine mountain ridges. 90 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Passed into Italy, now one, I 've told you nothing in detail, Of art the mighty centre ; Because of my great hurry,— Constantinople, Athens seen, Then is it not all written out I ancient Egypt enter. In Baediker and Murray ? Then on to Palestine I sail For your sweet patience, listeners dear. In Mediterranean steamer. I own myself your debtor ; The land made sacred by the feet Before I went I loved my friends, Of our Divine Redeemer. Returned, I love them better. Returning from the East, I stopped I would not flatter, but since I At Malta, and then hasted Can give my reasons plenty, Through Spain, through Portugal, through As many as you choose to ask. Without a moment wasted. [France, One million up to twenty. I stood once more on English ground, I venture to declare, while I But soon for Scotland started ; Of ladies have seen many, Took in my trip the Hebrides, Those I see here are quite as good And then for home departed. And beautiful as any. In 1891 Dr. Coles was elected president of the Union County Medical Society, of New Jersey, and has filled other offices of public and private trust. He is a permanent delegate to the New Jersey State Medical Society, a member of the American Medical Association, a member of the executive and library committees of the New Jersey Historical Society, etc. He has contributed to the press, has published articles on medical and educational subjects, and has edited some new editions of his father's works. On September 5, 1895, ^^ wrote : To the Honorable Julius A. Lebkuecher, Mayor of the City of Newark : My dear Sir, — As a gift to Newark, my native city, in whose educational, scientific and religious advancement my father, the late Dr. Abraham Coles, always took a deep and active interest, I have bought one of the most characteristic and beautiful groups in real bronze to be seen in this country or in Europe. It consists of three figures — an American Indian, his wife and her mother, each life size. The pedestal is of rare dark Italian marble. The whole was executed at Rome, Italy, in 1886, by the distinguished American sculptor, the late C. B. Ives, and is illustrative of the following facts, related by Parkman and other authorities : After Colonel Bouquet had, in the fall of 1764, compelled the Indian tribes to sue for peace, he demanded the delivery, at Fort Pitt, of all captives in their possession. "Among those brought in for surrender," says Parkman, " were young women who had become partners of Indian husbands, and who now were led reluctantly into the presence of parents or relatives, whose images were almost blotted from their memory. They stood agitated and bewildered ; the revival of old affections and the rush of dormant memories painfully contending with more recent attachments, while their Indian lords looked on, scarcely less moved than they, yet hardening themselves with savage stoicism, and standing in the midst of their enemies imperturbable as statues of bronze. Of the women, who were compelled to return with their children to the settlements, some, subsequently, made their escape, eagerly hastening back to their warrior husbands, whose kindness before, as well as at the time of, the surrender had proved to them the sincerity of their affection." In our artist's group the mother discovers the wife of the Indian to be her daughter, who was carried off in early childhood. She, however, fails in her endeavor to obtain from her some sign of recognition. It was on this occasion that Bouquet, observing her distress, is said to have suggested that she should sing one of the songs she used to sing HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY 91 to her wheu a child. She did so ; then, with a sudden start, followed by a passionate flood of tears, the long-lost daughter threw herself into her mother's arms. In order that his work might be accurate and distinctive, Mr. Ives left Rome for this country, where he was successful in finding, for his model, an Indian who fulfilled all his requirements. Returning to Italy, he there perfected this, his great masterpiece. In 1832, the New Jersey legislature appropriated two thousand dollars to pay the Indians for a claim they made in regard to certain hunting and fishing rights. On this occasion the red men were represeuted by Shawriskhekung (Wilted Grass), an Indian of pure native blood. He was a graduate of Princeton College, having been educated at the expense of the Scotch Missionary Society, which named him Bartholomew S. Calvin. At the age of twenty-three he entered the Continental army to fight for independence, and at the time he presented to the legislature the petition for pay for the Indian fishing rights he was upward of eighty years of age. This aged Indian closed his address with the following words : " Not a drop of our blood have you spilled in battle ; not an acre of our land have you taken but by our consent. These facts speak for themselves and need no comment. They place the character of New Jersey in bold relief and bright example to those states within whose territorial limits our brethren still remain. There may be some who would despise an Indian benediction, but when I return to my people and make known to them the result of my mission, the ear of the great Sovereign of the universe, which is still open to our cry, will be penetrated with our invocation of blessings upon the generous sons of New Jersey." " It is a proud fact in the history of New Jersey," said Senator Samuel L. Southard before the legislature on this same occasion, "that every foot of her soil has been obtained from the Indians by voluntary purchase and transfer, a fact no other state of the Union, not even the land which bears the name of Penn, can boast of." For these as well as for other reasons, it has seemed to me to be pre-eminently proper that New Jersey should possess this magnificent monument cast in honor of the American Indian. With your sanction I will have it brought to Newark, and have it placed on a suitably prepared foundation, all at my own individual expense, in the locality we shall decide upon. Awaiting your reply, I am, with great respect. Yours sincerely, Jonathan Ackbrman Coi,es. To the above was sent the following reply : OflSce of the Mayor, City Hall, Newark, N. J., September 13, 1895. D)^. Jonathan Ackerman Coles, 222 Market Street, City : Dear Sir, — The communication directed to the Mayor of the city of Newark, dated September 4, 1895, and containing your munificent offer to present to the city a hand- some bronze group, was referred to the common council at its last meeting, held Friday, September 6th, accompanied by a message which read as follows : Office of the Mayor, City Hall, Newark, N. J., September 6, 1895. To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of Newark : Gentlemen, — I have the honor and pleasure to transmit herewith a communication which I received yesterday from Dr. Jonathan Ackerman Coles. In it he offers, as a gift to the city of Newark, a work of art, by an American sculptor of note, being a group in bronze which marks a most interesting historical event, *and as a memorial will recall the valuable services rendered in the interests of science and education by his distin- guished father, the late Dr. Abraham Coles. I respectfully recommend that action be taken by your honorable body to acknowl- edge the valuable and interesting gift, and to co-operate with the donor in providing a suitable place for its erection. Yours very truly, J. A. I/EBKUECHER, Mayor. It was received and read with great gratification, and, in response thereto, the following resolution of acknowledgment and acceptance was unanimously adopted : 92 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY " Whereas, A beautiful work of art, by a sculptor of distinction, has been presented to the city of Newark by Dr. Jonathan Ackermau Coles ; therefore, be it " Resolved, That the mayor be instructed to convey to the donor the sincere sense of appreciation in which this gift is received by the municipal government and people of the city of Newark ; and be it further "Resolved, That a committee of five, of whom the mayor and the president of the common council shall be members, be appointed to act with the donor in the selection of a suitable site for the placing of this valuable gift." In pursuance of the above resolution, I have the honor to extend to you, in behalf of the municipal government, the assurance of its high appreciation of your generous gift, and as chief executive to tender to you the thanks of its citizens. The spirit which prompts the presentation of this artistic group of bronze to the city is worthy of the greatest commendation. It gives me much pleasure to acknowledge, for the first time in the history of the city, a gift from one of its private citizens, which shall be for many generations a civic monument of beauty and a source of pride to the residents of Newark. I have the honor to be, yours very truly, J. A. IvEBKUECHER, Mayor. The committee, which consisted of Mayor Julius A. Lebkuecher, Mr. David D. Bragaw, president of the common council ; Aldermen William Harrigan, Sidney N. Ogden, and Winton C. Garrison, after visiting the different parks, in company with the donor, finally decided upon the north end of Ivincoln Park, as the most suitable site for the bronze. Subsequently the mayor and common council presented Dr. Coles with a testimonial of the city's appreciation of his gift. This memorial the New York Tribune describes as "a beautiful specimen of the art of engrossing. It is in an album form, bound in dark leather of the finest quality, the fiy leaves being of rich white moire silk. The body of the memorial contains the communication of the mayor to the common council announcing the offer of Dr. Coles, the resolutions passed by the council in accepting the gift, and the announcement by Mayor lycbkuecher to Dr. Coles of the acceptance. The delineator is Mr. John B. Morris, secretary of the board of assessments. " An editorial in the Newark Daily Advertiser said : "The public- spirited gift of a life-size bronze group to the city of Newark, is most heartily appreciated by Newark citizens. Dr. Coles could not have done a public act more graceful or more in harmony with the changing conditions of life in this community. We have been essentially an industrial people, and in our busy efforts to earn and save, there has been little time or leisure to be applied to the refinements of public art that belong to old and settled civilization. We are growing into that now. Soon we shall have a beautiful park system, and we hope to grace it with the adornments of art, contributed by educated and public-spirited citizens like Dr. Coles." The Rt. Rev. John Williams, D. D., LIv. D., bishop of the diocese of Connecticut, chancellor of Trinity College, etc., in a letter to Dr. Coles, referring to the bronze and its pedestal, said : "An inscription HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 93 of the last stanzas of your father's beautiful national hymns, 'Columbia, the Laud of the Free,' and 'My Native Land,' upon the marble pedestal of the bronze historical group, would not only be a graceful tribute to your father's memory, but would also give a national as well as local value to the gift." The bishop's recommendation was carried out. lu 1666 Newark was settled by people from Connecticut. Thanksgiving day was selected by the common council committee and Dr. Coles as the time most appropriate for the unveiling exercises. The New York Herald referred to the occasion as follows: "Five thousand persons gathered in Lincoln Park, Newark, yesterday after- noon (November 28, 1895), to witness the unveiling and presentation to the city, of a life-size historic group in bronze by the distinguished American sculptor, C. B. Ives. * * * The entire cost of the group, its pedestal and everything in connection with its erection and unveiling was borne by Dr. J. Ackerman Coles, son of the late Dr. Abraham Coles. "The exercises opened with a national hymn, 'My Native Land,' by Abraham Coles, sung by the children, teachers and friends of the public and private schools of Newark, and elsewhere in the state, led by Professor Thomas Bott, James V. Orchard, and David B. Dana, cornetist, under the direction of Mr. Frank E. Drake. "Just as the hymn was finished the statue was unveiled by the drawing back of a large American flag, by Miss Lucy Ogden . Depue, granddaughter of Supreme Court Justice Depue, and Master Robert B. Bradley, grandson of the late United States Supreme Court Justice Bradley. A great cheer went up from the crowd as the group was disclosed to view, and when it had subsided Dr. J. A. Coles made a brief presentation speech, which embodied what he said, in his letter to Mayor Lebkuecher, in offering the group to the city. "On behalf of the citizens of Newark, Mayor Lebkuecher then made an address of acceptance. He said : ' It gives me great pleasure to receive and accept, on behalf of the people of Newark, the beautiful piece of bronze statuary which your generosity has prompted you to present to this city. The people will appreciate in its fullest sense this artistic gift, and will hold in grateful remembrance the generous giver. In accepting it, I tender to you the thanks of all the people of our city. It should be a matter of self-congratulation and satisfaction that the city of Newark has reached that stage in its history and development when its citizens are able to give expression to their more cultured tastes. And now, Mr. President of the board of street and water commissioners, upon your board devolves the duty of seeing to the safe keeping of this statue, and I now deliver it over to your care. ' "President Van Duyne, of the board of works, followed with a short address, and then followed one of the most interesting features of the whole ceremony. It was the delivery, by the pretty little Miss 94 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Grace E. Bates, grandiiiece of David D. Bragaw, president of the common council, of the keys of the metal boxes placed in the pedestal (containing the names of more than thirty thousand school children, a copy of the bible, a Newark directory, and various objects of local and general interest) to the equally pretty and tiny Miss Helen Coykendall, while held in the arms of her grandfather, Chief of Police Henry Hopper. It will be the duty of little Miss Coykendall to drop the keys into the Passaic river, from the draw of the Bridge street bridge, for safe keeping. "Then another national hymn, 'Columbia, the L/and of the Free,' was sung, and an address was made by the president of the board of education. Dr. Henry J. Anderson. This was followed by the singing of the 'Fourth of July,' a national hymn, and an address by the superintendent of public sohools. Dr. William N. Barringer. The subject of his talk was 'A Nation's History, as shown by its Monu- ments.' 'Our Country's Banner'. was sung; there was an address by the Rev. Dr. D. R. Frazer, of the First Presbyterian church ; the singing of a bicentennial ode, entitled 'Two Hundred Years Ago,' and then the benediction, by Rev. Dr. R. M. lyUther, pastor of the South Park Baptist church. "All the national hymns and the ode sung were the compositions of the late Dr. Abraham Coles, in whose memory the group will really stand." The Free Public I^ibrary is the possessor of one of the choicest specimens of artistic work in steel and bronze ever seen in Newark. It is a German Columbian memorial shield, executed for the German department of the Liberal Arts Building at the World's Fair, and is the gift of the family of the late Dr. Abraham Coles. The shield is circular in shape, about three feet in diameter, and in its centre, in high relief, is an allegorical figure of science unveiling the new world, bright with the rays of the rising sun. Above the shield is an American eagle, with wings outstretched, and grasping in its claws arrows, myrtle, and a banner, bearing the words, "Westward the star of empire takes its way." This inscription on the margin surrounds the bas-reliefs : " Dedi- cated to the American people in honor of the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America. 1492 — United we stand, divided we fall —1892." Surrounding the central group are the coats of arms of all the states and territories, with connecting bands, bearing the inscriptions, "In God we Trust," and " E Pluribus Unum." An allegorical representation of Columbia, the capitol at Wash- ington, the Emancipation Proclamation, the battle of Cherubusco, Washington crossing the Delaware, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, and the landing of HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 96 Columbus are the subjects of bas-reliefs, bronze medallions, surround- ing the centre of the shield. Portraits of Longfellow, Morse, Grant, Lincoln, Jefferson, Franklin, Garfield, and Washington are also worked in bronze. Eight small shields bear the names and populations of the eight largest cities in the country. Dr. Coles and his sister. Miss E. S. Coles, subsequently gave to the Newark Public Library, from the estate of their father, the statue of Benjamin Franklin and his whistle, executed in Carrara marble by Pasquale Romanelli. It was made in Italy, in 1863, and attracted much attention at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876. It stands on a carved pedestal of dark marble. The figure is exquisitely graceful, and the execution shows the highest technical power. The conception is based on the incident described by Franklin himself, in a letter written to a friend in Philadelphia, in November, 1779. "When I was a child," he wrote, "seven years old, my friends, on a holiday, filled my pockets with coppers. I went directly to a shop where they sold toys for children, and being charmed with the sound of a whistle that I met by the way in the hands of another boy, I voluntarily offered and gave all my money for one. I then came home and went whistling all over the house, much pleased with my whistle, but disturbing all the family. My brothers and sisters and cousins, understanding the bargain I had made, told me I had given four times as much for it as it was worth, put me in mind what good things I might have bought with the rest of the money, and laughed at me so much for my folly that I cried with vexation, and the reflection gave me more chagrin than the whistle gave me pleasure. "This, however, was afterwards of use to me, the impression continuing 'on my mind so that often when I was tempted to buy some unnecessary thing I said to myself, 'Don't give too much for the whistle,' and I saved my money. " As I grew up, came into the world, and observed the actions of men, I thought I met with many, very many, who gave too much for the whistle. * * * In short, I conceive that great part of the mis- eries of mankind are brought upon them by the false estimates they have made of the value of things, and by giving too much for their whistles." FRANKLIN AND HIS WHISTLE 96 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY The New York Tribune, April 20, 1897, says : "The Newark Free Library, which is soon to occupy a new and handsome building, to be erected this year on a site selected, facing Washington Park, in Newark, has begun to receive gifts from citizens of wealth and culture. Yesterday the library trustees received, and placed in the library, two beautiful life-size medallions in high relief Accompanying the gift was the following letter from the donor : Prominent among the art treasures in the marble palace of the late A. T. Stewart, on Fifth avenue and Thirty-fourth street, in New York city, were two pieces of statuary, designated " Sappho " and " First I,ove," by the well known American sculptor, Richard Hamilton Park. Visitors to the Metropolitan Museum of Art will also remember this artist's beautiful memorial of marble and bronze, in " The Poet's Corner," to the memory of Edgar Allen Foe (1S09-1849). Two other works, to some fully as interesting, and to many, perhaps, more fasci- nating, are his two beautiful life-size medallions, in Cararra marble, portraying in high relief the profiles of two little girls, appropriately designated, "Evening" and "Morning." The countenance of the one, as attractive as an evening sunset, bears the impress of weariness, attendant upon the close of a well spent day ; while that of the other, bright .ind joyous, after refreshing sleep, is equally suggestive of early sunrise and the singing of birds. All who love children and their innocent pleasures will find in these two medallions much to admire, and it is, therefore, with a feeling of confidence and pleasure that I, presuming upon your acceptance of the same, have ordered them, with their elegantly carved frames and pedestals, costing, originally, in Florence, Italy, about eight hundred dollars, to be sent this day as gifts to the Free Public Library of Newark, believing that visitors thereto will find in them additional incentives to the cultivation of the refined and beautiful in art. Sincerely and respectfull}- yours, J. ACKERMAN Coi,ES. Newark, April 19, 1897. "A letter sent to-day," says the Newark Daily Advertiser, "by Dr. J. Ackerman Coles, to Principal Edmund O. Hovey, of the High School, announces the writer's gift to the school of an elaborate copper- bronze globe. A hint is also given of another gift for the new High School. "Here is the text of the letter : " My Dear Sir : — I am in receipt of your courteous letter, in which you kindly refer to the time when the late Dr. Abraham Coles, my father, was, for a number of years, a member of the board of education, chairman of the normal-school committee, and ever active in advancino- the varied interests of the public schools of Newark. " I appreciate your appreciation of the addresses you mention as made by him, in presenting to the president of the board of education, for graduation, the classes of 1873, 1873 and 1874. " You, moreover, suggest the propriety of my giving something in bronze to remind the one thousand two hundred and four bright and intelligent boys and girls now in the high school, of the interest taken by Dr. Coles in the education of their parents, and in them, their successors. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 97 ' ' Your letter reached me at an opportune moment, soon after the arrival at my office of a box, not yet opened, containing a large copper- bronze globe, with its stand, which I had been successful in obtaining as an intended gift for the new High School of Newark. " This globe is a model of the earth, and is remarkably interesting as representing, as it were, a survey of the bottom of the sea, of the lakes and of the rivers. It also shows the comparative heights of the mountains and the depths of the valleys on land. It shows us what every man, woman and child has always been curious to know, viz. : How the bottom of the sea looks. Here we see the cause of the different currents, and the results of volcanic eruptions beneath the ocean's bed. It is interesting to note and compare the oceanic levels, also the sudden and gradual depressions, and the varied elevations of the two hemispheres. " No school in New York city, nor in New Jersey, I am informed, has such a model of the earth, and it was, in a measure, due to my desire that the metropolis of New Jersey should continue to lead in educational matters, that caused me to purchase the same as a gift for its High School. When you get into your new fire-proof building, it may be my privilege and pleasure to donate something else. When agreeable to the board of education, I will send the bronze globe and its pedestal, and locate them where you desire." "Another acceptable gift to the Newark Free Public Library," says the New York Tribune, " is announced in the following letter : " Gentlemen, — Of the more than seven hundred sculptures in marble that line the walls of the Museo Chiaramonti, of the Vatican, at Rome, Italy, there is, probably, no one that receives more attention from, or is better remembered by visitors, than the one known as the " Bust of Young Augustus,'' found at Ostia, A. D. 1808. A beautiful life-size copy of this celebrated work, I was so fortunate as to discover a few days ago in the store of an importer, in New York city. Knowing the rarity and value of the bust, it being made of the finest Carrara marble, and of the same size and finish as the original, I immediately purchased it, with a suitable marble pedestal, as a. gift to the Free Public Library, of Newark, where, anticipating your acceptance of the same, it, with- its pedestal, will probably arrive to-morrow. With great respect, I have the honor to be Yours truly, J. AcKERMAN Coles. The trustees subsequently acknowledged the receipt of and accept- ance of the gift : "To the New Jersey Historical Society," says the New York Commercial Advertiser, "for the erection thereon of a suitable fire- proof building. Dr. J. A. Coles has offered to give either one of two valuable plots of land in the city of Newark, fronting on and over- ' looking the Branch Brook Park. One plot is near its Sixth avenue entrance, with a frontage of fifty feet on the park, thence running back two hundred feet, to Fifth street, with a front thereon of fifty feet. The other plot is at the Boulevard entrance, and has a frontage 98 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY of one hundred and twelve feet on the park, and fifty feet on Fifth lue. " The Boston Evening Transcript, April 2, 1897, announced the gift, by Dr. J. Ackerman Coles, to the state of New Jersey, of Daniel Huntington's famous life-size painting, "The Good Samaritan," concerning which Harper's Weekly remarked : " New Jersey will get an admirable painting in memory of the late Dr. Abraham Coles, a good and distinguished citizen." Following is a copy of the printed correspondence relating to the gift : To THE Hon. John W. Griggs, IvL. D., Governor of the State op New Jersey. Dear Sir, —I am now the owner of the celebrated oil painting known as "The Good Samaritan," by our distinguished American artist, Daniel Huntington. The picture, with its frame, measures about nine feet in width by eleven feet in height, the principal figures being life size. It was executed by Daniel Huntington, in his studio, in Paris, France, in the years 1852-3, in fulfillment of an order given him by the late Marshall O. Roberts, Esq., of New York city. The choosing of a subject having been left with Mr. Huntington, he selected the pictorial illustration or interpretation of the second great commandment of the law : "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." That he succeeded in his effort has been conceded by critics, for here, with wonderful skill, is vividly portrayed the arrival at the inn, the sympathetic interest of the host, hostess and guests and the respectful attention given to the orders of "The Good Samaritan." Mr. Huntington informs me that while engaged on this painting he was visited in his studio by Paul Delaroche, the eminent historical painter of France, who took a deep interest in the progress of his work, and by friendly suggestions as to detail, color, etc., rendered him much assistance, a circumstance which adds immensely to the value of this picture, as it may be regarded as the joint work of these two great master minds. After its completion, requiring several months, it was, after attracting much attention in Paris, sent to this country, exhibited at the National Academy, then on Broadway, also at Mr. Roberts' private gallery on Fifth avenue, and formed one of the chief attractions at the Sanitary Fair Exhibition of Paintings, held in Fourteenth street, New York city, during the late civil war. Mr. Huntington, having learned that I contemplated giving this painting, through you, to the people of New Jersey, wrote to me a few weeks ago, suggesting that I should first send the canvas to his studio in New York city, and leave it with him for a month, in order that, he might retouch and restore any injuries done by the hand of time. This I have done. I have also had its artistic and beautiful frame relaid with the best of gold leaf. Upon receipt of word from you that, as a gift, the painting will be acceptable to the state, I will, as soon as practicable, at my own expense, send it to Trenton, and have it hung in the place deemed most suitable for its reception in the capitol, a building asso- ciated with pleasant meetings therein of my father, the late Abraham Coles, A. M., M. D., Ph. D., LL. D., with his friends, some of whom are still living, while the portraits of others adorn its walls. It is with special pride I recall the recorded words of the late Governor Daniel Haines, and those of the late Henry WoodhuU Green, chief justice and chancellor, who, in referring to the life and writings of Dr. Abraham Coles, affirm that ' ' to him the world owes a debt of gratitude for his labor and research, which redound to the honor of our state." Awaiting your reply, I am, with great respect, Yours sincerely, J. ACKERMA.N Coles. Newark, N. J., March 29, 1897. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 99 Governor Griggs' reply is as follows : State of New Jersey, Executive Department. Trenton, March 30, 1897. Dr. J. ACKERMAN COIs figured as a stalwart adherent of the Democratic party, and has been an active worker in its ranks. In 1877 he was elected a member of the common council of Rah\va>-, retaining this incumbency three years and proving unreservedly faithful to the trust imposed. It is worthy of particular note that he took the initiative; in the work of deposing from power and seeing properly punished the "ring" whose operations and malfeasance involved the city in bankruptcy ; he assisted in the compromise which was found necessary, and is credited with being the pioneer in the financial regeneration of the city, and in making such final adjustment of the affairs of the defunct Savings Bank as to realize to the original depositors the full amount of their respective deposits. For thirty-five )ears Dr. Silvers has been in some form identified with the public-school system of Rahway, in whose success he has maintained a cumulative interest. On two occasions he served terms of years as superintendent, and one term as member of the board of education. For four years he was president of the local board of health, and was the yearly incumbent as city physician for a number of periods. In his fraternal relations, the Doctor became a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in 1853, being identified with this organization for a period of thirty-five years. He secured a withdrawal card from his lodge, expecting to deposit the same elsewhere, but this he has never done. He was reared in the Presbyterian faith, but dtiring his mature years has been an attendant aud supporter of St. Paul's church (Protestant Episcopal) in Railway, his first wife having been particularly active in the charity work of this church, and having served as president of certain of its collateral societies. On the 31st of March, 1853, at Pierrepont Manor church, Jefferson county. New York, Dr. Silvers was united in marriage to Miss Nancy Mendana Earl, whose father was born in Connecticut, whither he came to Jeffersou county very earl)' in its settlement, purchasing largely, in connection with the senior Pierrepont, and founding the town of Pierrepont Manor, their farms having jointly formed the site upon which the town was established. Mr. Earl was a farmer and tanner on a large scale, and he attained a pronounced financial and social success. Mrs. Silvers was born April 26, 1835, and died on the 19th of March, 1892, leaving two sons, — Earl Brittin Silvers, who was born February 18, 1854, and who is a New Jersey graduated pharmacist ; and George Mulford Silvers, who was born August 26, 1857, and who is a medical practitioner, being a graduate of the same colleges as his father. On the 25th of September, 1895, Dr. Silvers consummated a second HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 127 marriage, being then united to Miss Abbie Ringgold Coombs Reed, who was born in New York city, where she graduated from the Normal College. She is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. Her original American ancestors, on both sides, came from Wales and settled in Virginia at an early period in the history of America. PETER J. ZEGLIO, M. »., is one of the most skillful physicians in the state of New Jersey. He is of Swiss descent, his parents, John and Josephine (Duchini) Zeglio, having been natives of Switzerland, with ancestries embodying all the characteristics of that honest and liberty-loving people. John Zeglio, inspired with prospects of American citizenship, under American institutions, visited the United States, making his third visit to this country in 1849. This was during the gold-craze period, and Mr. Zeglio joined the throng of gold-seekers, making a stay of a few years in California. He then returned to New York, and in i860 moved to Cranford, New Jersey, and in 1862, to Mount Bethel, New Jersey, where he continued his vocation as a farmer until his death. Mr. John Zeglio was born in 1818, at Ambri, Canton Tessin, Switzerland, the native home of the Zeglio family for generations. He died at Mount Bethel, New Jersey, April 15, 1866. The mother died February 4, 1894. She was a noble woman and imparted her many good characteristics to her own family, the principal cause, probably, of their eminent success in after life. Their children are David; Pauline, wife of A. D. Taylor; Mary, wife of J. D. Kirch; Joseph and Peter J. Dr. Zeglio was born in Cranford, New Jersey, May 31, i860. He received his education in the public schools of Mount Bethel, New Jersey, and might have continued life as a tiller of the soil, had not a sad event occurred, which changed the purposes of his life. When sixteen years of age he fell from a tree, sustaining a fracture of the wrist, which rendered him wholly unfit for that occupation. Having decided upon the profession of medicine, he pursued a regular course of instruction under private teachers, incident to the needs of that calling, and in due time placed himself under the tutorage of Dr. J. D. Van Derveer, an able physician of Uberty Corner, New Jersey. At the age of eighteen years he began a systematic course of lectures at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York City, and in 1882 received his degree of M. D. from that institution. Dr. Zeglio's practice in his profession has been phenomenal. He began his career in the home of his youth, and liberal patronage welcomed him from the outset of his practice, his income to-day being that of the more success- ful practitioners in our large cities. In 1895 Dr. Zeglio moved his office from Mount Bethel to Plain- 128 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY field, where his services seemed to be in demand more than ever. He is also a skilled surgeon as well as physician, and has performed some noteworthy operations, a number of which might be mentioned, though one will suffice. This is a case where both feet and the fingers and thumbs of both hands were amputated at once from the body of a man. The time for the operation lasted only seventy minutes, and the patient did well under the treatment. Dr. Zeglio is very fond of field sports, and, had he time, would be afield with dog and gun, in seasons for that pastime, but the duties of his profession debar these pleasures. He is a member of various med- ical associations and keeps abreast of the times. He is ex-coroner of Somerset county, New Jersey, is a member of the American Medical Association, a member of the Medical Association of Plainfield, New Jersey, and of the Somerset County Medical Society. Dr. Zeglio is wedded to the interests of his profession and his close diagnosis of all cases, irrespective of cast, creed or color, has brought for him in part the large practice and the reputation he so well de- serves. MAXWELL S. SIMPSON, M. D. , is a native of Dayton, Ohio, where he was born December 8, 1856, being the son of Silas M. B. and Henrietta (Dover) Simpson, who also were natives of Dayton. The progenitor of this branch of the Simpson family in America first settled upon Long Island, coming thither from one of the New England settlements, in the early part of the eighteenth century, removing subsequently to Elizabethtown, New Jersey, where John Simpson, the first of whom a definite record can be obtained, died in July, 1773. His son Alexander, born here, was married and until 1813 lived in New Providence, whence he removed to the home of his son, Moses Simpson, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, at Day- ton, Ohio. Moses Simpson, above mentioned, was born at New Providence, and in 1810 was employed under Jacob Beedel, of Newark, to superin- tend the construction of a fort opposite the Battery in New York, and later known as Castle Garden. He removed to Ohio at the close of 1812. Silas M. B. Simpson was in the United States army and partici- pated in the stirring events in California from 1851 to 1856. In an engagement with the Indians on the plains he received a severe arrow wound. He served with bravery and distinction during the early part of the civil war, but was badly wounded in action in eastern Kentucky and retired from further service. He never recovered from his wounds, though he lived till 1887. John, the son of John, of Elizabethtown, migrated to Montgomery HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 129 county, Pennsylvania, and his descendants to Clermont count)-, Ohio, where a daughter, Hannah, married, in 1820, Jesse R. Grant, and where their first son, Hiram Ulysses, later known as Ulysses Simpson Grant, was born. Dr. Simpson, of Plainfield, was a frequent visitor in his MAXWELL S. SIMPSON, M. D. early youth at the home of the father of General Grant, at Covington, Kentucky. The military history of the family is remarkable, inasmuch as it was represented in all of the colonial and federal wars. The first John served in the French and Indian war, taking part in the expedition to 130 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Crown Point. The second John served through the French and Indian war and the Revolution. Alexander was but thirteen years old and was first a drummer and then a private in Maxwell's Jersey Brigade. Ephraim, a younger brother of Alexander, was a noted scout with Gen- eral Anthony Wayne during the Indian troubles of the Northwest Ter- ritory. Michael Simpson, another scion of the family, as an ensign in the provincial service, was at Braddock's defeat, and later, as lieutenant in the First Pennsylvania Battalion, was in the Quebec expedition under Arnold. As a captain of continental troops he commanded at Long Island, Trenton, Princeton, and Germantovvn. He was a close friend and admirer of Washington, who stopped with him, on his jour- ney through the country in 1794, at his home on the Susquehanna, in Pennsylvania. Moses Simpson served a short while in the war of 1812 and commanded a company during the Mexican war, and his son Silas M. B. , as we have stated, was in the civil war. On the maternal side the grandmother of Dr. Simpson was of the Van Cleve family, the first of whom settled at Flatbush, Long Island, when the New Netherlands belonged to the Dutch, migrating from the Dutchy of Cleves, on the river Rhine, in Germany. Other members of the family and their descendants settled on Staten Island and in and near New Brunswick and in Monmouth county. New Jersey. Isabrant Van Cleve, who settled on Staten Island, married Jane Vanderbilt, and represented one of the collateral branches of the Boone family. His grandsons, Benjamin and William, sons of Aaron, settled with the Boones in Kentucky. In 1734 Isabrant' s son Benjamin settled near Monmouth, now Freehold, New Jersey, where his son John was born. John's son Benjamin was born there at the close of the Revolu- tion, and with his father went to the frontier, where John was killed and scalped by the Indians, on the spot where the court house in Cin- cinnati, Ohio, now stands, having been a party to the original settle- ment of that place. Benjamin was in the United States Army through the Indian wars, under Generals Harrison, St. Clair, Wilkinson, and Wayne. His description of the massacre of St. Clair's troops, during which action he was in the quartermaster's department, under his uncle. Captain Benham, is the account usually found in historical collections. In 1793 he left Ft. Washington (Cincinnati) in the night and traveled alone through the Indian country, a bearer of dispatches to the war department in Philadelphia. The journey was made with a great deal of stealth and occupied almost a month. While waiting for the return dispatches he was sent by General Knox to New York with two saddle horses, a present from the government to Captain Joseph Brandt, the Indian chief Dr. Simpson's early instructions were received in the public schools of Dayton, Ohio, and his more advanced and classical studies were pur- sued in private schools. He received the degree of Ph. G. at the Phil- CHARLES B. HOLMES, M. D. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 131 adelphia College of Pharmacy, in 1879, and the degree of M. D. at the Jefferson Medical College, in 1883, when the faculty of that noted insti- tution of medical learning had among its members the eminent teachers Gross, Pancoast, Da Costa, Bartholow, Wallace, Rogers and Chap- man. He was a student under the late R. J. Levis and received the gold medal of honor from the Pennsylvania Hospital for excellence in surgery. Soon after graduation he went to the southwestern states, and, as acting assistant surgeon under General Crook, took part in the Apache war. While in this service he received a gun-shot wound that forced him to return home. He resided some time at Bordentown, New Jer- sey, but since 1888 has been a resident of Plainfield, where he has established a lucrative practice in his profession. He is a P'ree Mason, a member of the Plainfield Medical Association, and has been a mem- ber of the Naval Reserve of New Jersey since its inception. He is now surgeon to the Battalion of the East, with headquarters on the United States sailing sloop-of-war, Portsmouth, now anchored in the North river. Dr. Simpson was the first police surgeon of Plainfield, originating and planning that work and serving without salary, that its police de- partment might be placed upon a municipal standing. He is also the city physician, a position he has occupied for some years, and, besides attending to a large practice, has been in many ways prominently active in the interests of his adopted city. He is an active member of the Citizens' Organized Aid Association and deeply interested in the benevolent work of the community. An only sister died some years ago ; a brother and his mother still reside at Dayton, Ohio. In 1879 Dr. Simpson was married to Miss L,ilias V. Turner, of Richmond, Virginia. CHARLES B. HOLMES, M. D. There is no field of endeavor in connection with the countless activities of life that places so exacting demands upon those who serve iii its confines as does the profession of medicine. There is demanded a most careful and discriminating preliminary training, and unremitting and consecutive study and application through all the succeeding days, and, over and above this, the true physician, who in a sense holds the destinies of life in his hands, must be imbued with that deep sympathy and true humanitarian sentiment which will bear his professional labors outside the mere commercial sphere. He whose name introduces this review is known and honored as one of the representative medical practitioners of Union county, and, maintaining his residence at Rahway, he has gained distinctive professional prestige and the confidence and respect of those to whom he has ministered, as well as of the community in general. 132 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Charles B. Holmes is a native of the old Empire state, having been born at Hamilton, Madison county, New York, in the year 1852, the son of Alonzo and Juliana Holmes. He received his preliminary educational discipline in the public schools of his native town, pursuing the course of study in the local high school and subsequently continuing his literary education in Hamilton College. Having decided to make the profession of medicine his vocation in life he attended medical schools in Philadelphia and New York city, graduating in 1874, with the coveted degree of Doctor of Medicine. The Doctor had little fortuitous aid in his youth, but his was an ambitious and self-reliant nature and it was his determination to excel in whatsoever he undertook. Appreciating the advantages of higher education, he made every effort bend to the securing of privileges in this line, working on the farm and teaching school to obtain the funds essential to completing a collegiate course. After his graduation Dr. Holmes came to Rahwa}-, where he forthwith established himself in practice, gaining prestige from the start, by reason of his devotion to his profession and his unmistakable ability, his personal characteristics being such as to engender a popularit}- aside from his specific talents. He has a happy faculty of keeping patients to whom he has ministered, inspiring confidence and respect, while his popularity with young men has been peculiarly pronounced, as he has ever been ready to aid them and to give advice. The Doctor's practice covers a wide area contiguous to Rahwa}', and his name will remain on the records as one who has dignified and been dignified by the profession of his choice. Dr. Holmes is a stanch adherent of the Republican party, has been an active worker and has been honored with positions of public trust and responsibility. He was elected a member of the common council of Rahway in 1894, for a term of three years, being president of the body for the years 1896 and 1897. He was acting mayor from April, 1896, to March, 1897, on the 4th of which month last mentioned he was elected to this chief executive office of the municipality for a term of two years. He is chairman of the eighth congressional district committee, having been chosen such in 1896, and has been a member of the county com- mittee for three years, also serving as president of the board of health three years. The Doctor is an enthusiastic devotee of "the wheel," and was president of a large bicycle club for six years, being also vice-president of the Associated Bicycle Clubs of New Jersey. As a member of the state board he has done much to bring about wise legislation for the benefit of wheelmen. He is secretary of the Rahway Business Men's Club, and secretary of the New Jersey Medical Club. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 133 NORTON L. WILSON, M. D., is a leading representative of the medical profession of Union county, New Jersey, and is a widely known medical man. The family is one that on the paternal side is of English origin. On the maternal side, Woodward was the family name, and the Doctor is connected with those celebrated physicians, Drs. Woodward and Pepper, of Philadelphia. Dr. Wilson was born in 1861, in the city of Elizabeth, and was educated in that noted school taught for many years by Dr. Pingry, at Elizabeth. He was prepared for Princeton College, but owing to business reverses in his family was compelled to relinquish his classical studies and to engage for several years in mercantile business. Subsequently he became 134 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY a medical student with Dr. Mack, at Elizabeth, and was graduated in 1884 from the Bellevue Medical College, in New York city. For a year he was in practice at Roselle and then opened an office at Elizabeth. He has been very active in all matters pertaining to medical advancement. He is vice-president of the Clinical Society, is vice-president and ex-president of the County Medical Society and belongs to the Academy of Medicine, of New York city, as well as the New Jersey State Medical Society. He served as house physician and surgeon at the Elizabeth General Hospital ; he was one of the staff of the Eye and Ear Infirmary, of the city of Newark, and has done a great deal of work in this particular field, — in fact he devotes nearly all his time to the diseases of the eye, ear and throat. He also does special work in this line as a member of the staff of the Elizabeth General Hospital, and was also connected with the staff of the Alexian Brothers' Hospital. He is a member of the board of health of the city of Elizabeth, and at one time was city physician. He is a trustee of the Elizabeth Public Eibrary and is a member of the Elizabeth Athletic Club. He is married, has two children, and belongs to the Westminster Presbyterian church. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Knights of Pythias. Dr. Wilson has rapidly risen in his . profession, and is recognized as an authority in his special line of work, and also as a very able general practitioner. JOSIAH QUINCY STEARNS, M. D. , identified with the early history of Elizabeth, as borough, town and city, came of Revolutionary ancestry, and was born in Starksborough, Vermont, January 10, 1813. After leaving Middlebury College, he married. May i, 1839, L,ouise C. Judd, of Ditchfield, Connecticut. He then came to New York to pursue the study and practice of medicine, and, after graduation from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, removed to Elizabethport, in 1839. In 1854 Dr. Stearns was elected high sheriff of the borough of Elizabeth, and held the office of coroner many terms, both before and after Union county was set off from Essex, his first election to said office being in 1853. ^^ "^^^ connected with the inception of numer- ous industries now well established, like the Elizabeth and Newark horse-car line, Elizabethtown Water Company, and Evergreen Ceme- tery, of which latter he was the first secretary. He was a charter member of the Third Presbyterian church, and a trustee therein at the time of his death, which occurred February 2, 1881. GUN L. JENKINS, M. D. , was born in Plainfield, April 23, 1852. He is the son of Joseph B. and Sarah Ann Jenkins, both natives of Columbia county. New York. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 135 His father was a carpenter by trade, and moved to Plainfield about 1843. He died in 1890. William Jenkins, a brother of the Doctor, lives in Scran ton, Pennsylvania. Dr. Jenkins was educated in the public schools of Plainfield and in a seminary at Kingston, Pennsylvania, graduating at the latter institu- OLIN L. JENKINS, M. 0. tion in 1871. He then began the study of medicine, completing his course four years later in the Homoeopathic Medical College, New York. His professional career was begun in Danielsonville, Connect- icut, where he practiced twelve years. In 1888 he came to Plainfield and succeeded to the practice of Dr. South, in which he has since con- tinued. Dr. Jenkins has always taken an active part in everything 136 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY that promoted the welfare of the city in which he makes his home. He is a member of the State Medical Society and of the Plainfield Medical Society; is now serving a term of five years as a member of the school board, and was formerly a member of the common council. He is a member of the ancient order of Free and Accepted Masons, and has risen to the degree of Knight Templar and is also a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member of the Junior Order of American Mechanics, of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, of the Royal Arcanum, the Knights of Honor, and the Knights of Pythias. Dr. Jenkins was married, in 1881, to Miss Rhoda Hollock, of Plain- field. She is a member of the Methodist church, and active in all its works of love and charity. Dr. and Mrs. Jenkins travel much during the summer months, especially throughout the United States and Canada. ABRAHAM MORRELL CORY, M. D., a regular practicing physician of New Providence, is a descendant of Sir Thomas, of England, and of John Cory, one of the Memorialists of Elizabeth Town. He is the son of William Cory, a farmer of New Providence, and (Harriet I^aforge) Cory, a daughter of Captain Abraham I/aforge, of French Huguenot descent. Four children were born of this union. One son, A. E. Cory is proprietor of a ' large vinegar establish- ment (one of the largest works of the kind in the world), at Albany, New York. William R. died, aged fifty-one years ; Mary E. married Charles Ulrick, who holds the homestead. The subject of this sketch was born August i, 1828, in New Providence, New Jersey. He was graduated at Pennington Seminary, New Jersey, in 1852, and began work as a teacher, a profession in which he labored for several years. Upon the advice of Dr. George F. Fort, ex-governor of the state, he pursued a regular course of instruction in medicine under his tuition, beginning his studies in 1854 and taking his degree of M. D. from the Philadelphia College of Medicine, in 1857. Dr. Cory was also a local preacher at this time, in the Methodist Episcopal church, but after some years of incessant work, he found it necessary to give up his ministerial labors, both because of a throat affection and because it was impracticable to preach the gospel and to practice medicine at one and the same time. Dr. Cory began the practice of his profession as a regular physician in 1857, in Windsor, Mercer county. New Jersey. At the call for volunteer surgeons, in 1862, he was commissioned as acting assistant surgeon, with the rank of lieutenant, and went into the service of the government on the general medical staff, subject to orders in any part of the United States, in the field or hospital. Having been ordered to Point Dookout, Maryland, he assisted in the formation of the Hammond General Hospital, and at one time had four hundred soldiers under his HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 137 own supervision. Relieved from duty, he returned to his home, and in 1863 located at Hightstown, New Jersey. In 1867 he removed to New Providence, New Jersey, where he was elected a member of the Union County Medical Society, and where he has continued the practice of his profession to the present time. ABRAHAM M. CORY, M. D. July 18, 1855, Dr. Cory was married to Miss Emily J. Petherbridge . daughter of Rev. Richard W. Petherbridge, presiding elder. New Jersey conference. They had one son, Cornelius Leveridge Cory, born July, 28, 1856. He died at the age of nineteen years, in the bloom of his youth, it is true, but in the strength of Christian manhood. At the close of 138 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY life he said, "Salvation is only in Jesus," "Morality is a social duty," and this significant couplet is the epitaph on his tombstone. Dr. Cory is a Republican, and has been active in temperance work. He has been connected in an official way with the board of stewards of his church for a number of years, and is president of the board of trustees at this time. He is a writer of much ability. His collection of historical matter relating to the town of New Providence bears the marks of patient research, and is worthy the attention of the students of American history. He has shown himself possessed of poetic talent. At the request of his abna^mater, he wrote a poem on the occasion of his graduation, another on the jubilee of his' seminary and also an ode, in 1896, both of which latter are of historic value, the last mentioned being in the interest of the State Historical Society of, New Jersey. Dr. Cory is also an inventor of a number of useful patented articles. His astronomical clock, indicating universal solar and siderial time, the lunar and solar cycles, eclipses and the precession of the equinoxes, is adapted to use in every school room in the world. His elucidations, illustrations and discoveries in astronomical science, respecting the motions and laws of the solar system, the solutions of residual phenomena, as in the glacial epoch and the zodiacal light and preces- sion of the equinoxes, are highly important, have the endorsement of the best authorities, and are being prepared as a text book for the press, for use in the schools. The character of his work may be indicated by an interview with President Thomas Hunter, of the Women's Normal College, New York. After a careful examination of his clock and astronomical delineations, which he commended amply, and the biographical record, he pronounced it (the record^ to be the finest collection and arrangement of meta- physical terms ever produced; being far above Gall and Spurzheim. Rising to his feet, he exclaimed with fervor, " Doctor, I admire you ! I honor you ! You are one of the men who live to benefit mankind ! In a spirit of self-sacrifice, to complete these productions, you have labored hard, endured privations and almost self-abnegation ; and this is not for money." The reply was made, " Mr. President, there are those who say that money is the incentive to all achievement." He replied, " They do not understand human nature ; men who labor for money are incapable of producing works of this character." JOSEPH K. MAC CONNEtL, M. D., was born November 24, 1836, near Tarentum, Allegheny county, Penn- sylvania. His parents were George and Janet (Stark) MacConnell. The former was born in Richmond, Virginia, January i, 1795 ; the latter in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, November 24, 1800. Thomas Mac JOSEPH K. MacCONNELL, M. D. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 139 Connell and Eliza Watt, cousin of James Watt, the inventor of the, steam engine, were his paternal ancestors. They were of Scotch origin but born in the north of Ireland. The maternal grandparents were John Stark and Janet Morton, both of Glasgow, Scotland. The Doctor and the two other brothers, John Stark and Alexander A., after a classical course at college, each entered upon a professional life, the latter two entering the ministry and serving faithfully in the churches to which they were called. The Doctor graduated at Starling Medical College, Columbus, Ohio, in February, 1868. Before graduation he held the position of superintendent of the State Prison Hospital, of which he afterward became house surgeon. On June 19, 1869, he located at Cranford, New Jersey, his present home. Doctor MacConnell was married to Mary E. Mintier, a graduate of Franklin College, New Athens, Ohio. Her parents were Joseph and Eliza (McGrew) Mintier. Dr. MacConnell has two sons and one daughter living, and one daughter recently deceased, Francis Edith, late wife of H. R. Van Saun. His elder son. Dr. C. W. MacConnell, is located at Cranford, New Jersey, where for six years he has been practicing with his father. His younger son, J. Herbert, is at Auburn Theological Seminary, preparing to enter the ministry. His daughter. Miss Gertrude Janet, was graduated at Houghton Seminary, in June, 1896. THOMAS S. DAVIS, M. D., a physician of Plainfield and prominent among the people of his adopted city, socially and professionally, was born in Philadelphia, in 1852. He is of Welsh extraction and is the son of John and Ann (Roberts) Davis, of Philadelphia, his father being an iron-manufacturer of that city. Young Davis received his education in the Friends' school, at Wilmington, Delaware. He then entered the office of Dr. Kittenger, of Wilmington, and was under his able instruction for a period of three years. He also attended a three-years course of lectures at the well known Hahnemann College, Philadelphia, and took his degree with the class graduating in 1884. Upon leaving college Dr. Davis came to Plainfield, where he immediately began the practice of his profession and where he has continued the same, with an ever increasing patronage, to the present time. Dr. Davis is a member of the Homoeopathic State Medical Association, and of the Masonic Order, in which he has advanced to the degrees of Royal Arch and Knight Templar, being also a Noble of Mecca Temple of the Mystic Shrine, of New York city. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Park Club, of Philadelphia. Dr. Davis was married, in 1877, to Miss Annie M. Griffith, of Wil- mington, Delaware. Three children are the fruit of this union-, viz.. 140 fllSTORY OF UNION COUNTY Charles, Helen, and Annie. Dr. and Mrs. Davis are members of the Crescent Avenue Presbyterian church, and are prominent in all the religious movements and workings of that society. JOHN J. DALY, M. D. A life full of usefulness has been brought to an end, in the very plenitude of its power, and with a future bright with promise. He was progressive, full of public spirit, and the first to lead in any move- ment to advance and promote the welfare of the city. The people's confidence in him was never shaken. His greatest pleasure was the approval of the people he served. His friendship was as true as steel ; he was tender-hearted as a child, and his sympathy for the oppressed and unfortunate was always prompt and practical. Nothing could daunt or discourage him, once satisfied he was right. Dr. John J. Daly was born in Rahway, Ma)' 26, 1852, and passed his whole life in this city. His early education was received in the public school, and at the age of thirteen he began the study of medi- cine under Dr. Abernethy, one of the most popular and noted physi- cians of New Jersey. While with the Doctor young Daly first devel- oped the talent for surgery which so distinguished him throughout his life. He remained with Dr. Abernethy nine years, and in 1870 became a student in the University of New York and was graduated from that institution in the year 1873, when he returned to Dr. Abernethy's office, and remained as his assistant till the latter' s death, in February, 1874. Dr. Daly then took up the late Doctor's work and ably filled the place of his old preceptor. He thereafter continued his practice here, and his skill as an operating surgeon and his genial manner made his career an exceptional one, as to prosperity. He reached a popularity in a pro- fessional and social way attained by few. He was first elected to the office of mayor of Rahway in 1885, and was four times re-elected. His last election, in 1895, was by the largest majority ever given any candi- date for that office in Rahway. He discharged his duties with independ- ence and conscientiousness. He introduced the "ball and chain" as the proper punishment for tramps, and he carried this out so vigorously that the vagrants gave Rahway a wide berth. He was surgeon for the Pennsylvania Railway for years. Dr. Daly was originally a Democrat, and as such was elected mayor in 1885. In 1886 he was elected on the " Citizens' " ticket, endorsed by the Republicans, because of his dissatisfaction with the manner in which the Democratic party was managing the city finances. In 1887 he was the Republican candidate, endorsed by the Prohibitionists, and was elected. In 1888 he was defeated, but in 1893 he defeated the man who previously defeated him. HENRY R. CANNON M. D. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 141 Dr. Daly was a director in the Union County Bank, a member of the board of the Union County Roadsters, a member of the Reforma- tory Commission, a member of the Union County Medical Society, of the Business Men's Club, the Rahway Gun Club and other societies. As an official the Doctor was unusually active. He seemed to be about at all times and in all places, enforcing the law and attending to the best interests of the city. He often combined police duty with the office of mayor, arresting tramps, compelling his own townsmen to a rigid observance of the city's laws, and forcing companies and corpo- rations to comply with their contracts with the city. The redeeming of the fair name of Rahway from the cloud that hung over it because of the long-standing indebtedness was one of his crowning acts, and only by his supreme efforts was it accomplished. Every channel of the city's supplies or expenses came under his eye, and no jobbery of any kind was possible. He hated everything that savored of trickery and deception. Dr. Daly was appointed, by President Harrison, a member of the board of pension examiners at Newark. The most feeling resolutions were passed by the various societies of Rahway on the death of Mayor Daly, whose demise occurred April 14, 1896. Dr. Daly's father was the late John Daly, born in Kings county, Ireland. His mother was Catherine Royston. The children were: Mrs. John Farrell, of Rahway ; Mrs. Jacob Moeser, of New York ; Dr. John J. Daly, and Miss Mary Daly, of Rahway. HENRY R. CANNON, M. D. , was born in Franklin township, Somerset county. New Jersey, May 20, 1821. He was the youngest child of the Rev. Dr. James S. Cannon, D. D. , and Catharine Brevoort, his wife. His father was born in the island of Curacoa, near the coast of South America. He was a clergyman of the Reformed Dutch church and was pastor of the church at Six Mile Run, in Franklin township, for thirty years, — until he was chosen to a professorship in the college and seminary at New Brunswick, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of the Rev. Dr. Woodhull. The Doc- tor's mother was a daughter of Elias Brevoort, Esq., of Hackensack, who was a soldier of the Revolution. The subject of this sketch received his preparatory education in the grammar school connected with Rutgers College, and entered the college in the year 1836, graduating with honor, in July, 1840. He then engaged in the study of medicine in the office of Dr. William Van Deursen, of New Brunswick,, with whom he remained three years, meanwhile attending the courses of lectures delivered in the medical department of the University of New York. He received his degree of Doctor of Medicine from that institution in March, 1843, and was 142 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY licensed to practice by the Medical Society of New Jersey in the fall of the year 1843. He settled in practice, in October, 1843, at Bedminster in his native county, and continued to discharge his professional duties for nine years, and until the month of September, 1852, at which time he retired from the active duties of his calling and engaged in the drug business at Plainfield, New Jersey. He continued in this business until he was appointed clerk of the new county of Union, in the month of April, 1857. The citizens of the county continued him in that office, by election, until November 13, 1877. Since that time he held the position of tax commissioner for the city of Elizabeth for a num- ber of years, by appointment from Governors Abbett and Green. JOSEPH B. HARRISON, M. D. , of Westfield, was born at Clinton, Greene county, Alabama, July 29, 1852. He is the son of Dempsey and Lethe Ann (Brock) Harrison. His father was a native of North Carolina, his mother of Virginia. About 1865 the family moved to Mobile, Alabama, and he was edu- cated in the public and private schools of that city and state. In 1870 he began the study of medicine at the University of Virginia, and grad- uated from the Medical College of Alabama, in Mobile, with the degree of M. D., in 1875, and from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York city, in 1876. He began the practice of medicine in Asbury Park, New Jersey, in the summer of 1876, but in 1877 located at West- field, New Jersey, and is still engaged in active practice at that place. Dr. Harrison was married to Miss Adaline Amanda Stitt, daughter of William Stitt, formerly of Meadville, Pennsylvania, latterly of Westfield, New Jersey. SAMUEIv HENRY BASSINGER, M. D. , a retired physician and prominent citizen of New Providence township, was born in Plainfield township, Otsego county. New York, on the 25th of November, 1817, and is a son of Henry Bassinger, a native of Albany, New York, where his birth occurred on the 4th of July, 1782. The latter died on the 2rst of May, 1823, ^^ the age of forty-one years. He was a son of SeSirenes Bassinger, who was born on the 26th of August, 1737, and who died May 20th, 1830. The father of Seffrenes Bassinger emigrated from Holland about the year 1733, and is supposed to have come from Rotterdam and set- tled at or near Albany, New York. The mother of Samuel H. Bas- singer, Martha Beach, was born October 20, 1787, and married Henry Bassinger on the 31st of December, 1804. The wife of Seffrenes Bas- singer was Mary Young, who was born February 18, 1754, and lived in SAMUEL H. BASSINGER, M. D. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 143 the town of Troy, New York. Ephraim Beach was the son of Josiah Beach, who was the son of Zopher Beach, one of the early settlers of Newark, New Jersey, having been born January 30, 1728. His son, Jedediah Beach, was the father of Martha Beach and was born October 21) 1755- He married Mary Post, on the 31st of December, 1781, at Bottle Hill, now Madison, New Jersey. SefFrenes Bassinger and Jede- diah Beach both served in the Continental army during the war of independence, the latter participating in the battle of Springfield, New Jersey, and a number of others in the state, and he was the sole sur- vivor of three brothers. Samuel H. Bassinger was about five years old at the time of his father's death, and he was reared under the tender administrations of his mother, attending the neighborhood schools and later the academy at Canajoharie, New York, where he finished his literary education. Responding to the predilection of his youth, Dr. Bassinger decided to adopt the medical profession, and with this object in view he studied in Oneida county, subsequently attending the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Western District, and the medical department of Geneva College, graduating from the latter institution with the class of 1842, and receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Later he took a post- graduate course at the university in New York city, and then began the active practice of his calling in Rome, New York, but shortly aft- erward moved to I,a Grange county, Indiana. At both of these places he attained to a high degree of success, but impaired health caused his removal to Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, and while a resident of that town he was honored with official preferment, being elected to the legislature in 1858. Upon the expiration of his term in that body he retired from active professional life, and in 1861 took up his residence in New Jersey, where he became identified with the construction of the Passaic & Delaware Railroad, in conjunction with his brother, the late J. B. Bassinger. Since 1869 he has resided at Murray Hill, New Prov- idence township, utilizing his time in directing the management of his property, a large amount of which he had accumulated earlier in life. He is public-spirited and has always taken a warm interest in state and township affairs. Appreciating the fact that Murray Hill was in dire need of a house of worship. Dr. Bassinger had erected at his own expense, in 1891, a suitable building which he deeded to the Reformed Episcopal church, and a few years later he presented the same church with some very val- uable property to be used as a home for aged and infirm clergymen, and this is known as the Bassinger Home. On the 2ist of May, 1850, Dr. Bassinger was married, at Lima, Indiana, to -Miss Orrelle M. Hobbs, a daughter of Hon. Joshua T. Hobbs, M. D., and she departed this life on the 20th of August, 1893. The second marriage of our subject took place on October 23, 1894, 144 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY when he was united to Miss Selina O. Jett, daughter of Rev. W. A. L. Jett, of Washington, Rappahannock county, Virginia. WALTER E. CIvADEK, M. D., has attained considerable distinction as a skilled physician in his native city of Rahwa}', where he is now successfully engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery. He was born on the 13th of May 1856, and is of Hungarian lineage, his father being a political refugee, who after the revolution of 1848-9, fled from Hungary, in 1850, and took up his residence in Rahway. The Doctor attended the public schools of his native city, and on making choice of a profession which he wished to follow as a life work, determined on the medical. He began his prepara- tion as a student in the oifice of Dr. Samuel Abernethy, and completed his studies under the direction of Dr. J. J. Daly. He then entered the medical department of the University of the City of New York, and was graduated with the degree of M. D. in the class of 1877. For a year and a half thereafter Dr. Cladek was one of the physicians in the Charity Hospital on Blackwell's Island, and for six months was in the Hospital for Epileptics and Paralytics. He then returned to Rahway, opened an ofi&ce and has since successfully engaged in practice. His understanding of the principles and methods of medical practice is accurate and comprehensive, and his skill and ability have found recognition in a liberal and constantly increasing patronage. He is also connected with the Newark Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary, as one of the attending surgeons. The Doctor has pleasant home relations, having been happily married, in 1894, to Mrs. Anstes (Van Cam pen) Cabell. They now have a little daughter, two years old (1897). DANIEL CORY ADAMS, M. D., in the practice of his chosen profession has won distinctive preferment by reason of his skill and ability, and from the faithful performance of each day's duty he gains strength and inspiration for the labors of the next. A close, earnest and analytical student, he has carried his investi- gations far and wide into the realms of medical science, and has gleamed therefrom many valuable truths which have enabled him to maintain a foremost place in the medical fraternity of Union county. Born in Somerset county. New Jersey, in 1865, Dr. Adams is a son of Jacob P. and Phoebe E. (Cory) Adams, both whom were representa- tives of old and honored families of the state. His ancestors lived in the provinces of Alsace and L,orain, and were of French-German stock. Coming to America at an early period in the historj' of the republic, they \ ^ DANIEL C. ADAMS, M. D. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 145 located in New Jersey, where their descendants still reside. Jacob P. Adams was for a number of years a member of the old mercantile firm of Battelle & Renwick, doing biisiness in. Front street, New York, and for many years he was treasurer and manager of the fire department of Plainfield, New Jersey. In Somerset county he was united in marriage to Miss Phoebe E. Cory, and located in North Plainfield, where they spent their remaining days. Mrs. Adams also belonged to one of the prominent families whose ancestral history was closely connected with the earh' events of the state, and whose homestead has been occupied by representatives of the name for an entire century. Her death occurred Januar}' i8, 1882, and Mr. Adams, surviving only a few months, passed away on the 3d of December, of that year. Dr. Adams spent his early years in Somerset count}', and attended the public schools until fourteen years of age, when he entered the Plainfield Academy, pursuing his studies in that institution for three years. The next two years were passed as a student in the School of Mines, a department of Columbia College, and after making choice of the profession of medicine as a life work, he pursued a course of lectures in the New York Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital, of New York city, in which institution he took his degree of M. D. in 1890. In the same year he located in Plainfield, where he has built up a lucrative practice. The Doctor takes an active interest in civic societies and is a very prominent Mason, having taken the chapter and commandery degrees in that fraternity, and also joined the Ancient Arabic Order of the Mystic Shrine. He has served as Worshipful Master of the lodge, and Eminent Commander of the commandery, and High Priest of the chapter. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias fraternity and to organizations of a more purely social character, including the Park Club, the Plainfield Bicycle Club, and the Crescent Wheelmen. He is also an active member of the board of trade of Plainfield. In 1886 Dr. Adams was united in marriage to Miss Frances U. Honeyman, also belonging to one of the old families of Somerset county. New Jersey. Two children grace this union: Helen Frances and Daniel Cory. The Doctor and his wife occupy an enviable position in social circles, and their home is a favorite resort with many friends. The Doctor belongs to the First Baptist church of Plainfield, and is a pleasant, courteous gentleman, whose sterling qualities of head and heart make him one of the most popular citizens of Union county. THOMAS E. DOLAN, M. D. , city physician of the city of Elizabeth, was appointed to that position in 1896 and re-elected in 1897, and is a worthy representative of his 10 146 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY profession. His father, the late Michael Dolan, and his maternal grandfather, John Rehill, were both prominent railroad contractors. Dr. Dolan was born in Elizabeth, May lo, 1864. He attended the public schools until fifteen years of age and finished his education in Ireland, the home of his father, and, returning to the United States, began the study of medicine with Professor William H. Pancoast, of Philadelphia. He then entered Jefferson Medical College, and was graduated at that inititution in 1886. He then spent nearly one year in the west, and upon his return spent a year in the Jefferson Medical Hospital. He was appointed physician on the American Line of steamers and was in that service four years. In 1892 he went out to Ivcbau, Russia, upon the "Indiana," carrying the first load of supplies to the famine-stricken people of that nation. Dr. Dolan opened an office in Elizabeth in 1893, and has devoted himself assiduously to his profession. In politics Dr. Dolan is a Democrat, and is one of the counselors of his party in Elizabeth. He has been twice named for coroner. He is a member of the County Medical Society and visiting physician to the Alexian Hospital, of Elizabeth. , THOMAS J. JACKSON, M. D. It is much to achieve success ; it is infinitely more to win the gratitude of the suffering and afflicted. In this community there is, perhaps, no one who in this regard has greater reason for content than Dr. Jackson, of Springfield. Seven years of devoted labor here have placed him among the few who may be said to be at the head of the medical profession in the county, and such has been the cordial, kindly generous manner of his ministration that in the hearts of those who have received it there is a sense of grateful recognition that words can not express. Dr. Jackson is a native of Maryland, where his birth occurred on the 13th of July, 1853. He acquired his early education in Milton Academy, of that state, and was subsequently a student in the Univer- sity of Virginia. Determining to make the practice of medicine his life work, he began preparing for the profession nnd was graduated in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Baltimore, with the class of 1879. In the same year he opened an office and entered upon his pro- fessional duties in Harford county, Maryland, where he remained until 1890, when he came to Springfield, New Jersey. In his new field of labor he has won a well merited success, his knowledge of the science of medicine and his readiness in adapting its principles to the needs of suffering humanity, gaining him a skill which assures him a place in the foremost rank among his professional brethren. He is a member of several medical societies, and thereby keeps in touch with the HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 147 progress which is constantly being made in the profession. He now belongs to the New Jersey State Medical Society, the Union County Medical Society and the American Medical Association. The Doctor is now serving as president of the board of education of Springiield, and is deeply interested in the cause of the schools, doing all in his power, in his official capacity and as a private citizen, to advance their welfare. He is also vice-president of the board of Millburn and Springfield, and gives an active co-operation to all movements tending to the good of the community. Socially he is a member of Northampton Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Northampton county, Virginia; THOMAS J. JACKSON, M. D. belongs to Concordie Chapter, R. A. M., of Baltimore; and to Monu- mental Commandery, No. 3, K. T., also of that city. He is medical director of Fraternal Union, of Summit, New Jersey. The Doctor was united in marriage to Miss Annie S. Mapp, adaughter of Victor A. Mapp, Sr., of Northampton county, Virginia, and to them have been born three children. His honorable connection with the medical profession and his irreproachable character in all the walks of life have gained him a large circle of warm friends, whose number is constantly increasing. 148 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY CHAPTER XIV. HISTORY OF THE COURTS OF UNION COUNTY.* LIZ ABETH being the county seat of Union county, the pub- lic buildings of the latter are all within its limits. The court house, county offices and jail occupy commodious quarters on the site of the old town house. The court room is large and well ventilated, and has an annex library provided by the Union County Bar Association. The jail, in the rear, has all the modern requirements of capacity, cleanliness and security. The rooms of the surrogate and the board of freeholders afford ample accommoda- tions. The county clerk's office has a fire-proof hall of records, con- structed of stone and iron. As early as 1868 mention is made of the town house. Here, on May 26th of that year, the first general assembly of the province met, and it was the meeting place of subsequent assemblies. In those days it was also the meeting house, the Quakers then in possession of the town having no prejudice against their place of worship being used for secular purposes. The act of 1683, for the establishment of county courts, provided that the "County of Essex Session" should be held "in the publick meeting house of Elizabethtown " twice a year. In May, 1671, the first jury trial was held in the town house, a special court having been convened by the provincial governor for the trial of Captain William Hackett, of the sloop "Indeavor," for illegal trading in the province. The defendant was his own counsel. The first jury disagreed and the second convicted, a warning, at the very start of Union county practice, against such conceit or poor economy. The British made a raid from Staten Island on June 35, 1780, and burned the town house and jail, with other buildings. No attempt was made to rebuild until 1789, when, following speculative means used at that time to build the church and academy, a lottery was started to raise the necessary twenty-five hundred pounds. The prizes aggregated seven thousand four hundred and seventy-two pounds, and thirteen thousand eight hundred tickets were sold, divided into three classes, at one, two and three dollars a ticket. There were hitches in the scheme, and it was several years before its affairs were straightened out and the building was erected. In 1808 the building was again food for the flames, and was built again and occupied in 1810. With improve- * The following: history of the courts of Union county is from the pen of Henry R. Cannon, M. D., who was clerk of the county for the first twenty-five years of its existence. 150 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY ments, alterations and additions from time to time, it is the court house of to-day. Some few years after the creation of Union county, in 1857, the wing occupied by the county clerk's office, the chamber of the board of freeholders, and the hall of records was added on the site of the old cannon house and fire-engine and truck quarters. Union county was created by an act of the legislature, approved March 19, 1857 ; the act to take effect on the second Monday of April, 1857 (April 13, 1857). All the territory embraced in the county was taken from the county of Essex. By the act the sheriff and .coroners of the county of Essex were to remain in office until the next ensuing state election, and to exercise their power and authority over the limits of the new county. By a subsequent act of the legislature, approved March 21, 1857, the borough court was abolished. The parties actively interested in the formation of the county entered into an agreement that the officers to be appointed for the new county should be equally divided between the two political parties, and that there should also be an equal division between the friends and opponents of the formation of the county. Under this agreement the following appointments were made, viz. : George W. Savage, of Rahway ; Apollos M. Elmer, of Elizabeth ; and Theodore Pierson, of Springfield, were appointed judges of the inferior court of common pleas. John Joseph Chetwood, of Elizabeth, was appointed prosecutor of the pleas ; Henry R. Can- non, of Plainfield, was appointed county clerk ; Jonathan Valentine, of New Providence, was appointed surrogate. Under the provision of the act, Edward Pierson, sheriflT of the county of Essex, was authorized to discharge the duties of that office in the new county until the next general election. The county clerk and surrogate were to hold office until the next election. As an induce- ment for them to take the offices, the friends of the new county guaranteed their election in the fall. The officers so appointed entered upon their duties April 13, 1857. By agreement the county of Union was placed in the circuit of Daniel Haines, justice of the supreme court. The first term of court of the new county was held on the first Tuesday of May, 1857. Hon. Daniel Haines, justice of the supreme court, presided. Judges Savage, Elmer and Pierson were present. James B. Burnett was chosen foreman of the first grand jury of the county. No business of importance appearing, the court was speedily closed for the term. The board of freeholders met for the first time in the month of May, and elected the following officers, viz. : James B. Burnett, director ; Moses M. Crane, collector ; and Oliver Pierce, clerk. The following is the list of officers of the county of Union from April 13, 1857, to the present time, i. e. , January i, 1897 : President Judges op the Courts.— Hon. Daniel Haines, judge of supreme court, from April 13, 1857, to December 4, 1866 ; Hon. David A. Depue, from December HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 151 4, 1866, to September 7, 1875 ; Hon. Bennet Van Syckle, from September 7, 1875, to the present time. J-UDGES OF THE CouRT OF COMMON Plbas.— George W. Savage, April 13, 1857 ; Apollos M. Elmer, April 13, 1857 ; Theodore Pierson, April 13, 1857 ; Jonathan M. Ropes, October 19, i860 ; David Mulford, April i, 1862 ; William Gibby, April i, 1864 ; Hugh H. Browne, April i, 1867 ; George W. Farnham, April i, 1873 ; Nathan Harper, April I, i88i ; Lewis Iv. Hyer, April i, 1882, until office ceased to exist ; James T. Wiley, April I, 18S9, died, and May 17, 1894, was succeeded by John Williams Crane, who served until the office ceased to exist. President Judges of the Court of Common Pleas.— Hon. Robert S. Green, April I, 1868; Hon. Enos W. Runyon, April i, 1873 ; Hon. Thomas F. McCormich, April I, 1878, to present time. Prosecutors of the Pleas.— John I. Chetwood, from April 13 1857, to the time of his death, December 3, 1861 ; Robert S. Green, appointed by court to fill vacancy caused by the death of John I. Chetwood ; Edward Y. Rogers, from February 6, 1862 ; William I. Magie, from April 3, 1866, to April 4, 1871 ; J. Augustus Fay, Jr., from April 4, 1871, to April 19, i88i ; William R. Wilson, from April 19, 1881, to April 19, 1891 ; Frederick C. Marsh, by appointment of court January, 1891, October, 1891, January, 1892, May, 1892, October, 1892 ; Frederick C. Marsh, from January, 1893, to present time. County Clerks. — Henry R. Cannon, from April 13, 1857, to November 13, 1877 ; James S. Vosseller, from November 13, 1877, to death ; John L. Crowell filled vacancy, by appointment, from 188-, to November, 1887 ; John L. Crowell, from November 15, 1887, to November, 1892 ; James I. Gerber, from November 15, 1892, to his death, November 15, 1893 ; William M. Oliver, by appointment, from November 15, 1893, to November 15, 1894 ; William Howard, from November 15, 1894, to the present lime. Surrogates. — ^Jonathan Valentine, from April 13, 1857, to November 13, 1862 ; Robert S. Green, from November 13, 1862, to November 13, 1867 ; Addison L. Clark, from November 13, 1867, to November 13, 1877 ; James J. Gerber, from November 13, 1877, to November 14, 1887 ; George F. Parrot, from November 14, 1887, to the present time. Sheriffs. — Edward Pierson, by appointment, from April 13, 1857, to November 13, 1877; Meline W. Halsey, by election, from November 11, 1857, to November, i860; Thomas W. Reynolds, by election, from November, i860, to November, 1863 ; Nathaniel Bonnel, by election, from November, 1863, to November, 1866 ; Edgar Pierson, by elec- tion, from November, 1866, to November, 1869 ; Joseph M. Osborn, by election, from November, 1869, to November, 1872 ; Seth B. Ryder, by election, from November, 1872, to November, 1875 ; Nathaniel K. Thompson, by election, from November, 1875, to November, 1878 ; Seth B. Ryder, by election, from November, 1878, to November, 1881 ; Thomas M. Forsyth, by election, from November, 1881, to November, 1884 ; George M. Stiles, by election, from November, 1884, to November, 1887 ; Frederick F. Glasby, by election, from November, 1887, to November, 1890 ; William H. Hicks, by election, from November 12, 1890, to November, 1893 ; George Kyte, by election, from November, 1893, to November, 1896; William T. Kirk, by election, from November, 1896, to the present time. Oliver Pierce w'as appointed court crier in May, 1857 ; and continued to hold that position for over twenty years, and up to the time of his death. John Keron has held the position of sergeant- at- arms for many years and still continues to fill the same office. He also acted as court crier for many years, and was succeeded by the present crier of the court, James Ritchie. The county jail was for many years under the custody of the sheriff,— this continuing up to the time when a jail warden was appointed by the board of freeholders. Abraham A. Ward, of Rahway, 152 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY was the first person to receive that appointment, and was reappointed from term to term up to the time of his death. He so conducted this responsible office that he was retained, without regard to the political complexion of the board of freeholders. Under his able man- agement the jail of Union county became the model jail not only of this state, but of all adjacent states. He was succeeded by Frederick UNION COUNTY BUILDINGS— WARDEN'S RESIDENCE Dodd, of Plainfield, and he in turn by the present incumbent, John C. Blore, of Rahway. LAWYERS OF UNION COUNTY. When the courts of the county were first opened, the members of the bar consisted of the Hon. Benjamin Williamson, Francis B. Chet- wood, John I. Chetwood, William F. Day, William J. Magie and HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 153 Robert S. Green, of Elizabeth; Thomas H. Shafer and Edward Y. Rogers, of Rahway ; and Cornelius Boice, Joseph Annin and Enos W. Runyon, of Plainfield. The only survivors at this time are Thomas H. Shafer and William I. Magie. The latter, having served for some years as a judge of the supreme court, has been recently appointed chief justice, after the death of Judge Beasley. A few years after the county was organized, the whole of lower Rahway was taken from the county of Middlesex and included in the bounds of Union county. A survey of the boundary line between Springfield, in Union county, and Millburn, in Essex county, added a small amount of property to this county. For a number of years the people of Elizabeth and its vicinity had been desirous of forming a new county, with Elizabeth Town as the county seat, but every eflFort had been unsuccessful, owing to the strong opposition of the inhabitants of Plainfield, Westfield and other townships. Of all those engaged in the effort to establish the new county no one was more persistent than Moses M. Crane, who, after the act, and for several years thereafter, was known as the "Father of Union county." CHAPTER XV. REPRESKNTATIVE LAWYERS OF UNION COUNTY. HATEVER else may be said of the legal fraternity, it can not be denied that members of the bar have been more prominent actors in public affairs than any other class of American people. This is but the natural result of causes which are manifest and require no explanation. The ability and train- ing which qualify one to practice law also qualify him in many respects for duties which are outside the sphere of his profession. Union county has had reason in the past to take pride in the character of its judiciary and bar, and to-day '(!a& personnel is one which can not but prove, like- wise, a source of gratification. This chapter touches upon the careers of able lawyers, both of the past and present, and is most properly incorporated as an integral part of the history of the county. HON. ISAAC HALSTED WILLIAMSON, LL. D. Perhaps no figure in New Jersey's history occupies a more con- spicuous or more favorable position than that of the Hon. Isaac Halsted Williamson, L,L. D. Born at Elizabeth on the 27th of September, 1768, his boyhood days were spent amid the stirring scenes of the Revolution, and though he was compelled to suffer but little of the hardships that were so universal at that time, his closeness to the scene of so many conflicts, and the excitement incident to the struggle for liberty, taught him many lessons which proved invaluable in after life, and imbued him with a love of country and a patriotism which were evidenced in almost all his public acts. During his career as a citizen, as a legislator and as an executive he strenuously opposed any measure that sought to deprive the people of any of their civil or religious liberties, which had been purchased at such a fearful cost. He had been a witness to the payment of the purchase-price, and no one more fully realized their inestimable value. It was, therefore, his earnest wish and constant endeavor (in the words of the New Jersey constitution) "to secure and transmit the same, unimpaired, to succeed- ing generations." Pie was a son of General Matthias Williamson and Sunnah Halsted, and the youngest of five children. He studied law with his eldest brother, Matthias, a prominent practitioner of the HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 355 State, was admitted to the bar as an attorney in 1791 and as a counselor in 1796, and opened an office in his native town, where he continued until his death. Mr. Williamson's executive ability was recognized by the people of New Jersey when they chose him for their governor and chancellor, in 1817. These offices he continued to hold, through successive elec- tions, until 1829, when he retired to private life, having filled them to the entire satisfaction of his constituents and with distinguished honor to himself The first public position occupied by him of which there is any record was that of librarian of the Elizabeth L,ibrary Association, "an organization for the circulation of useful books, and for the elevation of the tastes of the people." He was chosen to act in this capacity in 1792, and continued to do so until 1796, when he was succeeded by Dr. Abraham Clark. The selection of Mr. Williamson to fill this position is an indication of the confidence with which the people viewed him, and is a tribute to his literary capacity. In 1831 and 1832 he served as a member of the state council, and for four years, 1830-33, he served as mayor of the borough of Elizabeth, and although afterward frequently solicited to accept the governorship, he declined, owing to the confinement attendant upon his professional and home duties. He was prevailed upon, however, to attend, in a representative capacity, the constitutional convention which met in Trenton on May 14, 1844, and was there honored by being unani- mously chosen the presiding officer. His distinguished services at the convention are too well known to need rehearsing here. Mr. Williamson died July 10, 1844, after an illness which was attended with great bodily suffering, borne without complaint and with that patient forbearance which marked his whole career. His demise was uniformly mourned, for, through a long and useful life, he had deservedly won many warm personal friends and a host of ardent admirers. His remains were interred in the ancestral vault in St. John's church-yard, Elizabeth. Mr. Williamson's career as a private citizen, as a member of the bar and as chief executive of the state, was a continued success. A man of affability, of extreme good nature, and of eminent ability, he performed all his duties, no matter how disagreeable or distasteful, with cheerfulness and urbanity. As a lawyer he was wonderfully successful, owing to his keenness of discernment, his power of quickly grasping a situation and applying to it those principals of law with which he was so familiar, and his strong sense of justice. Before a jury his pleasing eloquence had a powerful effect, and he was always listened to with pleasure and respectful attention by all who were for- tunate enough to be present when he was speaking. He was a man of distinguished appearance, dignified in bearing, affable and pleasant to 156 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY all, no matter how lowly their station in life. He was exemplary in his private habits. From early life an ardent Christian and member of St. John's church, Elizabeth, and for some years its senior warden, Mr. Williamson was a perfect type of the old-style Christian gentleman. After his death the New Jersey bar passed a resolution which embodies, briefly, succinctly and beautifully, an appreciation of those virtues for which he was admired and loved. It was as follows : The state mourns his loss. In all the relations of life, public and private, he has bequeathed to his countrymen an illustrious example. As a friend he was faithful and sincere ; as a statesman, enlightened and patriotic ; as a judge, profoundly learned, incorruptibly pure, inflexibly just. The inimitable simplicity of his character, the art- lessness of his life, the warmth and purity of his affections, endeared him to the circle of his friends ; his high and varied attainments command the respect of his associates. His long and eminent public services, his dignified and enlightend and impartial adminis- tration of justice demand the gratitude of his fellow citizens and of posterity. He married, on August 6, 1808, Anne Crossdale Jouit, by whom he had two sons, the Hon. Benjamin (ex-chancellor) and Isaac Halsted. HON. BENJAMIN WILLIAMSON. There could, perhaps, be no greater tribute paid to the memory of a citizen than that paid to the memory of Hon. Benjamin Williamson when, on January 2, 1893, the Union County (New Jersey) Bar Asso- ciation unanimously adopted the following resolution : ''Resolved, That to the members of the bar of our county Benjamin Williamson had been up to the time of his death a lawyer whose pro- fessional advice and instruction were eagerly sought, and from which there was seldom felt any disposition or courage to appeal. " He was a resident of Elizabeth for nearly all the present century, and during our primary studies, in our early professional struggle, in the triumph and disappointments of professional manhood, we always had Chancellor Williamson as an interested helper, a strong champion and wise adviser. "We had opportunity to estimate his worth as a citizen, neighbor and lawyer, and his unfailing exhibit of the virtues and beliefs of a Christian, and we can not fail to miss his presence from among us more than that of any other citizen. We have lost the consistent and honorable example of his daily life for all the time that we may live, — his constant kindness, his unfailing urbanity and the stimulus of his professional character. But we recognize that he had ' attained unto the days of the years of the life of his fathers,' and that these years had been filled with usefulness ; and, while we deplore our loss, we should not fail to be keenly sensible that the mind we had admired so lono- remained undimmed while his life lasted, and that the powers we had so often felt never suffered impairment through his long and vigorous life." BENJAMIN WILLIAMSON HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 157 158 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Mr. Williamson was a son of Governor Isaac Halsted Williamson. Born at Elizabethtown in 1809, his early life was spent in earnest study and preparation for his long and useful career. He entered Nassau College, from which he was graduated with honors in 1827. Upon his graduation he immediately undertook the study of law, for which pro- fession he was eminently fitted, and was admitted to the bar of New Jersey as an attorney in 1830 and as a counselor in 1833. He took up the practice of law in his native town and was exceptionally successful for a number of years, when his ability as a lawyer had gained such widespread recognition that he was appointed chancellor of the state, in 1852, to succeed Oliver S. Halsted, which position he filled with distinguished ability until the end of his term. His decisions while occupying this honorable and important office are widely quoted and are masterpieces of keen discernment and brilliant as essays upon the points of law involved. His retirement to private life was much regretted by the members of the bar, who recognized that in him the judiciary of the state had lost a distinguished and learned jurist and au affable, pleasant and impartial judge. He continued to practice law until his death, which occurred December 2, 1892. Mr. Williamson during his long life occupied many positions of trust, both public and private, and the duties involved were faithfully and honorably discharged. He was for many years counsel for the Central Railroad of New Jersey, and in this capacity he deservedly earned a widespread reputation as a pleader. His distinguished bearing and forcible arguments had a noticeable effect upon the jury, and he met with remarkable success. It is said of him that his knowledge of the law was so great that he frequently successfully conducted the most intricate of cases without preparation or notes. Though Mr. Williamson never sought public office, his fellow citizens frequently chose him to represent them in distinguished gath- erings, — notably: as a delegate-at-large from New Jersey to the national Democratic convention which met at Charleston in i860, and as a delegate to the famous "peace convention" which was held at Washington, D. C, in 1861, and at which every state in the Union was represented. The object of this convention was to avert, if possible, the impending conflict between the north and south. He was also called upon to act as prosecutor of the pleas of Essex county, before the formation of the county of Union, and in 1863 was prominently mentioned for the United States senate, but was defeated by a few votes. He was interested in many large corporations, and acted for many years as a director and trustee for the Southern Railroad^ Com- pany. He was also an officer of the Union County Bible Society, and a trustee of the State Normal School. As a private citizen, as a lawyer and as a judge Mr. Williamson was sincere, conscientious and untiring. He won in early life the ROBERT S. GREEN HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 159 respect and confidence of his fellow citizens, and these were not only retained but strengthened with the passage of years. In his private life he was retiring, and he loved his home and his family more than the wild excitement of the political campaign,— and the affection of his wife and children more than the applause of large assemblies. He was an earnest Christian man, and for a number of years was an officer in St. John's church, Elizabeth, with which he united himself when a young man, but for a few years before his death he was a communicant of Trinity church, Elizabeth, from which he was buried with distin- guished honors and in the presence of a multitude of his fellow townsmen, who sought to pay a last tribute to him upon whom they had been taught to look with admiration and love, and who throughout a long life had lived among them, respected, honored and admired, and who then, though cold in death, lived in the hearts of all who knew him in life. Mr. Williamson married Elizabeth Swan, daughter of the Rev. Frederick Beasley, D. D., an eminent Episcopalian clergyman, who was for many years provost of the University of Pennsylvania, and his quiet devotion to her is perhaps one of the most beautiful illustrations of that characteristic which made him so popular and so loved. A man of sterling integrity, of broad and liberal ideas, of calm and dignified demeanor, of deep learning and of lovable disposition, the people of New Jersey, indeed, met with a severe loss when God, in His wise providence, gathered his faithful servant to Himself, and Benjamin Williamson will always be pointed to with pride as one of New Jersey's great men. ROBERT STOCKTON GREEN, governor of New Jersey from 1887 to 1890, was born at Princeton, New Jersey, March 25, 1831, and died at his residence in Elizabeth, New Jersey, May 7, 1895. His father, James S. Green, was supreme-court reporter from 1831 to 1836. His grandfather was the Rev. Ashbel Green, president of Princeton College, and his great-grandfather. Rev. Jacob Green, was a member of the provincial congress of New Jersey and chairman of the committee of that body, which prepared and reported the first constitution of the state, on July 2, 1776. Robert S. Green was graduated from Nassau Hall in 1850 and was admitted to the bar in 1853 as an attorney, and in 1856 as a counselor. In the latter year he removed to Elizabeth, and was largely instrumental in securing the passage of the act creating the county of Union. For ten years he was city attorney of Elizabeth, and for five years a member of the city council. He was elected surrogate of Union county in 1862, and was appointed presiding judge of the county courts in 1868. In the succeeding year he was sent bj' Governor Randolph to the commercial 160 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY convention at lyouisville, as a representative of New Jersey. He was the solicitor of the National Railroad Company in the famous litigation with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, in 1872, and was prominent in the contest, in the succeeding legislature, which resulted in securing the passage of the general railroad law. In 1873 he was appointed by Gov- ernor Parker, and confirmed by the senate, as one of the commissioners to suggest amendments to the constitution of the state. In this conven- tion he was chairman of the committees on bill of rights, rights of suffrage, limitation of powers of government and general and special legislation. In 1874 Judge Green was admitted to the bar of New York and became a partner in the firm of Brown, Hall and Vanderpoel, which was afterward changed to Vanderpoel, Green '& Cuming. He continued in active practice at the New York bar, though residing in New Jersey, until 1884, when he was elected a member of the forty-ninth congress, from the third district of New Jersey, then composed of the counties of Mon- mouth, Middlesex and Union. Before the expiration of his term he was elected governor of the state, by 8,020 plurality, over ex-Congressman Benjamin F. Howey, of Warren county. Governor Green's administra- tion was characterized by an earnest effort on the part of the executive to reduce the expenses of the state, to maintain the non-partisan character of the judiciary, to preserve the rights of the state in its lands under water, to establish an intermediary prison and to secure a free and uncorrupted ballot by reform in the election laws. He urged this latter reform at each session of the legislature, but it was not effected until after the expiration of his term. Representing the state, and personally in command of the New Jersey troops, Governor Green participated in.the centennial celebrations at Philadelphia in 1887 and at New York in 1889, entertaining, at his residence, in Blizabeth, President Harrison and his party, en route to the latter place. Governor Green was chairman of the various meetings of the governors of the thirteen original states to promote the erection of a centennial memorial in the city of Philadelphia. Governor Green was always identified with the Democratic party. He was a delegate to the national convention, at Baltimore, in i860, which nominated Stephen A. Douglas for the office of president. He was also a delegate to the national Democratic convention, at Cincinnati, in 1880, and was chairman of the New Jersey delegation at St. L,ouis in 1888. In 1890 he was appointed one of the vice-chancellors of the state, and in 1895 a judge of the court of errors and appeals. WHLIAM F. DAY for many years prior to his decease was one of the most prominent, as well as greatly beloved, lawyers and citizens of the city of Elizabeth. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 161 He was born in the township of Union, August 26, 1818, and was the son of Foster Day, of that place. He was a member of the class of 1833 in Princeton College, but was unable to graduate, owing to ill health. After several years of college life, he read law with Chancellor Halsted, of Newark, and was admitted to the bar of this state, as a counselor at law, in November, 1841. He carried on the practice of his profession in EHzabethtown from that time until the year 1869, with the exception of a year or two, when he resided temporarily in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was at one period prosecuting attorney for the county of Union. He was tendered a position on the supreme-court bench by Governor Ward, but declined the appointment, owing to his distaste for public life. In his profession he was prominent and successful, and was characterized by strictest integrity, unequaled industry and fidelity to every interest entrusted to him. His clientage was large, but in the latter part of his professional career his time was chiefly devoted to real -estate business, in which he was pre-eminent. He was a man of noble and generous qualities, of wide benevolence and public spirit. He was a wise adviser and faithful counselor, and his death, in the fullness of his powers, was deeply felt throughout the community. He was a patriot and philanthropist, and throughout the war assisted liberally in furthering his country's cause. In politics he was an ardent Republican, and was a warm friend of the black race at a time when it was unpopular to be so. He was a director of the National Fire and Marine Insurance Company, and vice-president and a director of the Dime Savings Institution, of Elizabeth, besides being connected with various others of the public institutions of that city. He was one of the founders of the Westminster Presbyterian church, and was ever keenly interested in its well-being, but while a communicant of that church, and for several years superintendent of its Sunday school, he was of very catholic spirit, religiously. In 1869 Mr. Day resigned the arduous duties of his profession, to accept the vice-presidency of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, of Newark, and he exercised the duties of that important post until the date of his death, which occurred suddenly on April 6, 1870. On June 8, 1841, he was married to Mary Almira Kellogg, daughter of Elijah Kellogg, of EHzabethtown. He was survived by his widow and five children. JEREMIAH EVARTS TRACY, son of Ebenezer Carter Tracy and Martha Sherman Evarts, * was born in Windsor, Vermont, January 31, 1835. He is of an old New England * Martha Sherman Evarts was a daughter of Jeremiah Evarts and Mehetabel Sherman, and a granddaughter of Roger Sherman, who, among the patriots of the Revolutionary period, has the unique distinction of having been the only signer of all four of the great national compacts, to wit : The Association of 1774, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution of the United States. II 162 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY family, being sixth in lineal descent from Stephen Tracy,* who came, in the ship " Ann," from England to Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1623. Mr. Tracy's father was the founder, editor and publisher of the Vermont Chronicle, a religious newspaper of extensive influence through- out the .state, which he conducted for more than thirty years, and until his death, May 15, 1862. His mother died April 10, 1889. Mr. Tracy is one of eight children, three of whom have died, one in infancy, and aiiother, Martha Day, at the age of nineteen. The third, William Carter, was an officer in the Union army, and was killed in the war of the Rebellion. He has living one sister, Anna, wife of Rev. George P. Byington, a clergyman settled in Vermont, and three brothers, — Roger Sherman, a physician, now registrar of records of the department of health in New York city ; John Jay, a lawyer in Tennessee ; and Charles Walker, who is in business in Portland, Oregon. Jeremiah Evarts Tracy received his academic education in his native state, Vermont. At an early age he began the study of the law in the office of his uncle, William M. Evarts, in the city of New York, and continuing his studies in New Haven, Connecticut, he received from Yale College the degree of L,!,. B., in 1857, having previously, in 1856, been admitted to the bar in New York, a few days after attaining his majority. Upon leaving New Haven he became an assistant in the office of his uncle, William M. Evarts, in New York, and June i, 1859, was admitted to partnership with him in the practice of the law. This partnership with Mr. Evarts and others has ever since continued, — the present business firm being known as Evarts, Choate & Beaman, and consisting of William M. Evarts, Joseph H. Choate, Charles C. Beaman, J. Evarts Tracy, Treaswell Cleveland, Prescott Hall Butler and Allen W. Evarts. Mr. Tracy was married September 30, 1863, to Miss Martha Sherman Greene, and has nine children, — Emily Baldwin ; Howard Crosby, a lawyer practicing in New York city ; Evarts, an architect in New York city ; Mary Evarts ; Margaret lyouisa ; Robert Storer, who has recently been graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York, and is now an assistant on the surgical side in the New York Hospital ; Edith Hastings ; Martha, now a student in Bryn Mawr College ; and William Evarts, now a student in Yale College. In 1874 Mr. Tracy removed his residence from New York to Plainfield, New Jersey, which has since been his home. While con- tinuing the practice of the law in the city of New York, he has not failed to manifest interest in the affairs of Plainfield. He has served at ' * As follows : Stephen, as above ; John -, who married Mary Prence, a daughter of Thomas Prence, who came from England in the ship " Fortuna," in 1621, and afterwards became governor of Plymouth Colony ; Stephen (2d) ^ ; Thomas ^; Joseph''; Ebenezer Carter O; Jeremiah Evarts ?. ^^^^z-r^z^ '/fuMn/^ ^uiu/i^ HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 163 diiferent times as a member and as president of the common council of the city, and has been for many years one of the directors of the Plainfield Public Library and one of the governors of Muhlenberg Hospital, located there. He is a member of the New York city and state bar associations, of the committee of counsel of the Ivawyers' Title Insurance Company of New York ; of the Yale Alumni Society and of the New York Law Institute. He is also a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States and of the Empire State Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. COLONEL MASON W. TYLER. Mason Whiting Tyler was born June 17, 1840, in Amherst, Massachusetts, and is the son of Professor William S. Tyler, who occupied the chair of Greek in Amherst College for sixty years, and is now (1896) living at Amherst, eighty-six years of age. The earliest American ancestors of the Tyler family came to this country in 1640, when they settled in Andover, Massachusetts. The mother of the subject of this sketch was a descendant of Governor Brad- ford, of the Mayflower, and of Major-General John Mason, who com- manded the expedition against the Pequot Indians in the war in which that tribe was exterminated. She was also a descendant of Rev. Jonathan Edwards, president of Princeton College and greatest of American theologians. On the father's side the Tylers are descended from Rev. Thomas Thacher, who was the first pastor of the " Old South Church," Boston. Hon. Jeremiah Mason was a cousin of Colonel Tyler's grandfather, and Aaron Burr was a cousin of his grandmother, on his mother's side. His mother is a descendant of Governor John Ogden, of Elizabeth, New Jersey ; she is still living at the advanced age of seventy-seven years. His ancestors on both sides were conspicuous in the history of the country from the earliest times. Colonel Tyler was graduated from Amherst College in the class of 1862, and immediately entered the army, enlisting in July, in Company F, Thirty-seventh Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. This company was raised by himself and thereof he was made second lieutenant. From that office he gradually rose, until he had held every command up to that of colonel. His regiment belonged to the Sixth Corps in the Army of the Potomac ; he was with Sheridan in the Shenandoah valley, and took part in all the engagements of his regiment until the latter part of March, 1865, when he was disabled by wounds. Colonel Tyler was wounded several times. In the battle of Winchester his chin was pierced with a piece of shell, and when at Fort Stedman, before Petersburg, in March, 1865, he was wounded in the knee, causing 164 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY his first absence from his regiment. He participated in thirty battles in all. His regiment was among the " three hundred fighting regiments of the war," and lost in its list of those who were killed or died of wounds twelve and seven-tenths per cent, of its entire number. At the close of the war Colonel Tyler entered Columbia College law school, and later the office of Evarts, Southmayd & Choate of New York. He was in this office two years as managing clerk, gaining a thorough knowledge of the profession. In 1869 he formed a partner- ship with General H. E. Tremain, which practically still exists ; General Tremain, as counsel, is connected with the present firm of Tyler & Durand, whose offices are in New York. This firm was engaged in many highly important cases, such as the Marie Garrison case, and the famous hat-material suit, which involved millions of dollars ; the A. T. Stewart kid-glove cases ; the cases involving the rights of sugar importers to exemption from duties by reason of favored nation clauses in treaties, etc. Colonel Tyler is a director in the Rossendale-Reddaway Belting and Hose Company, of Newark, New Jersey, and a director in the Columbus and Hocking Coal and Iron Company. He also was president at one time of the Cumberland Coal and Iron Company. He is a member of the Union County Club ; and Lawyers Club, and Psi Upsilon Club, of New York. Colonel Tyler was married in December, 1869, to Miss Eliza M. Schroeder, daughter of Rev. Dr. John F. Schroeder, formerly rector of Trinity church. New York. Mrs. Tyler's mother was a daughter of Hon. Elijah Boardman, United States senator from Connecticut. They have two sons : William Seymour, a student of law at Columbia College, and Cornelius Boardman, a junior in Amherst College. The family are mem- bers of the Holy Cross church. Colonel Tyler has resided in Plainfield since 1871. He has a fine residence, in one wing of which he has his library, which contains a large collection of rare and valuable works. Colonel Tyler has served his city in two important offices, — one, as member of common council, two terms ; the other, as member of the board of education, five years. He is member of the Winfield Scott Post, G. A. R., of Plainfield, and of the Military Order of the Doyal Degion, New York Commandery. He is also a member of the Society of May- flower Descendants and of the Society of Colonial Wars. He started the movement for a public library in Plainfield, has always been a member of the board, and is its president. Colonel Tyler was one of the early trustees of the Muhlenberg Hospital, serving as such several years. He was president of the Music Hall Association when the Stillman Music Hall was erected. He is a member of the advisory committee of the Children's Home, is also a member of the Town Improvement Association and president of the Organized Aid Association of Plainfield, and a member of the New HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 165 Jersey Historical Society. In all movements in behalf of public improvement he has been prominent. He was president of the Plainfield branch of the anti-race-track association. He has drafted many of the city bills for presentation to the legislature. CHARLES NEWELL FOWLER, present member of congress from the eighth congressional district of New Jersey, was born November 2, 1852, at lycna, Illinois, being the son of Joshua D. and Rachael (Montague) Fowler, both of whom are now dead. The Fowler and the Montague families are of English descent, and were quite prominent in the earlier colonial days of the republic. The ancestors of the former settled in the state of Vermont in 1632, and within the same year the Montagues settled in Massachusetts. In 1837 Joshua D. Fowler, the father, removed to a farm in Illinois, where he died in 1 88 1. The mother died in 1854. Charles Newell Fowler was the seventh of a famil}' of eight children. He received at first a common-school education and was then prepared for college at Beloit, Wisconsin. In 1872 he entered Yale University, from which institution he was graduated in 1876. Subse- quently he went to Chicago and read law in the office of Williams & Thompson, and was graduated from the Chicago I^aw School in 1878. Mr. Fowler commenced the practice of his profession in Beloit, Kansas. In 1884 he came to New York state, settling on the Hudson, but in 1885 he moved to Cranford, New Jersey, and, in 1891 to Elizabeth, where he has since resided. For ten years Mr. Fowler was engaged in the banking business in New York city ; for five years he was chairman of the Republican central committee of Elizabeth. In 1894 he was elected to congress as a Repub- lican, receiving a plurality of six thousand two hundred and thirty-six votes, Mr. Cleveland having received one thousand five hundred majority. He was unanimously renominated, was re-elected by a plurality of eleven thousand six hundred and forty-four, and is at the present time (1897) a member of the committee on banking and currency in the house of representatives of the United States. He is prominently interested in various ways in the institutions of his adopted city. He is president of the board of trustees of the Pingry School, is a member of the University Club, of New York,and also of the Mettano Club, of Elizabeth, and of the Elizabeth Athletic Club. In 1879 Mr. Fowler was married to Miss Hilda S. Heg, daughter of Colonel H. C. Heg, who was killed at the battle of Chickamauga. Mrs. Fowler received her education at Beloit College, Wisconsin, and in Europe. She is a member of the Westminster Presbyterian church, in Elizabeth. One child', Charles N. Fowler, Jr., was born of this union. 166 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY From an admirable sketch of Mr. Fowler in the Bankers' Magazine for the month of Jmie, 1897, we clip the following : " During the ten j^ears Mr. Fowler devoted to business, to the exclu- sion of almost every other interest, he became familiar with the conditions and needs of every part of the United States, as he traveled much and was constantly studying the trend of financial affairs and the rapid development that went on from 1884 to 1893. " Since he is intense in his nature and persistent in his purpose, and when it is known that, even in his college days, he had a great fondness for political economy, sociology and history, it is not strange that, after five years of successful practice at the bar and ten years of even greater success in business life, with a thorough knowledge of business, an intimate acquaintance with all sections of our country, he should have at once commanded the respect of his fellow members in the house, and by his speeches and contributions to the press, upon the financial and currency question, attracted the attention of the whole country. " His bill for the reform of the currency system is one of the most comprehensive and complete yet formulated, and the thoroughness evidenced in its preparation shows constructive statesmanship of a high order. It has attracted wide public attention, and has commanded the favorable consideration of many merchants and bankers throughout the United States, as well as others who have given thoughtful regard to the subject. "The bill introduced by Mr. Fowler is not a mere amendment to some section or part of our present faulty banking system, with a view of patching it up, but a measure involving the readjustinent of our national finances and a recomposition of our currency, and yet so care- fully have the practical and theoretical been blended that no shock can come to the business interests of the country during the transition from our present plan to the one proposed. "The changes to be effected are such as will eventually work almost a complete reconstruction of our currency and banking systems, placing them in line with the soundest principles derived from expe- rience ; but the steps leading up to this reform are so graduated as to avoid any possible confusion or disturbance to public credit. Each new provision as it goes into effect will tend to more firmly establish every legitimate enterprise, since it will place the credit currency (the life blood of commerce) upon an indisputable basis, and will forever close discussion as to what is meant by a dollar. "In the preparation of a measure of fiscal reform involving such a wide departure from the existing imperfect system, and to adjust it to the needs of widely separated sections of our country, with the great diversity of interests, traditional predispositions and prejudices, and the complex forms of banking organization, the iftniost care has been HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 167 required to meet all reasonable demands without the sacrifice of essential principles. "It is believed that Mr. Fowler's bill meets these difficult require- ments. Every attempt has been made to comply with the just ' demands of the entire country, but no concession has been made to unsound or doubtful expedients. "There is undoubtedly a preponderance of opinion in favor of sound money, but it has heretofore failed to concentrate itself on some distinct proposition. As the measure prepared by Mr. Fowler has taken such a broad view of the needs of the whole country, and is con- structed on lines of approved safety, it would seem that it affords a common ground on which all friends of sound currency may meet. "The prominent part taken by Mr. Fowler at the monetary con- vention held at Indianopolis, in January, attracted the attention of all those who are in any degree interested in this all important question ; while his address delivered before the Massachusetts Reform Club, in Boston, on Lincoln's birthday, February last, was widely published throughout the country, with favorable comment. "On April 17th there appeared in the Congressional Record a full exposition of the measure lately introduced by him, which must necessarily add greatly to his reputation as a deep student, a close observer, a clear reasoner, and, above all, a thoroughly practical man. He has considered the question involved so broadly, fully and repletely that every man who is studying the subject of national finance and currency should send to him for a copy of this address. "In conclusion, it is most gratifying to observe that, however active Mr. Fowler has been in his various vocations of life, he has always identified himself with every public movement that has tended to improve, elevate and ameliorate the conditions of life in the community where he resides. But he has been particularly interested in the future of the boys, and has done much to advance the interests of the Pingry School, a college-fitting academy, of which he is president. " Should congress pass a joint resolution authorizing the president to appoint a monetary commission, Mr. Fowler is, certainly, especially well fitted for appointment as one of the number. "Speaker Reed, in placing Mr. Fowler on the banking and currency committee of the house, greatly promoted the cause of sound currency. His study and experience, and his efforts to harmonize opposing elements and crystalize public opinion on the subject of financial reform have caused him to be a valuable member of the committee, and have made his name prominent in connection with the chairmanship of the banking and currency committee of the fifty-fifth congress. ' ' Before the assembling of the present congress, in speaking of the 168 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY currency commission, the New York Tribune urged the appointment of Mr. Fowler as a member of that body, should such a commission be created, and said : " As a banker Mr. Fowler is necessarily familiar with the monetary systems of the world, but besides his practical knowledge, he has made a special study of the whole subject, with particular reference to the changes needed in the methods operating here. Mr. Fowler's eminence as an authority has already been recognized in various quarters. Last fall he neglected his own campaign work to do service in the west, and his speeches there attracted great attention. Through the newspapers and' magazines Mr. Fowler has also made numerous contributions to the discussion of this problem, and even the strongest opponents of his views concede that the propositions which he advances are supported by him in a tolerant yet forceful and logical manner." JAMES HERVEY ACKERMAN left an indelible impression upon the public life of Plainfield, and at the bar of New York won distinguished honors. He was one of the prominent corporation lawyers who live in the memories of his con- temporaries, encircled with the halo of a gracious presence, charming personality, profound legal wisdom, purity of public and private life, and the quiet dignity of an ideal follower of his calling. A native of New Jersey, Mr. Ackerman was born in New Bruns- wick and lived there through his early years, while acquiring his pri- mary and academic education. Desirous of fitting himself for his life work by thorough mental training, he continued his studies beyond the academic course and entered Rutgers College; but after the death of his father the family removed to New York city, and he completed his collegiate course in the University of New York. A view over the field of business life convinced him that his taste lay in the direction of law, and his preparation for the bar was made in the Albany Law School, where his close application and strong mentality enabled him to take high rank among his fellow students. He began practice in New York, in the ofSce of Benedict & Boardman, a well known firm of that city, and subsequently entered into partnership with a son of ex-Mayor Opdyke. His success was but the natural sequence of his love for his profession, his painstaking preparation and his compre- hensive knowledge of the science of jurisprudence. His ability was not confined to one line of judicial practice; he seemed equally power- ful in all departments of law and won an .enviable reputation in the conduct of varied cases, yet his time was mostly given to civil law, and especially that branch dealing with corporations. For many years he was counsel for the Newark India Rubber Company, and it was during his successful defense of several large law suits connected with ,jo He rvett Acke rivIajs' HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 169 the patent rights owned by this company that he displayed the bril- liant legal talent that gave him rank among the distinguished jurists of this part of the country. He was admitted to the bar of New Jersey in 1871, and, after his removal to Plainfield, maintained an office in Newark, where he was associated with Vice-Chancellor Amzi Dodd. He threw himself, with all the earnestness and enthusiasm of his nature, into the case at hand, and for the time knew nothing ex- cept his duty to his client, whose cause he made his own. He was an untiring and indefatigable worker, conducting cases involving large interests and intricate complications, and was a great lawyer, not only by the qualities of intellect, but also by the more practical test, — the success which attended his efforts. In 1862 Mr. Ackerman was united in marriage to Miss Ellen R. Morgan, a daughter of Rev. Dr. Morgan, of New Rochelle, New York, and to them were born five children. Soon after his marriage Mr. Ackerman removed to New Jersey and made Plainfield his perma- nent home. He was interested in both its civic and religious affairs, and was a leader in thought and action here. He viewed with a broad outlook the needs and possibilities of his adopted city, and gave his influence and support to all practical measures for the public good. He was elected a member of Plainfield's common council, and his efficient services in this capacity were recognized by a re-election the following year; he served as president of that body, and in 1874 the city judgeship was dignified by his legal ability. His death occurred Sep- tember 4, 1885. Few members of the bar of Newark have left a more enduring impression, both for legal ability of a high order and the in- dividuality of personal character which impresses itself upon the community than James Hervey Ackerman. His legal acumen was masterful, his integrity unassailable, his honor irreproachable. JOSEPH CROSS was born at Morristown, New Jersey, December 29, 1843. He was pre- pared for college at Elizabeth, under the tutorship of the Rev. Dr. Pierson, and, entering the sophomore class at Prijjceton College, he completed the course of study, and was graduated in 1865. He studied law with William J. Magie, at Elizabeth, and took a course of lectures at the Columbia College law school in New York. In 1868 he was admitted as an attorney, and in 1871 as a counselor. He at once formed a partnership with Mr. Magie, under the firm name of Magie & Cross, which lasted until 1880, when Mr. Magie was appointed a justice of the supreme court of New Jersey. The present firm of Cross & Noe was formed in 1884. In 1888 Mr. Cross was appointed judge of the district court, but in 1891 was legislated out of office in a general political change. In 1893 170 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY he was elected member of the state assembly of New Jersey, by a plu- rality of three hundred and Sixty-seven, out of a total vote of four thousand six hundred and twenty-eight, although he ran as a Repub- lican in a Democratic district. He was a candidate against his per- josapH CROSS sonal wishes, but those who knew him insisted that he was the man for the emergency. In the house he was chairman of the committee on passed bills, and was a member of the committees on banks and insurance, the sinking fund and the judiciary committees. Upon the resignation of Speaker Holt, during the session of the house of assem- JOSEPH B. COWARD HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 171 bly of 1894, he was ehosen to fill the vacancy. In 1894 Mr. Cross was re-elected a member of the assembly for the county of Union, by a plurality of two thousand and ninety-three, and upon the organization of the assembly in January, 1895, was re-elected speaker, receiving the unanimous vote of his Republican colleagues, who numbered fifty-four out of a total membership of sixty. Mr. Cross made an able presiding ofiicer, and while the business of the house was dispatched quickly, it was accomplished without undue haste. He proved himself an excellent parliaraetarian and a skillful manager of men. He always had the best interests of the stateat heart, and it was always his aim to make his administration redound to the benefit of the people rather than to his own political advantage. At Elizabeth he is a director in the National Fire and Marine Insurance Company and is counsel for that company, as well as for the First National Bank and other corporations. The law firm of Cross & Noe are especially interested in real-estate and commercial law. Mr. Cross is married and is a member of the Westminster Presbyterian church, of Elizabeth, one of its elders and also superintendent of the Sunday school. New Jersey will do well to keep at the helm of state in future years good men and true, like the Hon. Joseph Cross. WILLIAM J. MAGIE, chief justice of the supreme court of New Jersey, was born at Eliza- beth, December 9, 1832, being the son of the Rev. David Magie, D. D. , a native of the same town and for nearly forty-five years pastor of the Second Presbyterian church of that city. His mother, nee Frances Wilson, was also a native of Elizabeth. Young Magie entered Princeton College in 1852 and graduated in 1855 ; he studied law with Francis B. Chetwood, at Elizabeth, and was admitted to the bar as an attorney in 1856 and as counselor in 1859. ^°^ ^^'^ years he was asso- ciated with Mr. Chetwood, and subsequently formed a partnership with Judge Cross. He was prosecutor of the pleas for Union county from 1866 to 1871. In politics he is a Republican, and has acted with that party since i86r. In 1875 he represented the county of Union in the New Jersey senate, and served three years. In 1880 he was appointed an associate justice of the state, serving in that capacity until 1897, when he was appointed by Governor Griggs chief justice of the state. JOSEPH B. COWARD. Joseph Bloomfield Coward, son of John H. and Phoebe E. (Cadmus) Coward, was born in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1836. The father was a 1T2 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY native of Monmouth county, New Jersey, and was a resident of Plainfield and a hatter there from 1835 to i860. He died in November, 1896, aged ninety-two years. The mother died in 1890. Two children were born of this union, — Deborah C, wife of John B. Arrowsmith, of Monmouth county. New Jersey, and the subject of this sketch. Joseph B. Coward received his education in the public schools of Plainfield, after which he studied law in the office of Cornelius Boice, one of the most prominent lawyers of that city. He was admitted to the bar in 1858. Within this same year he went to Ke\-port, Monmouth county. New Jersey, but in 1864, he returned to Plainfield, where he has contin- ued the practice of his profession since that time. Mr. Coward is a Republican in politics, and has held prominent positions of trust in the gift of that part)- for man)- years. He was a mem- ber of the assembly from the third district of Union county for the year 1878. He has been prominently identified with the affairs of his cit)- in various ways ; he has been a member of the common council, was city clerk from 1890 to 1892, and has been connected with the Dime Savings Bank, as a member of its board of managers, since its organization in 1868. He has also been a director in the Cit>' National Bank for man)- years. Mr. Coward was married to Miss Sarah A., daughter of Cornelius Boice, in 1859. 'Three children were born of this union. Their names are Ivillian, Harry H. and Helen A. Harry H. Coward is connected with the City National Bank, of Plainfield. Mr. Coward and family are members of the Crescent A\'enue Presbyterian church. FOSTER M. VOORHKES was born November 5, 1856, in Clinton, Hunterdon county. New Jersey. At the age of fifteen years he was admitted to Rutgers College, where he was graduated four years later, the second-honor man of his class, taking the prize for moral philosophy and in Oreek language. During his college career, his law studies, and until he began to practice his pro- fession, Mr. Voorhees was engaged in the preparation of )'oinig men for college. Soon after his graduation he was offered and accepted a professorship of languages in the Rutgers Grammar Scliool, at New Brunswick, where he taught one year, acting as first assistant to the rector, after which he entered the law office of Magie & Cross, at Eliza- beth, New Jersey, and in 1880 was admitted to the bar. Mr. Voorhees has ne\'er been ambitious for political preferment, but has, nevertheless, held a number of public offices. In 1884 he was elected school commissioner, and took an active part in the establishment of the high school and the training school in Elizabeth. When the city was bankrupt, and needed legislation to help it out financially, for educa- tional as well as for other purpo.ses, he was selected to represent his city HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 173 in the house of assembly. He was school commissioner of Elizabeth four years, and was a member of the house of assembly during the years 1888, 1889, and 1890. In 1894 he was nominated b}' Governor Werts for the office of circuit-court judge, but declined the honor. In 1893 he was elected to the state senate, and was re-elected in 1896. At the close of the first session the leadership of the senate was given to him, the same position having been held by him during his career in the assembly. His leadership was such that the Republican state convention, b}' reso- lutions, commended the course of the Republican minority. Mr. Voorhees was a member of the connnittee assigned to draft Werts' ballot FOSTER M. VOORHEES law, and took an active part in all of the deliberations of that committee. At the close of his service in the assembh', he refused to re-enter politics, but when the state had been almost turned over to the absolute control of trusts, gamblers and the like, and when the pople of Union county, under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Kempshall, formed the Citizens' League, Mr. Voorhees joined with the others in that great moral crusade, and was selected as the Republican candidate for senator, and in the election received more votes than any other candidate. On this occasion he was made leader of the senate. He took an active part in the opposition 174 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY to the attempt on the part of the ringsters to obstruct the organization of the senate, and in the promotion of various reform measures. Mr. Voor- hees was chairman of the senate investigation committee of 1896. He was re-elected to the senate in 1897. NICHOLAS C. J. ENGLISH. Englishtown, Monmouth county, New Jersey, received its name from James English, who settled there in 1737. His grandson was James Robinson English, a business man of Englishtown, and his son, the Rev. James T. English, the father of Nicholas C. J. English, was a prominent minister in the Presbyterian church, who removed from that place to Somerset county many years since. The Rev. James T. English was prominent among the clergy of his church, and filled his only appointment for the long period of thirty-five years. He was a graduate of Union College, of New York, subsequently of the theological seminary at Princeton, New Jersey, and was called to Liberty Corner, Somerset county. New Jersey, — the only pastorate held by him, and one in which he remained till the time of his death. His wife was Mary Elizabeth Jobs, daughter of Nicholas C. Jobs, prominent as a justice of the peace, a member of the assembly for several terms, and postmaster of his town for nearly fifty years. There were born of this union four sons, and one daughter. Of the sons three became lawyers, and one a physician, all prominent in their professions. Nicholas C. J. English was born at Liberty Corner, Somerset county, November 4, 1842, and, as his parentage shows, came from old New Jersey stock. He received a good common-school education, and was then so thoroughly prepared for college at Basking Ridge, JsTew Jersey, as to enter the sophomore class at Princeton. Basking Ridge was four miles away, but young English went daily from his home to that place, much of the time on foot, until his labors were completed. In 1865 he graduated among the honor men of his class, and immedi- ately afterward commenced the study of the law, under the direction of his brother, James R. English, with whom he has been associated in the practice of his profession since the time of his admittance to the bar. The firm of J. R. and N. English, composed of the two brothers, has done a very extensive business, the members having a high pro- fessional standing among the more important leading business men and great corporations of eastern New Jersey. As a lawyer Mr. English has an enviable reputation for sterling honesty, and is esteemed as a ^ counselor in civil rather than criminal cases. His practice, in consequence, is largely in the settling of corporation suits, trusts and chancery cases, in which the firm is most reputably known. He cares little for office or political preferment, but has been, however, HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 175 somewhat prominently identified- from time to time with the affairs of the city government, and with various enterprises in Elizabeth. He was one of the directors in the extension of the line of the I^ehigh Valley Railroad Company to New York, is a director of the First NICHOLAS 0. J. ENGLISH National Bank of Elizabeth, is a trustee of the Pingry School, and is identified with other interests of his city and state. There is no spot on earth more dear to Mr. English than his home. His was a happy union, in 1870, with Miss Ella J. Hall, daughter of William Hall, Esq., of Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Mr. Hall, now in 176 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY the evening of his days, has been one of the most progressive and successful business men of that city. Two sons were the fruit of this union. One, William H. , died before graduating from Princeton College, of which he was a student. The other son, Conover, is now pursuing a course of instruction in the same institution. Mr. English is an elder in the Second Presbyterian church, of Eliza- beth, and is actively identified with the interests of that society, giving of his means liberally for charitable purposes. Mr. English considers himself identified also with the interests of old Somerset county, as he owns the old homestead farm, at lyiberty Corner, where he was born and where he spends part of the time each year. This farm has been owned successively by members of the family for five generations. During the Revolution it was the scene of stormy events, and tradi- tions of Indian, French and British soldiers cluster around it. WILLIAM M. STILLMAN was born in the city of Plainfield, New Jersey, of New England ances- try, November 23, 1856. He was the youngest son of Dr. Charles H. Stillman and Mary E. Stillman. His father was one of the best known men of Plainfield, having been a physician in that city for forty years, but his best reputation grew from his connection with the public schools, as he became known as the founder of the present school sys- tem of New Jersey. On his mother's side he is a direct descendant of Elder Brewster, of the Mayflower. William M. Stillman was graduated at the Plainfield high school in 1872, and for one year thereafter was in business at Peter Hender- son's seed and plant store, at 32 Courtlandt street. New York. He then entered the freshman class of Rutgers College, graduating from that institution in 1877. In college he took high rank as a student, and in the active business of the institution. He was graduated at the head of his class, besides taking three prizes in composition and literature. He also served as president of his class, was editor for two years of the college paper and was several times elected as delegate to represent Rutgers at inter-collegiate conventions. On his graduation he was elected to the honorary society of Phi Beta Kappa. He then entered the Columbia Daw School, which was under the able manage- ment of Professor Theodore Dwight, and from this institution was graduated in 1879. Subsequently he entered the law office of William J. Magie, now chief justice of the New Jersey supreme court. He then having been admitted to the bar in 1880, opened a law office in Plainfield, where he has practiced ever since, and where he has built up a large and lucrative business. He has been successfully engaged in a HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 177 number of important law suits, — notably, the Job Male case, the Lucy Burlingham and James Brand will cases ; and has acted as counsel and director for the First National Bank for ten years past. At the present time he is executor of the estate of the millionaire, George H. WILLIAM M. STILLMAN Babcock, and of the large estate of Peter Wooden. He was city judge of Plainfield during the years 1889 and 1890, and for fifteen years back has been a director and secretary of the board of directors of the Plainfield public library and reading room. He also fills the position of trustee of the American Sabbath Tract Society, is one of 12 178 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY the board of trustees of the S. D. Baptist Memorial Fund, and trustee of the S. D. Baptist church of Plainfield, of which church he has been a member for twenty-five years. He is also counsel and director of the Home Building and Loan Association, a large and substantial society of Plainfield. Mr. Stillman married Elizabeth B. Atwood March 3, 1886, but has no children. His residence, on West Seventh street, is a home- like and cosy one, and he is the owner of considerable real estate in different parts of the city. He is a member of the Camera Club, of the New Jersey Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and of the Elizabeth Chapter of the same society. WILLIAM REUBEN CODINGTON, member of the New Jerse}' legislature, and formerly city judge of the city of Plainfield, was born in Somerset county. New Jersey, February 24, 1853. He is the son of George W. and Jane (Codington) Codington, and is a descendant of John Codington, who came to America in 1730, and whose descendants settled in New Jersey prior to the Revolutionary war. The father, who was a farmer, resided in Somerset county, New Jersey, until his death, which occurred in 1893. The mother is still living, and is a resident of Millington, New Jersey. Six children, five of whom are now living, were born of this union. The subject of this sketch was reared in Somerset county, where he attended the public schools. He subsequently took a course of instruc- ti6^ in the State Normal and Model School, at Trenton, New Jersey. In 1881 he began the study of law in the offices of Suydam & Jackson, of Plainfield, and was admitted to the bar in 1883. About this time Mr. Suydam died, and Mr. Codington then formed a partnership with Mr. John H. Jackson, under the firm name of Jackson & Codington. In 1893 Mr. Jackson's health failed, and the partnership dissolved, the junior member of the firm continuing the business alone, and build- ing up, by his own industry, a large practice. He was associated with ex-Chancellor Runyon in the celebrated L,ee will case, one of the most noted of its. kind in the state. Mr. Codington has been a hard student, and has become distinguished as an advocate. In politics he has always been a Republican, and, though not an aspirant for office, was elected city judge in 1889, and served as such one term of three years. In 1895 he was elected to the state legislature and is still serving in that capacity, having been re-elected in 1896, and is the recognized leader at this time in the house. He is chairman of the city executive Republican committee, and is now county attorney, having served several years in that capacity. He is a director and the treasurer of the American Mutual Fire Insurance Compan}-, director, solicitor and WILLIAM R. CODINGTON HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY !?!( tlie treasurer of the Plainfield Building and Loan Association, and is also a director of the First National Bank and counsel for various corporations. _ 1^1 1-. Codington is a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he has been a member since his boyhood. He enjoys great popu- larit}-, and is noted for his liberality and readiness to give his aid in every effort to promote the public welfare. Mr. Codington married Miss Rachael Runyon, daughter of Isaac S. and Rachael (Stelle) Runyon, of Somerset county. Her father is a man of worth and high standing in his county. Two children, Martha and Albert Isaac, were born of this marriage. Mr. Codington is a member of the M^-stic Shrine, Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. A. EDWARD WOODRUFF. The well known name of Woodruff has figured prominently in the history of Elizabethtown from the middle of the seventeenth century, the original progenitor in this country being John Woodruff, who was conspicuously identified with public affairs of his day, and his descend- ants have in a like manner become important factors in both mercantile and professional circles. A. Edward Woodruff was born in Rahway, New Jersey, on the 27th of October, 1846, being the son of Jonathan and Alvira (Martin) Woodruff. The maternal grandmother's name was Crowell, and she was a descendant of Edward Crowell, who came to America from Scot- land, in the good ship Caledonia, and settled in Middlesex county, some time between 1600 and 1700, and there his descendants have attained considerable prominence. Mr. and Mrs. Woodruff had four children, the others being the following daughters : Mrs. Rufus Edgar, now deceased; Mrs. David Jones and Mrs. R. M. Huntting. The subject of this review received his preliminary mental discipline at the private school of Rev. Dr. Pierson, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, supplementing the same by a course of study at Princeton College, and finishing his education in Europe. Upon returning home he entered the Columbia College law school, at which institution he read law under the precept- orage of the late Professor Theodore W. Dwight, received his diploma in 1874, and in the same year he was admitted to the New York bar and at once began the active practice of his profession. Success was his almost from the start, his signal ability, strong mentality, and inher- ent knowledge of his calling in all its branches, gaining for him a dis- tinct prestige, which he has retained throughout his long career of nearly a quarter of a century at the bar. He has taken a prominent part in the extended litigation between the abutting-property owners and the elevated railroad in New York city, and he has been closely identified with life-insurance cases, especially the rights of policy-hold- 180 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY ers in assessment-insurance companies. His office is in the Equitable Building, New York, where he has been located for over twenty years. In his political belief Mr. Woodruff is allied to the Republican party, but he has never sought nor desired official preferment, nor permitted his name to be used in connection therewith, as he has always preferred private life and the devoting of his time to the practice of his pro- fession. Mr. Woodruff has been a member for upwards of forty years of the Second Presbyterian church, of Rahway, in which his father was an elder for over thirty-five years, and in which he himself was elected an elder, but felt constrained to decline, though fully appreciating the honor of the office. For upwards of thirty years he taught in the Sab- bath school of his church, and many of the young men connected with his class are now holding positions of honor and influence in the church and business world. The marriage of Mr. Woodruff was celebrated in 1874, when he was united to Miss Macie Outen Stanly, daughter of Hon. Edward R. Stanly, of New Berne, North Carolina, and they have become the parents of the following five children : Alvira, Edward Stanly, Graham Crowell, Clifford Stanly, and Harriette Stanly. Of these the three lat- ter survive. Graham, the eldest, is a student at Rutgers College, for which he was prepared at Rutgers Preparatory School, at the early age of fifteen, and he entered the college with the intention of ulti- mately graduating from Princeton, his father's alma mater. Mr. Woodruff is the owner of extensive real estate in Rahway, his father, Jonathan Woodruff, having been one of Rahway's most influ- ential citizens and a large property-owner. The property includes the handsome Exchange Building, and the old historic Woodruff home- stead, on Main street, formerly the Peace Tavern, where General La Fayette, while on his visit to this country, in 1824, "^^^ given a bril- liant reception and ball by citizens of Rahway. HENRY C. SUYDAM was born at Flemington, Hunterdon county. New Jersey in April, 1853. His parents were Daniel and Mary Suydam ; the family having long resided in Hunterdon county and being well known residents of that community. The early American ancestors of the Suydam, family were among the first settlers of New York, migrating from Holland in the seventeenth century. The subject of this sketch acquired his early edu- cation in the public schools at Flemington, was prepared for college at Peddie Institute, Hightstown, New Jersey, and was graduated from Brown University, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in the class of 1876. Mr. Suydam studied law in the offices of Vice-Chancellor John T. Bird and George A. Allen, Esq., at Flemington, and was admitted to HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 181 the bar of New Jersey as an attorney in 1879, ^^^ ^ counselor in 1884. In 1881 he began the practice of law at Bound Brook, where he has resided since that date, and conducted important legal business for clients in Somerset county, where his acquaintance is extended and his law practice is constantly increasing. Mr. Suydam has always taken an active interest in the affairs of his town and county, being prominent in organizing and carrying into effect] the borough form of government for Bound Brook. He has been counsel for the Bound Brook Building Loan Association since its organization, and the association is now the largest and strongest financial institution in the place. Mr. Suydam has never sought or held political office. In September, 1895, he opened a law office in the Babcock Building in Plainfield, and still conducts the same, retaining his office at Bound Brook as heretofore. In 1 88 1 Mr. Suydam married Emily, the oldest daughter of the late Avery Parker, Esq., of Elemington. The Parkers were early settlers of Middletown, Connecticut, and have been for many years prominently identified with the affairs of that state. EDWARD S. SAVAGE, of Rahway, is a native of the city in which he resides, and whose fortunes are identical with his own. He is of sturdy Puritan stock, being a lineal descendant of Samuel Phillips Savage, who was a prominent man in New England before the war of independence, and who presided at the meeting in Boston where it was decided to throw the tea overboard, and which is historically regarded as one of the first overt acts of the colonists asserting their disinclination to further suffer British oppression. His son, Joseph Savage, was an officer in the war of the Revolution, and afterwards commander at West Point. The subject of this sketch is the third son of George W. Savage, who came to Rahway from New York, in 1852, and resided there for over forty years. For the greater part of his life George W. Savage was prominently identified with the fire-insurance interests of New York, was president of a fire-insurance company, and at various periods was treasurer, secretary and president of the New York Board of Fire Underwriters. He was twice honored by appointments in the consular service of the United States, serving as consul at Belfast, Ireland, and at Dundee, Scotland, where he died in 1894, being succeeded in the consulship by his son, John M. Savage. George W. Savage left five sons,— George W. Savage, Jr., Joseph W. Savage, Edward S. Savage, Samuel Phillips Savage and John M. Savage,— three of whom are members of the legal profession. Upon his graduation from Columbia Law School, in 1876, Edward S. Savage was admitted to the bar of New York ; he had previously read law in the office of Cortlandt Parker, in Newark, and was 182 HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY admitted to the bar of New Jersey in 1877. He practiced his profession in Newark until 1881, when he removed his office to New York and formed a copartnership with George W. Miller, which continued for twelve 3'ears. In 1884 and 1885, he was a member of the legislature of New Jersey, and was chairman of the committees on banks and insurance, and railroads and canals, of that body. In 1887 he was the leading spirit in bringing about the reorganization of the Union County Bank, of Rahway, being elected its president, which position he still holds. The bank has flourished under his supervision, and has become one of the strong institutions of the state. The wide and varied legal and business experience of Mr. Savage, and his enviable reputation as a lawyer, have brought him into relations with the leading men of not only his native state, but of the metropolis of New York. In 1895 he was chosen vice-president of the American Union Life Insurance Company, and was elected counsel of the company (as well as vice-president) in 1897, still holding both ofiSces. Mr. Savage has been most active in the improvement of Rahway, in which he holds large real-estate interests ; he has built a number of houses, opened up a section of the city, and has been instrumental in inducing numbers of people to choose it for place of residence, as well as bringing to it several industrial establishments, — notably the Johnson Signal Company, and the New York Carbon Works. Mr. Savage is a genial gentleman, and with his interesting family occupies a prominent place in business and social life in New Jersey. CHARLES LEONARD MOFPETT, the subject of this sketch, is a prominent lawyer of Plainfield, New Jersey. His first American ancestor came to America before the war of independence, and served in the army of the Revolution. His grandfather, John Mofifett, was of Scotch descent. He was a farmer residing at Mt. Horeb, New Jersey. He married Miss Sarah Tunison, who was of old New Jersey stock. Thej' had nine children. The youngest son, Dennis Moffett, born in the year 18 16, was a farmer, and followed that occupation in Middlesex and Union counties. New Jersey. He is now living in retirement in Plainfield, New Jersey. His wife, Charlotte Wilcox, was of an old English family of Union county. New Jersey. She died in 1889. Of their ten children seven are now living, the youngest of whom is the subject of this sketch. Charles Leonard Moffett was born in Plainfield township. Union county, New Jersey, September 24, 1865. After receiving a good public-school education, he attended the Rutgers College grammar school, at New Brunswick, New Jersey, and afterward pursued the study of the classics and higher branches of mathematics, under the HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 183 instruction of a prominent professor, and in these lie became very proficient. Subsequently lie began the study of law in the office of Hon. John Ulrich, where he remained two years, and afterward spent two years in the office of Nelson Ruun'ou, ex-cit}- judge, when he was admitted to the bar, in February, 1892. Mr. Moffett has a large and lucrative practice, having made a specialty of the law relating to real estate. Having had considerable experience in this line of practice, he has become recognized authority on- legal questions of realty. Mr. MofTett was married, in October, 1892, to Miss Marian C. Runyon, daughter of the late John C. Run)'on, fonnerl)- a prominent CHARLES L. MOFFETT man of Union county, and editor of the Central New Jersey Times, a leading Republican paper at the time of his death. They have one child, Flossie. Mr. Moffett is a member of the Presbyterian church. JAMES H. DURAND. Few men are more prominent or more widely known in New Jersey than this gentleman. He has been an important factor in professional circles, and his popularity is well deserved, as in him are 184 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY embraced the characteristics of an unbending integrity, unabating energy and an industry that never flags. He is public-spirited and thoroughly interested in whatever tends to promote the moral, intellec- tual and material welfare of Rahway, where he makes his home ; he stands to-day as one of the ablest representatives of the legal profession in Union county ; and has gained in Masonic circles preferment which places him among the distinguished representatives of that order in the United States. Mr. Durand was born in Rahway, on the 26th of June, 1847, ^"<^ is a son of John H. and Catherine S. (Martin) Durand. His father was for many years a prominent carriage-manufacturer of Rahway, where he died in 1886, his wife passing away in 1890. The paternal grand- father was Caleb Durand. The maternal ancestry of our subject can be traced back to an early epoch in American history, at which time the first of the name to cross the Atlantic left their native England and took up their residence in New Hampshire. John Martin, in 1667, removed from the Granite state to New Jersey, and thus for more than two centuries John Martin's family and descendants have been identi- fied with the progress and development of this state. Isaac Martin, the great-grandfather, resided in Woodbridge township, Middlesex county, and married Catharine Skinner, whose father, Richard Skinner, was a captain in the First Regiment, New Jersey Militia, in the Revolutionary war, and was killed by the British, June 29, 1779, at the Six Roads, near Rahway. Britton Martin, the grandfather, married Susannah Burwell, daughter of Robert Burwell, of Rahway Neck, Middlesex county, who was a private in Captain Asher Fitz Randolph's company of the New Jersey militia in the Revolu- tionary war. James H. Durand was educated in the Rahway public schools and under the perceptorage of private teachers, and before attaining his majority engaged in teaching for a time, but he sought in the broader realm of the law a field for the exercise of his powers, and began his preparation for the legal profession by reading in the office and under the instruction of Thomas H. Shafer, an eminent attorney of Rahway. In November, 1868, he was admitted to the bar of New Jersey, and for the past twenty-five years has been associated in practice with his former preceptor, under the firm name of Shafer & Durand. During that time he has been connected with much of the important litigation that has been heard in the courts of this district. He is most careful and painstaking in the preparation of his cases, and rests his cause on a plain statement of facts and the justice of our laws. He loses sight of no point that will advance the interest of his client, and is widely recognized as a lawyer of eminent ability and unquestioned integrit)'. Mr. Durand has never been unmindful of his duty to his fellow men, and in his life exemplifies the spirit of the ancient and benevo- JAMES H. DURAND HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 185 lent order of Freemasonry. In this fraternity he has achieved distinc- tion and honor. In 1871 he was made a member of LaFayette Lodge, No. 27, F. & A. M., of Rahway, and in 1875 was its Worshipful Master. He was made a Royal Arch Mason in L,aFayette Chapter, No. 26, of Rahway, in 1872, and served as its High Priest from 1873 to 1876, inclusive. He held various subordinate positions in the Grand Chapter, including Grand Scribe, Grand King and Grand High Priest, and became Grand High Priest of New Jersey in September, 1879. He is now (1897) chairman of the committee on constitutions of the Grand Chapter. He is also a member of St. John's Commandery, No. 9, K. T., of Elizabeth ; of Kane Council, No. 2, R. & S. M., and of all the Scottish Rite bodies in the valley of Jersey City, up to and includ- ing the thirty-second degree, in most of which he has been prominent and active. In the Grand Lodge of New Jersey he served successfully as Senior Grand Warden, Deputy Grand Master and Most Worshipful Grand Master, filling the latter position in 1893 and 1894. His two terms in the last named oJfEce were characterized as two of the most progressive and prosperous years in the Masonic history of the state, and reflect great credit upon his masterly administration of the affairs of the order. His annual addresses to the Grand Lodge not onlj- pre- sent, clearly and concisely, its affairs during the preceding twelve months, but are models of literary skill and scholarly thought. On his retirement from that exalted office, in January, 1895, the Grand Lodge presented him with a valuable jewel, as a token of esteem and appre- ciation. He is now a member of the committee on appeals and griev- ances, and is often called upon to address Masonic gatherings through- out the state. Mr. Durand is a speaker of unusual force and power and an orator of rare attainments. In politics he is a Democrat, and, although never an aspirant for political honors, at the repeated solicitation of many political and personal friends he became a candidate for the mayoralty of Rahway in 1886, but was defeated. He was appointed by Justice William J. Magie one of the commissioners under the "Martin act" to adjust taxes and assessments in the city of Rahway, his colleagues being Judge John D. Bartine, of Somerville, and Nathan V. ComptOn, of Rahway. The work of that commission has accomplished much for that city, and to it and to the wise and intelligent action of the boord of finance, of which Mr. Durand subsequently became a member, by appointment of the mayor, that city is indebted for the restoration of financial credit and for renewed prosperity. Mr. Durand is president of the National Assured Home Company, of New Jersey, a director of the New Jersey Building, Loan & Invest- ment Company, of Trenton, and is solicitor for the Workmen's Build- ing & Loan Association of Rahway, which is a most carefully managed and extremely successful institution. He is also a member and secre- 186 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY tary and treasurer of the advisory board of the Children's Home and Orphan Asyhrm Association, of Rahway, and is deeply interested in all that has for its basis humanitarian principles. Since 1880 he has been a ruling elder in the Second Presbyterian church, has served as secre- tary and later as treasurer of the board of trustees, and for seventeen years has been superintendent of the Sunday school. He has also for many years been clerk of the session of that church. On the 30th of June, 1892, Mr. Durand was united in marriage to Miss Josie E. Blanchard, a daughter of William E. and Mary (Clark) Blanchard, formerly of Brooklyn, New York. They have two chil- dren, Elsie B., born in September, 1893, and James Blanchard, born in August, 1896. Mr. Durand finds his chief and most abiding source of enjoyment in his home life. In the pleasures that have their root in family affection he spends the hours spared from professional duties, and in the home circle he finds the needed rest and relaxation from the stress and strain of business life. FRANCIS E. MARSH, son of Elston Marsh, was born at Plainfield, New Jersey, November 2, 1845, ^^^ h^s always made his home there. After four years' study at the Flushing Institute, Flushing, L,ong Island, Mr. Marsh entered Princeton College, in the year 1863, and was graduated there, among the honor men, in 1867. On leaving college he decided to enter the profession of the law, and accordingly attended Columbia Law School, in New York city, and was graduated there in 1869. At that time the law school was under the charge of Professor Dwight, an instructor of rare ability, and the students during that period came in daily contact with him and were under his personal supervision, — an experience that Mr. Marsh always highly prized. In 1869 Mr. Marsh was admitted to the bar of New York, of which he is still a member. On March 4, 187 1, he came to Newark, New Jersey, and entered the law office of the late Judge Caleb S. Titsworth, who was connected with William H. Francis, the firm being known as Titsworth & Francis. At that time Mr. Titsworth was the prosecutor of pleas for Essex county, and Mr. Francis was corporation counsel for the city of Newark. Mr. Marsh assisted Mr. Titsworth as prosecutor, and also became more or less familiar with the duties of the office of corporation counsel. In 1871 Mr. Marsh was admitted to practice as an attorney at law in the courts of New Jersey, and in November, 1874, he was admitted as counselor at law. He was subsequently appointed master in chancery, examiner in chancery and special master in chancery, by the chancel- HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 387 loi", and was appointed notary public by the governor ; and supreme- court commissioner by the supreme court. In 1S74 INIr. Marsh was admitted as a partner in the firm ot Tits- worth & Francis, which now became Titsworth, Francis & Marsh. In 1S7S Mr. Francis retired from the firni and it became known as the tirm of Titsworth & ^larsh, and so remained until 1SS4, when the firm was dissolved, since which time ]\Ir. ]\Iarsh has been practicing by himself, in the same building, 75S Broad street, Newark, that he entered as a FRANCIS E. MARSH law student in 1S71. His practice is a general one carried on in all the courts and covering the general field of law. Mr. ]Marsh has always been a strong Republican in politics, and though he has never sought any office he has served as a member of the common council of the city of Plainfield for ten years, during two years of which time he served as president of the council. He has been more or less active in political work in Union county and the city of Plain- field, having served on the Republican city executive committee in Plainfield for several }-ears past. 188 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY CHARLES J. McNABB, a promising young lawyer of Plaiufield, of Scotch descent, is a native of Somerset county, New Jersey, and belongs to one of the old families of the state. He is the son of Robert and Sarah (Myers) McNabb, and was born in the year 1873. His paternal grandfather came from Scotland, and settled at Bound Brook, New Jersey. The maternal grandfather, Myers, was a native of Union county, New Jersey, as was also the father of the subject of this review. Robert McNabb was a millwright, and subsequently a contractor and builder, and is now living with his wife at Netherwood, New Jersey. Mr. McNabb, the subject of this sketch, wa§ educated in the public schools and in the New Jersey Business College, of Newark. He HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 189 commenced his business life with the New Jersey Railroad Company, but only remained in that position one year. In January, 1893, Mr. McNabb commenced the study of law in the office of William A. Coddington, of Plainfield, remaining under his tuition three years, and immediately afterward entered the University lyaw School of New York, where he completed his course of instruction, and was admitted to New Jersey as attorney-at-law in the month of February, 1896. On June i, 1897, he entered into a law partnership with Mr. R. M. Clark, of Plainfield, under the firm name of McNabb & Clark. GEORGE W. BIRD, the second child and oldest son of Lewis M. Bird and Elizabeth Bird, was bom February 21, 1871, at Gallia (formerly Mt. Bethel), Somerset county, New Jersey. He received his education at the public schools, in the borough of North Plainfield, Somerset county. New Jersey, and from the high school was graduated in June, 1886, at the age of fifteen years. At the age of seventeen years he engaged as a clerk in mercantile business, holding positions with various merchants in the hardware trade in the the city of Plainfield ; also with the Russell & Erwin Manufac- turing Company, of New York city. While with this company he attended classes at the Y. M. C. A., in Plainfield, and became proficient in the art of stenography and typewritng. On October 11, 1892, he entered the law office of Senator Charles A. Reed, who, with City Judge William A. Coddington, subsequently formed the law firm of Reed & Coddington. After serving a four-years clerk- ship, — two in the offices of Mr. Reed and two in the offices of Reed & Coddington, — he applied for admission to the bar, and on November 9, 1896, he was licensed to practice as an attorney at law. January i, 1897, ^^ opened an office in the Shaw Building, 105 East Front street, Plainfield, New Jersey, and commenced the practice of law. ROBERT MARTIN CLARK, son of Robert, Jr., and Amanda (Martin) Clark, was born in Newark, New Jersey, November 2, 1875. His grandparents, Robert and Cather- ine (Williams) Clark, were born in Scotland and emigrated to this country in their 'teens. His maternal grandparents, Daniel 'Martin and Jeanette (Campbell) Martin, belonged to families well known in the vicinity of Plainfield. Mr. Clark lived in Newark until about eleven years of age, when his father purchased a place near Plainfield, in a suburb now known as Washington Ville, where he has since lived. 190 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Mr. Clark was graduated from the North Plainfield public school iu June, 1890, and from Plainfield high school in June, 1893, and in July of that year began the study of the law in the oSice of J. B. Coward, of Plainfield. He was graduated from the law department of the New ROBERT M. CLARK York University, with the degree of lyly. B., in June, 1896, and admitted as an attorney-at-law on November 9th following, taking the five counselor's examinations and being at that time twenty-one years and seven days old. January 19, 1897, he was appointed master in chancery. He had commenced the practice of his profession in January, 1897. He HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 191 was elected assessor of North Plainfield township March 9, 1897. Mr. Clark is also an attorney, in Union and Somerset counties, for the United L,a\\yers, Merchants and Maniifacturers' Collection Association. On June I, 1897, he entered into a law partnership with Charles J. McNabb, of Plainfield, under the firm name of McNabb & Clark. i\Ir. Clark is a member of the jMidmer Glee Club, of Plainfield, and has sung in the choirs of this and other cities. EDWARD NUGENT, lawyer and ex- president of the board of education, at Elizabeth, New Jersey, was born in New York city, November 2, 1864. With his parents, John and Margaret Nugent, he resided at Troy, New York, and Harrison, 'New Jersey, attending the parochial and public schools in both places. Through necessit}- he was obliged to leave school at thirteen years of age, and worked thereafter at various occupations until finally he entered the employ of the Singer Manufacturing Company of Elizabeth- port, New Jersey, in 1879, removing to Elizabeth, New Jersey, the following year. He learned the trade of machinist, and during his thirteen years' employment with that company he attended night school when the opportunity was afforded, and took an active interest in trying to obtain better educational facilities for himself and fellow workmen. He was on that account elected a member of the board of education from the third ward of Elizabeth for the years 1889, 1890, 1891 and 1892, and during the years 1892 and 1893 was elected president of that board. In 1891 he married Mary E., daughter of Adam and Magdalen Weirich, of Elizabeth, New Jersey. Through their material assistance and the kindly aid of Richard V. Lindabury, Esq. , (then located at Elizabeth), who loaned him law books, and encouraged and assisted him in his studies, he began the study of law and entered Mr. Linda- bury's office, also attending the New York Law School, New York city, and was admitted to the New Jersey bar at the June term, 1896, when he opened an office in Elizabeth and is now engaged in success- ful practice. In politics he is an active Democrat, and is an attendant of the Roman Catholic church, and connected with a number of fraternal organizations of the city of Elizabeth. SAMUEL S. SWACKHAMER was born August 7, 1859, at White House, New Jersey. He attended the district school during his boyhood, and was known more as a lover 192 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY of fun than as a student. After entering his 'teens, he began to take a decided interest in study. He was aided by his father, R. S. Swack- hamer, an able instructor, who held the office of county superintendent of public instruction for two successive terms. Under his tuition the SAMUEL S. SWAOKHAMER subject of our sketch advanced rapidly, taking special pains with polite literature, science and ethics. He mingled study ever with his amusements, and joined with several other boys in erecting a building, along the Rockaway river, which they named Ciceronian Hall, and^in which they held debates, and incidentally feasted on contributions HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 193 levied on the parties at their respective homes. At the age of eighteen Mr. Swackhamer began to teach school, and continued in this vocation several years. Meanwhile he took the Chatauquan University white- seal course. During this period he also organized debating societies, and argued current topics with some of the ablest debaters in the state. He began the study of law with his brother, Austin H. Swack- hamer, of Woodbury, New Jersey, and was graduated from the office of Judge J. D. Bartine, of Somerville, New Jersey, being admitted to the bar in February, 1894, when he began the practice of his profession in Plainfield, New Jersey. He has advanced rapidly, being distin- guished as an advocate, in which character he shows dramatic power and oratorical ability. He has the faculty of carrying his opponents' arguments in his mind, thus obviating the necessity of notes. He is a stanch temperance advocate and a well known speaker at church ceremonials and anniversaries. As a Democratic speaker he has stumped the state in three presi- dential campaigns. Mr. Swackhamer is a close student of the law and is noted for the thorough preparation of his cases. He took the degree of counselor in February, 1897, and has recently taken into partnership his nephew, W. Gordon Williams. In 1894 he married Miss L,izzie Herr, also a resident of White House, New Jersey, and daughter of Rev. Martin Herr, of that place. Both Mr. and Mrs. Swackhamer are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They own a charming residence in North Plain- field, where they at present reside. LEVI E. HART, a brilliant but unpretentious member of the Union county bar, now living in Westfield, has won a liberal clientage, which well attests his ability, and the important litigation with which he has been connected indicates his skill in handUng the intricate and complicated questions of jurisprudence. A son of Ebenezer Hart, he was born in Brooklyn, New York, and is now fifty years of age. His grandfather, l/cvi Hart, was one of the prominent and early citizens of Brooklyn, and owned a farm which includes the present site of the fountain which now stands at the entrance of Prospect Park. Upon that farm Levi E. Hart was bom and spent his boyhood days. His mother was a daughter of Lemuel Hart, an extentive ship-builder of Long Island. In i860 he accompanied his parents to Union county. New Jersey, the family locating on a farm near Plainfield, but the life of the agriculturist was not suited to his taste, and, at the request of Hon. John A- Lott, one of the judges of the court of appeals of New York, he was admitted as a student in the law office of H. C. Murphy & Sons, one of the leading law firms of the city of Brooklyn, the senior partner being the Hon. Henry C. Murphy. 13 194 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY For six years he continued his studies in that office, and was admitted to practice at the bar of the state of New York in 1867. Later he was licensed to practice in the United States courts and in the courts of New Jersey. In 1869 Mr. Hart was united in marriage to Miss Lizzie L. Pound, daughter of Jackson Pound, of Plainfield, New Jersc}-. They LEVI E. HART became the parents of a son and daughter, but the mother and children have all passed away. For his second wife, Mr. Hart chose Miss Carrie Brown, a daughter of Stephen Brown, a wealthy tanner and currier, of Bound Brook, and by her he has two daughters. Soon after his second marriage Mr. Hart moved to Westfield, where he has since made his home. He is now largely interested in HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 195 real estate there, and owns and handles some very valuable property. In addition he still continues the practice of his profession. He is a man of broad general information and ripe scholarship, and to this he has added a thorough knowledge of the law. Working earnestly for his clients' interests, he has advanced his own ; but whether it will be beneficial to him or otherwise, no trust reposed in him is ever slighted. There are many elements in his character essential to success — executive power, determination, and sound judgment of men and events. In his business dealings his methods are above question, and his word is as good as his bond. Kindly in manner, genial in disposition and of sterling worth, he makes many friends, and although a stanch Republican, he has many stanch friends in the Democratic party. MELVILtE EGLESTON, one of the leading citizens of Elizabeth, New Jersey, and for many years an eminent lawyer of New York city, is a son of the Rev. Nathaniel Hillyer Egleston, and was born in 1845, ^^ Ellington, Connecticut, — his father's first parish. He is of Puritan stock, his ancestors being numbered among the first settlers of New England. Naturally of strong mentality, he was fitted by most liberal educational training for the duties of life. He pursued a course in Williams College, and then went abroad, con- tinuing his education at the universities of Berlin and Gottingen. Before going to college he had manifested his loyalty to his country by service in the Union army for a time during the civil war, and was mustered out with the rank of adjutant of a Massachusetts regiment. Preparing for the bar, Mr. Egleston began practice in New York city and soon attained a desirable position as a representative of the legal fraternity in that city. His attention has been especially devoted to corporation law, and for a number of years he has been the general counsel of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company, commonly known as the " Long Distance " Telephone Company. He is also counsel of a number of local telephone companies doing business in New York and the surrounding country, and of other corporations. In 1881 Mr. Egleston was united in marriage to Miss Jane Shelton Dunbar, daughter of the late George Curtis Dunbar, formerly of New York. He is a vestryman of St. John's Episcopal church, of Elizabeth, and takes quite an active interest in the affairs of the city, being president of the board of trustees of the Elizabeth Public Library, and president of the Town and Country Club. CLARENCE D. WARD has since his boyhood resided in Rahway, and at the bar of Union county has won a foremost place among the distinguished representatives 196 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY of the legal profession. In no calling so much as the law does advance- ment depend upon individual merit ; mental acquirements cannot be gained through influence, but must come as the result of earnest, per- sistent effort, and in this quality Mr. Ward is particularly rich. He was born in the city of Newark about forty years ago. His CLARENCE D. WARD parents were Captain Samuel D. and Rebecca M. (Miller) Ward, the latter a daughter of Isaac Miller, a farmer who for some years resided in the outskirts of Newark. The paternal grandfather, Jacob Ward, was an agriculturist living in Hanover, Morris county, New Jersey. During his boyhood Clarence Ward accompanied his parents on their HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 197 removal to Rahway, where the father engaged in the carriage business until his death, which occurred in 1883. Residing continuously in Rahway, Mr. Ward, of this review, has witnessed much of its growth and taken an active interest in its pro- gress. Its public schools afforded him his early educational privi- leges, and later he attended a private academy here. Determining to make the practice of law his life work, he entered the Columbia lyaw College, of New York, and was graduated with the class of 1877, after which he was admitted to practice at the courts of the Empire state. He also studied law in the ofiice and under the direction of J. R. & N. English, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, and was admitted to practice as an attorney in November, 1877, and as a counselor in November, 1881. In the former year he entered into partnership, for the practice of law, with ex-Senator B. A. Vail, and the relationship has since been maintained, the firm taking high rank in professional circles. He is careful and exact in the preparation of cases, clear and forcible in the presentation of his points, concise and logical in arguments, and seldom fails to convince. The litigation entrusted to his care has been of a very important character, attesting his ability before judge or jury- Mr. Ward has been concerned in the management of various enter- prises which have been of material benefit to the city, and is now one of the managers of the Rahway Savings Institution, a director of the Workman's Building & L,oan Association, of Rahway, and counsel for the Union Savings & Loan Asscoiation. He has also been promi- nently connected with municipal affairs, and in 1883 was elected a member of the common council of Rahway, which position he filled in a most acceptable manner for three years, when he declined a further nomination. He was also counsel to the board of chosen free- holders of Union county for five years, from 1887 to 1892. During that time he, with several others, was instrumental in securing the pas- sage of the act known as the county-road act, in the state legislature, whereby boards of freeholders were enabled to construct macadam roads at the expense of the county within which the roads were located. Under this act, and while Mr. Ward was counsel to the board of free- holders, the macadam roads in Union county were constructed, — a system of roadways unsurpassed by any in the state. Mr. Ward has ever been deeply interested in the movements tending to promote the welfare of the county, and has done all in his power for the material progress and culture of the community. Mr. Ward has always given his political support to the men and measures of the Republican party, and gives of his time and influence for the furtherance of the cause. His home relations are very pleasant, and he and his family occupy an enviable position in the social circles of Rahway. He was married in June, 1886, to Miss Pauline Schu- 198 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY macher, a daughter of Frederick Schumacher, of Rahway, and they now have two children, a son and a daughter. HARRY CHASE RUNYON was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, on April i6, 1869, being the youngest son of the late John Calvin Runyon, who, up to the time of his death, was publisher of the Central New Jersey Times. His mother, whose maiden name was Harriet M. Chase, came from Delaware county. New York state, and was the youngest daughter of Colonel Edward Chase. Mr. Runyon' s mother is still living, and is a descendant of Richard Chase, who came to this country with Governor Winthrop and settled at Yarmouth, Massachusetts, in 1638. On his father's side Mr. Runyon's forefathers were among the first settlers in New Jersey, and located at Elizabeth Town. One of them, Ruene Runyon, a surveyor, because he refused to swear falsely in regard to the boundary line of Elizabeth Town grant, was compelled by the English to flee by night from the settlement, and took his wife and family to Piscataway township, Middlesex county, where he located a home, and it is from this branch of the family that the subject of our sketch comes. Mr. Runyon was educated in the Plainfield public schools and took a large interest in history and geography. He also had a large bump of argumentativeness, which showed itself early in life and caused friends of the family to predict his future profession and a brilliant career. He left school at the age of fourteen and apprenticed himself as a compositor in his father's printing ofiices. At the age of seventeen he went to Newark, New Jersey, and accepted a position in a store, but tiring of the long hours and the arduous duties, his early desire to study law was soon gratified, and he accepted a position with Morrow & Schenck, a firm of Newark lawyers. After several years of study in that city he teturned to Plainfield to continue his studies with Senator Charles A. Reed, until his admission to practice, in February, 1892. Here he has since been established, and has built up an excellent business in the line of his profession. Mr. Runyon is a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Improved Order of Red Men, and at present holds the position of Prelate in the Improved Order of Heptasophs. Mr. Runyon is an earnest worker in the church and in the cause of temperance, and is a member of the Park Avenue Baptist church, of Plainfield. On December 28, 1896, he was married to Miss I/5uisa Baker, daughter of Genio S. and Amy J. Baker. Mr. Runyon is a man of small stature, but well proportioned ; he is athletic and takes a lively interest in all manly sports and recreation. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 199 HARRY C. RUNYON His manner is prepossessing and his social qualities have won him many friends. He is genial and witty, and possessed of marked conversational powers, beng conversant with general topics and a master of general literature. CHAPTER XVI. FORMER FRENCH RESIDENTS OF EUZABRTH. [by warren R. DIX, a. m., ll. d.] HERE was a slight sprinkling of Erench in the first settlement of this ancient town. Governor Carteret was from the Isle of Jersey, whence our goodly state was named Nova Caesarea, and he, as most of its inhabitants, was French, although the island was always English governed. In the ship Philip, in 1665, came with him several persons of the old Jersey stock and one real French gentleman, Robert Vauquellin by name, Sieur des Prairie by title, who was from Caen, Normandy. He had much prominence in the infant period of the colony, of which Dr. Hatfield, in his elaborate work, has given some account, but the dark nimbus of an indistinctly recorded antiquity leaves little to be known, much to be guessed at, of that initial time. But about a century later came in here the distinguished French Protestant Huguenot family, the Boudinots. One of them, the Hon. Elias Boudinot, was a brilliant star in Elizabeth history. He was a member of the first and president of one congress, and a leader in every good word and work, both in church and state. As an evidence of his liberality and good taste, we may mention a pair of heavy, glass chande- liers, which he imported from Paris and presented to the First Presby- terian, church in this town. For sixty or seventy years they hung from the ceiling of the church, not less ornamentally than usefully, but are now (1870) suspended in its stairways. But not until the close of the last century, and the expatriating, life-hunting period of French history was La Belle France^ represented in Elizabeth in any mentionable degree. From that time on until as late as perhaps 1810 or 181 4, when the Bonaparte dynasty was overturned, this place was a nucleus of many highly respectable and intelligent French families of the regime ancien. They were principally Catholics in religion, but not bigots in social life, and we may safely infer that, what with the sympathetic gayety of spirit, bonhomie empressement, and being not without that universal passport, la monnaie, they obtained a pleasant social position in their American home and were a very acceptable addition to the old borough circles. * * * * gy^ they have left no souvenirs behind, scarcely in the grave, and where they lived, scattered around the town, is known by few living. They were worthy property-holders, and in the registry office at Newark you will find the only full record of their names. * * * * The warm inter-attachments of those worthy refugees is HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 301 attested by an incident first mentioned to me by a very respectable gentleman, one of our citizens, who states that about the year 1810, at which time those remaining here were much embarrassed in means by the fluctuation of affairs in France, several returned thither to obtain the desired relief. Passing one day the houSe next below St. John's church, then occupied by one of these families, he was witness to an affecting scene, when those going on this pressing embassy to their perturbed native land, — a future reunion so uncertain, — and those left behind found it hard to tear themselves from one another's arms in the midst of tears and tender adieus. M}' venerable informant himself could not recall this little incident with an unmoistened eye." The foregoing is taken from a series of articles written by the Rev. William Hall and published in the Elizabeth Journal in 1870. Mr. Hall mentioned a number of names, but very properly states that he is by no means sure that the orthography is correct. Among them are De Maroles, Terrier de Laistre, D'Anterroches, De Touchimbert, Vergereau, De Clot, De Ponte, Du Buc, Cahierre, Godet, Triyou, Malherbes, Cuyer, Dufor and Almond. A writer in the New York Evening Post, some years ago, in an article about old Elizabeth Town, speaks of the French refugees in part as follows : " Among them are the residences of many noble French refugees who, during the Reign of Terror and the Directory, made their way to America and found a safe retreat in Elizabeth Town, induced to do so, probably, by its healthful situation, cheap living and cultivated society. When I name among the refugees the Duke de Lauzu, Vicompte de Caradeux, de Crevicaur, d'Alembert, de Eaitre, Macon, de Bellegarde, d'Anterroches and their families, while a few miles out of town M. de Malesherbes lived in his retirement, the Budens, de Marolles and others, no one can doubt that cultivation and refinement adorned the social gatherings of Elizabeth Town. Generally these refugees were poor, and many of them were obliged to teach for their living. Thus it was that the younger members of the American families became good French scholars, proficient in music, drawing and dancing, besides embroidery and every kind of fancy-work, which these lively and accomplished people taught so pleasantly. Many of the chevaliers could embroider as women, and excelled in that art, lately revived after a lapse of years, called crewel work. This faculty of speaking pure Parisian French procured for ond young man of Elizabeth Town a most agreeable friendship. He had entered the English navy, and was a midshipman on board the ship Euryalus when that vessel was .sent to bring to England the royal family of France. No officer on board could speak French well enough to interpret for the royal guests, when some one suggested that young R. spoke the language fluently. He was sent for froni the cockpit, and acquitted himself well, conversing so agreeably that the Princesse Royale, Duchesse d'Angouleme, took the greatest 2U2 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY fancy to him, and would take his arm to walk the deck. Many years afterward, when Loiiis XVIII. occupied the throne. Lieutenant R. visited Paris ; he was invited to dine at the Tuileries with the royal family, and there invested with the order of St. lyouis. ***** A lady who had been ' dame d'honneur ' to the queen, sent to New York for a priest, and had her baby girl christened ' Marie Antoinette, Char- mante Reine, que je t'adore,' — the whole sentence. Occasionally friends from New York or Philadelphia would pass a few weeks in the town, and add to the pleasant circle. Monsieur Otto, a friend of Lafayette, on one of these visits became attached to Miss Eliza Livingston, then staying with one of her sisters, and married her. M. Otto was the first French ambassador to England during the short peace of 1801. * * * * Many of the French refugees returned to France previous to the restora- tion of the Bourbons ; a few families remained until that period and then left Elizabeth Town forever." So far as known to the writer, none of the French families mentioned by Mr. Hall or the author of the article in the Post have left any descendants in Elizabeth, save only Joseph Louis, Count d'Anter- roches, and as his descendants are through his daughters the family name has disappeared from the land. His second son, Paul, named after his kinsman, Lafayette (the latter's letter acknowledging the compliment is in the writer's possession), went to France and married his own cousin, the daughter of Jean Blaize Vicomte d'Anterroches, lieutenant-marshal of France, and left a number of descendants in France. The history of Joseph Louis d'Anterroches — particularly his early life and marriage — is romantic and interesting, but lack of space prevents more than a reference to it here. Any one interested in the subject will find the story charmingly told in an article, entitled "Two Old Jersey Weddings, " published in Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly for August, 1893. He appears to have been the first of the French colony here, and in some sense their leader. He came to America dur- ing the Revolutionary war, and marrying Mary, daughter of Captain David Vanderpoel, of Chatham Bridge, ultimately settled in Elizabeth Town. After the war was over and communication with Europe re- stored, the consents of parents, as required by French law, were ob- tained, and a second marriage ceremony performed at the chapel of the French legation in New York city, according to the laws of France and the rites of the Holy Roman church, as stated in the certificate, a lengthy document certified* by the very Count Otto above referred to, a copy of which is in the writer's possession. The Chevalier d'Anter- roches, as he then was, visited France in 1789, and with his little son, Pierre, was presented at the court of Louis XVI. , the child wearing a French officer's uniform, which is still preserved in the family. The Chevalier — later he became baron and count — purchased property here, and seems to have been instrumental in bringing his compatriots here HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 203 — many of them from the West Indies. Belonging to one of the most ancient and prominent families of the kingdom of France, his residence here was, no doubt, known to many, thus calling attention to the place. An old French resident used to tell of hearing Elizabeth Town spoken of in the West Indies, earl}' in this century, by people who knew no more of the United States than this place, which had become celebrated as a pleasant city of refuge from the trouble in their own land. The writer has in his possession a letter from Thomas Jefferson, then our representative in France, to la Comtesse d' Anterroches de Chaunac, the mother of the Chevalier, advising her how to communicate with her son at Elizabeth Town, and as the Chevalier later on had his only brother, the Vicomte, and an uncle, the bishop of Condom, among the emigres who accompanied the Bourbon princes when they fled to Eng- land, no doubt Elizabeth Town was known to many of the nobility. In 1798 Chevalier d' Anterroches bought for M. Paul de Malherbes, of Martinique, a " plantation " of ninety-six acres on the road to Rah- way, at what is known as the Wheat Sheaf, and built for him a fine house, still standing. Copies of the Chevalier's letters to M. de Mal- herbes relative to the purchase, and to the bankers in London through whom the funds were transmitted, are in the writer's possession. M. de Malherbes was evidently a man of large wealth, — the business transactions between him and the Chevalier involved thousands of pounds sterling, — and he is said to have lived in the mansion at the White Sheaf in grand style. There is a tradition that when entertain- ments were given, the road to Elizabethtown — some three miles — was illuminated at night. There were others also of large means who lived in great style. A recent writer, speaking of them, says: "Many brought slaves with them from the West Indies, and there is a pic- turesqueness and a foreign flavor about their life in the town that hangs like an attractive atmosphere around some shabby mansions, stranded on old highways or in neglected corners of the modern city." Though bred for the church, the Chevalier was a soldier by choice, and was a consummate tactitian. In the Whiskey Rebellion he was the adjutant-general of the mounted troops from New Jersey, and won the hearty praise of military leaders, among them General Harry Lee, as evidenced by an official order, a copy of which has been preserved. His letters to his wife during the rebellion are very interesting. Later he was given a captain's commission by President Adams, when war was threatened. His uncle and brother dying in London, his presence was required on the other side, and while there his father and mother also died, and while seeking to settle his affairs he too died, early in the century. He was, of course, a Roman Catholic, and when the children were to be baptized a priest was brought from New York, as in the case of the queen's maid of honor above mentioned, but later on one or more of the younger children were baptized in St. John's Epis- 204 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY copal church, and at least one of the children, the writer's grandmother, was advised by her godmother, Mrs. Mariah Pryse Campbell {nee de Rouselet) to attend St. John's, as there was no Roman Catholic church here, and, judging from the tombstones in St. John's yard and the church records, others too turned to St. John's for the offices of the church. The following extract from the church records and inscription on one of the tombstones must close this sketch : BURIALS. 1793, July 36th, Was interred in St. John's churchyard at Eliztli Town the Remains of Anne Renee Desverger De Mauperluis, widow De Marc Antoine Nicholas Gabriel, Baron De Clugny, late Governor General of the Islands of Guadeloupe and dependencies, in the presence of the fol- lowing witnesses — Jean Gabriel Prevost De Touchimbert, Relative of the Deceased, Guardian to her Daughter and Executor of her lyast Will and Testament-; Joseph L,ewis Chev"" D' Anterroches, Marc De Labretesche, Inhabitants and Citizens of Eliztli Town, State of New Jersey, in North America, and Pierre de Falquieres, Capt" of Grendiers of the Guadeloupe Regrnt who had accompanied the said Anne Renee Desverger De Mauperluis, Widow De Marc Antoine Nicholas Gabriel Baron De Clugny, to this place in the capacity of a friend, and was intrusted with her interest. Witnesses : Jean Gabriel Prevost de Touchimbert. J. Iv. Chr- D' Anterroches. Marc De I^a Bretesche. P. Defalquieres. Sam'l Spraggs, Rector of St. John's Church, Eliztt Town, Here lies Demoiselle Julie DuBuc de Marcucy, born in the Island of Martinique, on the 21st of May, 1750, and Deceased at Elizabeth Town, in the State of New Jersey, on the nth of July, 1799. Her brother, Abraham Du Buc de Marentille, recommends the respect and the care of this tomb to the hospitable inhabitants of this Town. CHAPTER XVII. THE CITY OF EUZABETH. HE first charter of the city of Elizabeth was granted March 13, 1855, by act of the legislature of New Jersey. The proposition was submitted to the people, for their ratifica- tion or rejection, at a special election in April, of the same year, and the city government went into operation on the ist of May following. By an act of legislature, approved March 4, 1863, the charter was revised and enlarged, and, from time to time since, there have been amendments, as necessity demanded . The city government is in the hands primarily of a mayor, city council of sixteen members, and a sinking-fund commission. The last was created by an act of the legislature, and consists of the mayor, comptroller, and three commissioners, appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the city council. There is a board of education, the six- teen members of which are elected by the people. The members of the board of health are appointed by the mayor, and confirmed by the city council . The board of excise consists of the mayor and three commis- sioners elected by the city council. The officers of the city government have their offices in the City Hall, a commodious brick structure erected in 1865, at a cost of eighty thousand dollars. In the building are also a commodious public market, and police headquarters and lock-up. The city offices and council chamber occupy the second floor. The mayors of Elizabeth since its incorporation, in 1855, have been : Elias Darby, May i, 1855, to May i, i860 ; James Jenkins, May I, i860, to May I, 1861 ; James B. Burnet, May i, 1861, to May i, 1863 ; Philip H. Grier, May i, 1862, to January i, 1871 ; Francis B. Chetwood, January i, 1871, to January i, 1873 ; William A. Coursen, January i, 1873, to January i, 1875 ; Robert W. Townley, January i, 1875, to January i, 1878 ; James S. Green, January i, 1878, to January I, 1879 ; Robert W. Townley, January i, 1879, to January i, 1880 ; Peter Bonnett, January i, 1880, to January i, 1882 ; Seth B. Ryder, January i, 1882, to January i, 1883 ; Joseph H. Grier, January i, 1883, to January i, 1890 ; John C. Rankin, Jr., January i, 1890, to date. POSTAI. FACILITIES. That Elizabeth has the best postal facilities, is best evidenced by the fact that it enjoys unusual transportation facilities to and from all points 206 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 207 of the compass, thus insuring prompt and efficient service all over the world. The United States government postoffice building in this city is regarded as a model one in point of convenience and arrangements for postal purposes. This fact, coupled with good management on the part of the postmaster, in all of the ramifications of the office, denotes execu- tive ability and discipline of a high degree of efficiency. No more efficient or courteous corps of employes is to be found in the service of the government. FIRE DEPARTMENT. In the matter of fire protection, no city not having a paid depart- ment can boast of a better equipped or a more efficient corps of volunteer fire-fighters than can Elizabeth. The apparatus and appliances comprise six engines, each manned by sixty men, and two trucks, manned by fifty men each, and having about fifteen thousand feet of hose. August Gerstung is the chief, John R. Reitmeyer and William T. Cox, assistant chiefs. Although it is a volunteer service, many acts of courage and heroism have been performed, and the losses have been very small. POLICE DEPARTMENT. The policing of the city is divided into two precincts. The first precinct, located at Scotch Place, is under the charge of the chief; the second, on Elizabeth avenue, between First and Second streets, under the charge of the captain. The force comprises fifty men, who are in the regular employ of the city, thirty-eight of them being patrolmen, one keeper, three sergeants, two detectives, two desk men, one license sergeant, one lieutenant, one captain and one chief Booths have been placed in the various sections of the city, and have proven of incalculable benefit to the department. The record of the department is one of which the city can be proud, and the individual members have the respect and good will of the entire community, and Elizabeth is extremely fortunate to have such an an able and efficient set of officers. PUBLIC WORKS AND CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. The city council is composed (1897) of the following gentlemen : President, John B. Barr ; members, John J. Gardner, John T. Brady, James Oakes, Robert G. Houston, George E. Van Voorhis, George L. Daubner, Paul N. Noll, Jr., William D. Jenkins, Francis Engel, William J. Carlton, Samuel J. Berry and Robert L,. Patterson. The city officials are John C. Rankin, Jr., mayor ; John D. Barr, councilman-at-large ; James J. Manning, city clerk ; Albert B. Carlton, comptroller ; James Morrison, city treasurer ; Edward S. Atwateir, city attorney ; Ernest L,. Meyer, city surveyor; N. K. Thompson, street commissioner; George C. Tenney, chief of police ; Charles Kurtz, chief of fire department ; William Eckerson, overseer of the poor; Dr. E. G. Putnam, health 208 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY officer. These gentlemen comprise, in their entirety, a body of men under whose capable management the interests of the city are sure to prosper and grow. RAILROAD FACIUTIES. In frequency of trains, rapidity of communication with the busi- ness section and cheapness of commutation and fares, none of the cities that furnish homes to business men of the metropolis can offer railroad facilities that can for a moment be compared with those of Elizabeth. Its union depot being situated at the junction of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Central Railroads, distant from New York by the former 14.2 miles, and by the latter 13.5 miles, trains may be obtained by one road or the other with almost the frequency of city street cars, and cer- tainly without the trouble of even consulting a time table. The New Jersey Railroad & Transportation Company's line, now held under lease and known as the Pennsylvania Railroad, was opened for traffic through Elizabeth in 1836. In 1835 Colonel James Moore located the line of the Central Rail- road of New Jersey from Elizabethport to Somerville, and it was opened from the latter point to Broad street early in 1836. The con- struction of the extension of the same to New York was begun in the fall of 1862. The Newark-bay bridge was completed and the road opened to New York, including Communipaw ferry, August i, 1864. The Perth Amboy branch, formerly the Elizabethport & Perth Amboy Railroad, began its construction early in 1871, and opened for business, in connection with the New York & Long Branch Railroad, as far as Long Branch, on June 28, 1875. THE NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY TELEPHONE COMPANY. Probably there is no city of equal size in the United States which has more adequate and satisfactory telephone service than Elizabeth. This condition is due to the progressive spirit of the citizens in endorsing modern improvements, and to the efficiency and activity of the New York and New Jersey Telephone Company and its agents. This company established its office in Elizabeth in 1880, and has made continued and steady progress to the present time. A special list of Elizabeth subscribers, issued March i, 1897, shows an increase of over one hundred names during the preceding two months ; this is suggestive as indicating the healthful growth of the company's business. This continued increase is attributed by the management to the completion of the metallic-circuit system by which all long-distance service is rendered satisfactory, and to a system of charges which places the service within reach of every one. Elizabeth has the distinction of having the first long-distance subscribers to The New York & New Jersey Telephone Company, as well as of being among the first in HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 209 adopting and enjoying many of the improvements in telephone construction and methods. The company has lately introduced what is known as the selective system, — an approved method by which several subscribers can be placed on the same wire without interfering with each other. The territory of the New York & New Jersey Company includes all of L,ong Island, Staten Island and northern New Jersey, while through its connection with the long-distance system it reaches all points served by telephone. Most of its subscribers are equipped with long-distance instruments, and an Elizabeth subscriber can comm^unicate as readily with Baltimore, Boston or Chicago, as with New York, Newark or Plainfield. The demand for telephone service has long since outgrown an entirely local system, and the present subscriber feels the necessity of connection with different points. The main offices of the company are at i6 Smith street, Brooklyn. The officers are as follows : Charles F. Cutler, president ; W. D. Sargent, vice-president and general manager ; Joel C. Clark, secretary ; H. S. Snow, treasurer ; J. C. Reilly, general superintendent. The New Jersey division is under the superintendence of H. G. McCully, while the affairs of the Elizabeth office are directly managed by Charles M. Root. Other exchanges operated in. Union county, by the New York & New Jersey Company, are at Plainfield, Rahway and Westfield. LIBRARY HALI. AND ELIZABETH PUBLIC LIBRARY AND READING ROOM. The first attempt to establish a public library was made through the incorporation of the Elizabeth lyibrary Association, by a state charter, February 14, 1856. At the first election of officers, Benjamin Williamson was made president, and John T. Gilchrist was made secretary. The following year the erection of the present large building was begun, and it was completed at a cost of fifty thousand dollars, and ever since that time, under the original and subsequent boards, it has been used partly as a public library. The Young Men's Christian Association came into existence and the rent of rooms was given it under the condition that a public library be maintained. When this association passed out of existence the books reverted to the original association. The Elizabeth Public I/ibrary and Reading Room occupies two commodious rooms on the second floor. This institution owes its origin to the efforts of Rev. W. S. Langford, formerly rector of St. John's church, who founded a public reading room in the " Arcade " in 1880. In 1883, in answer to the promoter's appeal, several thousand dollars were raised and an adjoining room added and fitted up with shelves. On November 12, 1883, a public reading room and library, with fifteen hundred books, was opened to the free use of the citizens, this same being under the care of the librarian, Thomas Bergen. I^ater the association was incorporated. 210 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY In 1887 the library outgrew its original quarters, and at the invitation of the trustees of Ivibrary Hall, the rooms in that building once belonging to the Y. M. C. A. were offered free of rent; these were refitted and the books of the old Y. M. C. A. library added to the volumes in the public library. The support for the library becoming inadequate and debt accumulating, a special effort was made by the president. Dr. R. Wescott, and the board of trustees, and a fund was raised by the citizens generally which relieved the library from all embarrassment. The present officers of the Elizabeth Public L^ibrary and Reading Room are Melville Egleston, president ; Miss Jane I^eigh Mahan, secre- tary ; Howard Richards, treasurer ; Mary E. Brittin, librarian ; Ellen C. O'Brien, assistant librarian. In addition to the library the building includes a hall for public meetings and theatrical performances. The late Charles Howell became secretary of the Elizabeth Library Association in 1862 and continued to hold that office, with that of manager, until his death, in 1878, when his business partner, Jonas E. Marsh, became the incumbent. The present officers of the Elizabeth Library Association are as follows : J. Williams Crane, president ; James C. Ogden, vice-presi- dent ; Meline W. Halsey, secretary and treasurer. EDUCATIONAI, ADVANTAGES. The public schools of Elizabeth are a special pride to its cit- izens. The number of public schools comprised in what is called the graded system is ten, besides four parochial schools, under the supervision of the Roman Catholic church, and numerous private schools. The officers of the board of education are : Wyckliff B. Sayre, president ; Joseph D. Lowden, secretary ; W. J. Shearer, A. M. , superintendent. There are in the public system five primary, three grammar, one high and one normal school, — the latter two being in the same building. Public School No. i, is located on Third street. The building was erected in 1855. ^- Holmes is principal. Public School No. 2 is located on Morrell street, and the building was erected in 1858. N. W. Pease is principal. Public School No. 3 is located on corner of Second avenue and High street. The building was erected in 1872. W. D. Hyer is principal. Public School No. 4 is located on Cherry street. The building was erected in 1885. W. F. Robinson is prin- cipal. Public School No. 5, a primary school, is in a brick building on Fourth street. Miss L. E. Braun is principal. Public School No. 6 is also a primary school, the building being on Adams avenue. Miss M. E. Parrot is principal. Public School No. 7 is located on Grier avenue, the building having been completed January 15, 1894. The school known as the Grier Avenue Annex was transferred to this building February i, 1894. Miss J. R. Meeker is principal. Public HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 211 School No. 8 is located on the corner of Sixth and Fulton streets. Miss K. A. Hughes is principal. Battin High School is located on the corner of South Broad and South streets. By a deed bearing date March 20, 1889, with the name of Joseph Battin signed thereto as a grantor, the city of Elizabeth was made the recipient of the most magnificent gift in its history, at the hand of one of its citizens. The property deed embraces a tract of one hundred and fifty-five feet on South Broad street, the entire frontage on South street to Williamson street, and one hundred and seventy feet on the latter. On this laud is built one of the largest and most magnifi- cent private residences in the state, widely known as the " Dimock Palace," erected by Anthony W. Dimock, just previous to the panic of 1873. The deed of this property, as a gift from Mr. Battin, was given into the hands of the mayor on March 25, 1889. The building is an extensive three-story brown-stone structure, with spacious halls and rooms en suite ; the fioors, casements, stairways, doors, mantels, and fittings being of the most costly natural woods. Its original cost was two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and on the day it was handed over to the city it was perfect in every appointment. N. w. PEASE, ex-county superintendent of schools in Union county, and principal of public school No. 2, of Elizabeth, first engaged in educational work in 1854, in East Long Meadow, Massachusetts. He was born in what is now the town of Hampden, Massachusetts, and was prepared for his work in the Wesleyan Academy and the Wesleyan University. He taught two terms in Springfield, Massachusetts, and then removed to New Jersey, in the fall of 1857, and was engaged to take charge of the schools at Rahway, where he remained nearly ten years. In March, 1867, he removed to Elizabeth, to take charge of school No. 2, and has since remained in that position. Mr. Pease was appointed county superintendent in 1868, and served in that capacity practically twenty-one years. When first appointed, he found the whole educational field in a comparatively unorganized condition — district boundaries poorly defined, schools, school manage- ment and methods of instruction at a very low standard; trustee boards poorly informed both as to their duties and responsibilities under the state school law. By consolidation and centralization he reduced the school districts from thirty-five to twenty-one, thereby giving better schools to outlying and small districts. His first object was, after forming new district lines, to have a uniform course of study propounded, and such a course having been discussed in trustee and township board meetings, was adopted by each township board separately. This was done in 1878, and it resulted in great improvement to the schools. 212 HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY Principals were put in charge of these consolidated schools, and when- ever a slight change in the course was deemed necessary he met with the trustees and principals and discussed the subject until an agreement was reached in the matter. This course, still in use and slightly changed, has unified the edu- cational work of the county and has been followed quite extensively even in other states, being introduced by teachers from this county or by teachers who had learned of it through them. Calls for copies of the course of study, even from points far distant, were of frequent occurrence, until it was found impracticable to respond to them. It is but just to say here that a few other counties in New Jersey, about the same time, evolved and put in operation similar courses of study. Thus it was demonstrated that country schools could be successfully graded and their needs met by a uniform course. In connection with the course above mentioned a system of annual examinations for the issuance of certificates for primary and grammar, and a diploma for high-school pupils, was provided for, and lists of questions were prepared by committees of principals, appointed by the county superintendent, and adopted after a full discussion, by vote. Times for examinations were assigned, and the county superintendent knew just what was going on in every school at any hour during the examination. The principals also helped grade all examination papers. School libraries were also established, under the law, during Mr. Pease's term, and all the school buildings of the county, except two, were rebuilt or remodeled. Mr. Pease has been an active worker in county and state teachers' associations ; also in the National Teachers' Association, and fre- quently in the National Council of Kducation. He is the son of a New England farmer, and is descended from one of the early families of that region. He was married, in Union county, to Alice Howard, by whom he had two children, both of whom, how- ever, are deceased. THE LANSLEY BUSINESS COLLEGE was established in Elizabeth in August, 1873, and the following year was incorporated, and located at the head of East Broad street on the corner of Jefferson and Magnolia avenues, where it still remains. There are provided for its patrons, several independent courses of study, of which may be mentioned : First, a business course ; second, a college-preparatory course ; third, an eclectic course ; and fourth^ a stenographic and typewriting course. Pupils of either sex are admitted, and they often remain for years in this college,— here completing their education. Dr. James H. I^ansley, proprietor and principal of the college, is a thorough instructor, as well as a rigid HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY 213 disciplinarian. By his extraordinary abilities he has made of this institution an educational centre of Elizabeth, especially for a thorough business education, as an evidence of which may be noted its many graduates now holding responsible positions with banks, railroads, lawyers and business men, both in and outside of the city. THE PRIVATE SCHOOLS OE THE PAST. On the 23d of October, 1746, the charter of the "College of New Jersey" was granted to Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, pastor of the First Presbyterian church, and others. Dickinson was the iirst president, and taught his pupils in the old parsonage on the south side of that part of the old Rahway road, now known as Pearl street, between Washington avenue and Race street. "It was a frame building covered with shingles and painted red ; in form it was long, two low stories in front, and the roof declined to the rear in a long slope, terminating at the height of one story above the ground." Upon Dickinson's death, in 1748, the college was removed to Newark, and the Rev. Aaron Burr, became its president. In 1756 President Burr moved it to Princeton, its present site. Passing on to a period which reaches the memory of the present generation, we have Mr. Coudert's school established near the " Wheatsheaf." Of this school no records are at hand. In 1806 the " Adelphian Academy" was erected in what was then called "Horse Hollow," which place it occupied until it was removed to give way to the present market house, on Elizabeth avenue. The teachers remembered are Mr. Periam, Mr. Ross, Mr. Stickney, Mr. Woodruff, Mr. C. J. Luster, Mr. Smith, Mr. Root and Mr. A. D. Rowe. THE MASSIE SCHOOL. Peter Massie, whose decease occurred in 1840, left, in his will, the sum of five thousand dollars for the education of the needy poor. From the avails of this fund a small building was erected on East Jersey street, in which, under successive teachers, a school was kept under the provisions of the will until 1863. With the approbation of the chan- cellor, the avails of the original bequest were transferred to the educational department of the Orphan Asylum; and they are still applied to the salaries of the teachers in that institution. The building is now occupied by the Hope Mission, on Olive street. MR. fay's school. Julius A. Fay, a graduate of Williams College, came to this city in 1845. He had been principal of the Stockbridge (Massachusetts) Academy, the Freehold (New Jersey) Academy, and for eight years head of a leading classical school in Baltimore. This last named he transferred to this city, opening a school of high order in "The 214 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Chateau" on Rahway avenue. The school was continued until 1864, but Mr. Fay owned "The Chateau" until his death, in 1887. MR. FOOTE'S SCHOOL. Frederic W. Foote, well known as a teacher, and afterwards editor of the New Jersey Journal, commenced his labors as teacher in connection with St. John's parochial school, during the ministry of the Rev. Mr. Noble. On the discontinuance of this school Mr. Foote became teacher of the public school in the North End school house; then, in 1833, the principal of his own private school, which was conducted with honorable success until he became editor of the New Jersey Journal, in 1863. His useful life was brought to a sudden termination in 1879. THE PINGRY SCHOOL. Among the private schools of to-day should be mentioned the Pin- gry, an institution of the highest repute, founded in 1861 by Rev. John F. Pingry, Ph. D. The school is in a flourishing condition to-day. Mr. Young's School was established by John Young, who came to this city in 1854. In i860 he built a dwelling house, on West Jersey street, where he now (1897) resides, and where he has carried on his work to the present time. Miss Ranney's School was established in 1861 by Miss N. D. Ranney. In 1881 she resigned her school to Miss Purviance, who, in 1889, resigned to Miss Hunt. The Union School, afterward known as the Elizabeth Institute, for young ladies, com- menced its sessions in 1861. It subsequently became known as Miss Higgins' School, and under the wise management of this teacher is still held in well deserved repute. The well known and efficient institution, on North Broad street, known as the Misses Sargent's School, was established in 1867. Two years later the Misses Vail and Deane's English and French School for young ladies was opened by Miss Hayward, near Jefferson park. In 1877 it was moved to North Broad street. The management changed hands in 1866. Mrs. C. B. Knapp's Home School for young ladies and children was opened in 1889. Rev. John T. Halsey taught a private school in Elizabeth for many years. He was born in 1797 ; was graduated at Union College, New York, in 1816, and died, at Elizabeth, in 1842. ST. JOSEPH'S ACADEMY, conducted by the sisters of St. Dominic, was first opened on April 18, 1876, by Rev. Mother Dominica, with five other sisters. They had been called hither by the Rev. Father M. Gessner, rector of St. Patrick's church, Elizabeth, and until 1892 utilized a frame building on the corner of First and Wall streets. As the number of the pupils rapidly increased, the necessity of a larger and more appropriate build- HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 215 ing was more keenly felt, and on the nth of June, 1892, the corner- stone of the present handsome and commodious building was laid, and completed and ready for the reception of scholars in September, 1893. PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS. St. Patrick's Parochial School is located in Court street, and is the oldest Catholic school in the citj'. It was established in i860, by Rev. Father Werzefeld. A two-story building, containing ten rooms, was erected, and an addition was made by Father Hennessey some years later, but the wants of the parish became so great that in 1883, the Rev. Father Martin Gessner opened a new building, next to St. Patrick's church, that was one of the finest in the state. The building is three stories high and is fire proof. There are fourteen class-rooms, and four rooms for offices, library, etc. The cost was sixty thousand dollars, and the school has a seating capacity for twelve hundred pupils. There are now enrolled one thousand students. St. Mary's Parochial School is located on Washington avenue, and was built by Rev. Father Howell, about 1861. Rev. Father O'Neill is principal at the present time, being ably assisted by Rev. Father Brady and the sisters. The school is supported by the parish. There are six rooms and six teachers, and on the roll three hundred pupils. St. Henry's Parochial School is located on Magnolia avenue, and consists of several class-rooms, over which preside four sisters from the convent adjoining. The school was established by Rev. Henry L,emke, in 1869, and was first located in the nunnery, but in 1873 the present building was erected. The Rev. Father Wirth is in charge, and the school is supported by the parish. St. Walburga's Select School is connected with St. Henry's parish, and is presided over by two sisters. The School of the Church of the Holy Rosary is under the charge of Rev. Father J. J. Smith, assisted by the Sisters of Charity. This is a new parish and is located on First avenue. FINANCIAL AND STATISTICAL. In Elizabeth are five banking institutions, — the First National Bank, National State Bank, Citizens' Bank, Union County Savings Bank, and Elizabethport Banking Company, — each of which is provided with ample capital. The First National Bank was chartered in 1864; capital, $200,000; surplus fund, 1152,781.02; organized as a national banking institution in 1864. President, William R. Thompson; vice-president, M. W. Reeve; cashier, Edward 1,. Tillou. The National State Bank was chartered in 1812; organized as a national banking institution July 13, 1865; capital, #350,000; authorized capital, $1,000,000; surplus profits, $280,000. President, John Kean, Jr. ; vice-president, Julian H. K'ean; cashier, James Maguire. The Elizabethport Banking Company 216 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY HISTORY OF XJNION COUNTY 217 was chartered in 1890; capital, $50,000; surplus, $30,000. President, Frederick Heidritter; vice-president, Ivester Davis; cashier, Walter O. . Smith. The Citizens' Bank was chartered in 1890, with a capital of $50,000; surplus and profits, $70,000. President, Amos Clark; cash- ier, Edward A. Faulks. The Union County Savings Bank receives deposits from one dollar to five thousand dollars. Deposits draw interest from first days of January, April, July and October. President, Job S. Crane; vice-president, E. C. Woodruff; treasurer and secre- tary, Meline W. Halsey. THE SUBURBAN EIvKCTRIC COMPANY. This corporation began its career in 1891. The premises occupied by the company cover about thirty-five thousand square feet of ground, located at 71-77 Murray street. The main building is 70 x 324 feet in dimensions, and the boiler-house has a stack one hundred and fifty feet in height, and contains six boilers, with a combined capacity of twelve hundred horse-power. The power house is connected with the most distant points of the city, — including Roselle, Cranford, and Westfield, — there being nearly four hundred and fifty miles of wire required for this service. One hundred and fifty-five arc lamps are constantly used, the full capacity being two hundred and twenty-five, while the incandes- cent-lighting capacity of the plant is fifteen thousand lamps, fourteen thousand and sixty-seven of which are in daily use, besides two hundred and ninety-nine electric fans, the horse-power of motors installed being one hundred and forty. Besides the current necessary for the above lighting purposes, an immense quantity is generated daily for motive- power purposes and other needs, -the concern being prepared to furnish electricity for cooking, heating, etc. The oflficers of the company are A. M. Young, president; Henry Hayes, vice-president; B. G. Bryan, treasurer; E. H. Stevens, secretary and general manager. THE EIvIZABETHTOWN WATER COMPANY. This company was founded and incorporated in 1855. It is furnishing the citizens of Elizabeth over four and one-half million gallons of water a day, the same being conveyed through seventy-six miles of mains. They also have two hundred and sixty-one hydrants, six thousand taps, and sixty meters, with large independent mains for manufacturing purposes, offering special low rates to manufacturers. The pumping system is located on Westfield avenue, near Harrison street. Here they have seven pumping engines of the Worthington system, with four boilers, of four hundred horse-power capacity. A new plant has just been completed, two and one-half miles from the city. In the hummock forty-six wells were sunk, at depths ranging from two hundred and fifty to five hundred and eighty feet, and a supply of water furnished, which, on being analyzed by Professor Leeds, is pronounced 218 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 219 to be the purest and finest that nature can afford. The cost of the entire plant will be about two hundred thousand dollars. The capital stock of the company is two hundred and forty-five thousand dollars. The officers are as follows: John Kean, president; Julian H. Kean, vice- president ; J. W. Whelan, secretary and treasurer ; and h- B. Battin, engineer. ELIZABETHTOWN GAS LIGHT COMPANY. This company was organized and incorporated in 1854. Its capital stock is three hundred thousand dollars, and its gas is supplied through nearly every street and thoroughfare in the city, while miles of pipe are laid through two-thirds of the entire county. There are about one hundred miles of pipe and eight hundred street lamps. The capacity of the plant at present is five hundred thousand cubic feet a day, and employment is furnished to from fifty to sixty men. The price of gas has been reduced from four dollars and fifty cents per one thousand cubic feet when the company started, to one dollar and fifty cents per one thousand, as at present. The ofiBcers of the company are John Kean, president; F. K. Price, secretary; Julian H. Kean, treasurer; and Francis Engel, superintendent. MANUFACTURING. Experience has shown manufacturers that it is far more economical and convenient to locate factories in Elizabeth than in New York, and this accounts for the many large business interests here, with offices in that city. In this connection the Kill-von-KuU and Staten Island sound, constituting one of the greatest water-ways in the world, together with the freight facilities by rail, should be mentioned, as the prosperity of Elizabeth is, in a commercial sense, indebted to these highways of traffic. Commerce at the port amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars annually, while the railroad facilities of Elizabeth render it unnecessary to unload any car destined for any port in the United States or Canada. There are but two systems of freight traffic here, but they are comprehensive. The fast-freight lines of the Pennsylvania system are the Union, National, Empire, and Erie and Western I^ake and Rail or Anchor, direct track connections being had with the Ivchigh, New York, Susquehanna and Western, and West Shore. Over the tracks of the New Jersey Central run the following freight lines: White, Red, Blue, Nickel Plate, Merchants' Dispatch Transportation Company, Inter- state Dispatch, Erie, American Express, New York, Lake Erie & Western, Traders' Dispatch, Lehigh Valley, Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, and West Shore & Housatonic. Among those early in Elizabeth Town as manufacturers should be mentioned the name of John Ogden, one of the founders of the town. 220 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 221 He early erected a dwelling on the town plot, and was the first to operate a mill. His house, it is thought, was erected on Elizabeth avenue, near where Robert Ogden, his great-grandson, and Colonel Barber afterward lived. John Ogden was appointed justice of the peace, on October 26, 1665, and was the representative of Elizabeth Town in the legislature in 1668. His water mill was near the dwelling house of Governor Carteret. "This mill," says Hatfield, "was located immediately west of the Broad-street stone bridge, and, with the dam across the creek just above, was doubtless constructed by Mr. Ogden, whence the creek was frequently called Mill creek, or Mill river. The governor's house was located east of the bridge and north of the creek, on the ground latterly occupied by the Thomas house. ' ' Timothy Ogden, a descendant of John Ogden, was a tanner by trade, and during the Revolutionary period operated a tanyard on what is now Elizabeth avenue, near Spring street, and in close proximity to his house. His son, John Ogden, father of James Ogden, the undertaker, carried on the cabinet trade. THE SINGER MANUFACTURING COMPANY. The immense plant of this company is located at the corner of Trumbull and First streets, where is utilized an area of about fifty acres, with a water frontage on Newark bay of sixteen hundred feet, and a building frontage of about one mile in length. The buildings occupy in their entirety nineteen acres of floor space. This is one of the largest industrial establishments in the world, and the company employ from four thousand to six thousand operatives in the manufacture of the celebrated Singer sewing machine, now sold in all parts of the world. The first Singer machine was made in Boston, in 1851, and the firm of I. M. Singer & Company (Edward Clark being the "company"), was formed that year, whereupon the business was moved to New York city. Subsequently a large factory was built on Mott street in that city, but in 1863 the enterprise passed into the hands of the above named company, and the selection of the present site in Elizabeth was made. Ample facilities, both by water and rail, have been obtained, there being over four miles of railroad track within this yard alone. The main office of this company is located at 149 Broadway, corner of Liberty street. New York, and the ofiicers of the company are Frederick G. Bourne, president; William Proctor, first vice-president; Douglass Alexander, second vice-president; E. H. Bennett, treasurer; C. A. Miller, secretary; L,. B. Miller, superintendent of the factory. BROOKLYN & NEW YORK RAILWAY SUPPLY COMPANY. Besides street cars, this company manufactures car trucks, either for its own or cars of other makes. They are also the makers of the L. 222 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY & F. passenger-fare register, which was the first fare-register to be manufactured. It registers one hundred thousand fares, and is up to date in every respect. Bronze trimmings for car or other work are also a product of this plant. The company utilizes a splendid brick build- ing, covering fifteen thousand square feet of floor space, and located at the corner of Third and Pine streets, Elizabethport. The enterprise was started as Lewis & Fowler Manufacturing Company, in 1885, and incorporated about that year, but on December 5, 1895, it was reorgan- ized, and the firms of Lewis & Fowler Manufacturing Company and James A. Trimble consolidated and reincorporated under the present firm name, having a capital stock of two hundred thousand dollars. Since the reorganization of the company they have increased their facilities and added every improvement of the latest design. They have, when running at full capacity, from four hundred to six hundred employes, but with the increase of business from the revival of trade, their working force will be largely increased. The power of the plant is furnished by two boilers with a capacity of three hundred and fifty horse-power, and two engines, one of one hundred and fifty and one of two hundred horse-power. The official corps is as follows: James A. Trimble, president; W. L. Brownelle, secretary; C. L. Cammann, Jr., treasurer. THE BALL & WOOD COMPANY. The remarkable progress made in engine-building in recent years has made this branch of industrial activity one of more than ordinary interest, and to no single firm is the mechanical world more indebted for this advancement than to the reliable, well established Ball & Wood Company. The plant of this company of engine-builders occupies a very large ground area, upon which have been erected two handsome brick structures, one of them 200 x 90, and the other 60 x 20 feet in dimensions. Besides these there are numerous outbuildings. These buildings are filled with the most modern machines and tools known in the manufacture of high-grade engines, and the plant is a model one in every respect. Employment is furnished to ninety skilled mechanics in the various branches of the business. The engines built by this company are for all classes of work, and are simple and compound, horizontal and vertical automatic cut-ofF engines, one of their recent productions being an engine by which the direct connection of the dynamos can be made. The shops were built expressly for their work and are fitted up with the latest improvements, among them being an electric crane. The advantage derived by buyers of their engines are : simplicity, absence of parts requiring frequent adjustment, regularity in speed, the limited space for engines and fly wheel, a compact form insuring rigidity in all parts, the use of short belts in place of long ones, the avoidance of gearing to produce high speed, and the extraordinary saving in room, building and foundation. The company is incorporated HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 223 under the laws of New Jersey, and its ofl&cers are : Thomas E. Wood, president ; Charles R. Vincent, vice-president, and I^angdon Greenwood, Jr., secretary and treasurer. The plant is located at Elizabethport. S. t. MOORE & SONS COMPANY. The Samuel L. Moore & Sons Company, was founded in 1854, and incorporated in 1886, with a capital stock of three hundred thousand dollars. This well established company occupy fifty-eight city lots, upon which are erected machine shops, one brass and two iron foundries, besides numerous outbuildings and sheds, these being filled with the most modern machinery known in the iron and steel workers' art, many of them being of the company's own design and invention for the special purposes of their business, in the production of chemical works, machinery oil, machinery, engines, mining machinery, copper furnaces, etc. The numerous machines manufactured by the company are all made from new and improved patterns. The company employ in the various departments of their business about three hundred skilled mechanics; the products are shipped to Mexico and Cuba, and from Maine to California. The power of this immense plant, known as the Crescent Iron Works, is furnished by five engines, having a combined one thousand horse-power, connected with a suitable battery of boilers. The officers of the company are Douglass G. Moore, president; Albert B. Moore, vice-president; M. F. Moore, treasurer and secretary; and W. W. Ackerman, assistant secretary. HENRY R. WORTHINGTON. This concern in its entirety is the most extensive of any here devoted to the manufacture of machinery in general. The first Worth- ington engine was built over forty-two years ago, and applied to the water-works service in the city of Savannah, Georgia. Six years later the improvement known as the duplex-valve motion was invented, and from that time Worthington engines have been so extensively intro- duced for the supply of water for the cities and towns that to-day there are more of them in use than all other types combined. Of the three higher classes of the Worthington pumping engine, upward of two hundred and forty have been built and furnished to water-works in all parts of the world. Henry R. Worthington received a medal and high- est awards on twenty-four types of pumping engines, steam pumps, etc.; also a special award for their general exhibit. This was the award of the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. The main ofiices and hydraulic works, covering many acres of floor space, and having numerous buildings for the various departments, where they employ one thousand hands, are located at Van Brunt and Rapelyea streets, Brooklyn. A branch plant is located in this city at the foot of Trum- bull street, and covers six acres of ground, on which there are numer- 224 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY ous buildings used as foundries, pattern shops, pattern store houses, brass foundry, core shop, crane shed, sand and core shed, numerous outbuildings, and they have just added a new store house and core shop. They furnish constant employment to five hundred mechanics in this city. So extensive is the plant and so well equipped is it that the largest orders can be executed in a very short time. Founded in 1845 it was incorporated in 1891, under the laws of New Jersey, and at the present time has branch offices in every leading American and Cana- dian city; also in all the principal cities throughout the world. The officers upon whom devolves the management of this immense concern are C. C. Worthington, president, and Theodore F. Miller, treasurer and secretary. ELIZABETH ICE COMPANY. The business was founded in 1866 by Reeve & Company, and was known as the Elizabeth Ice Company; incorporated in 1887, with a capital stock of sixty thousand dollars, and is now known by the same name. The growth of the business can be best shown by the state- ment that the company when first started gathered all of their ice from the surrounding ponds, but upon the erection of the water works they began to cut and buy ice from them. Besides the cutting of ice they have a Blymyer ice machine for making artificial ice, manufactur- ing and storing about five hundred tons in winter, and running from April ist to December ist, day and night, in order to supply their immense trade. The machines have a capacity of thirty tons a day, and the company manufacture about nine hundred tons a month. The water used in making their ice is condensed steam, condensed by running cold water over tubes containing steam, and is not subject to the atmosphere from the time it enters the boiler until it reaches the can. The company have three boilers of eighty horse-power each, and employ from twenty-five to thirty men, running from ten to twelve wagons. The officers of the company are M. W. Reeve, president; C. H. K. Halsey, treasurer; R. S. Williams, superintendent. BOWKER FERTILIZER COMPANY. This meritorious industry was established in 1880, and was incor- porated under the laws of Massachusetts, and is now operated on a capital stock of one million dollars. The company are to-day one of the largest manufacturers of fertilizers and phosphates in the country. The grounds of the company cover over seven acres, most of which is occupied by buildings of various sizes, scattered in different parts of the premises ; main buildings are three to four stories high, and have a frontage on Staten Island Sound of one thousand feet, with a depth of water abreast the works of about eighteen feet. The yards are interwoven with a network of switches connecting with the Central Railroad and, through HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 225 it, reaching any trunk line in the country. The company are manu- facturers of about fifty or sixty standard brands of fertilizers, among them being the celebrated Stockbridge manures. Another product is a special feed for fowls and animals, which includes animal meal, ground beef scraps and ground oyster shells. They are also manufacturers of sulphuric acid. Mr. Bowker was the first one to introduce into this country the method of using pyrites instead of brimstone with sulphur burner, as formerly. They have an elegantly equipped plant for the production of sulphuric acid, sparing no expense, the lead alone used in this plant having cost twenty-five thousand dollars. There are four sheets of this material used in each tower, being eleven feet three inches wide and twenty-six feet high, weighing five thousand eight hundred pounds each. They have in various departments of this establishment about one hundred and twenty-five employes, and have a shipping capacity of six hundred to seven hundred tons a day, if needed. Their output is shipped to all portions of the United States, but principally to the section east of the Mississippi river. The company have, besides the factory in this city, a very extensive one at Brighton, Massachusetts. The officers of the company are : W. H. Bowker, president ; and Henry F. Coe, treasurer. G. H. Gustin is superintendent of the Elizabeth factory. COOKE BROTHERS. One of the most prominent concerns engaged in this line is that of Cooke Brothers, manufacturers of animal oils. Their plant occupies about three and one-half acres of land, on which is erected a main building, 300x450 feet, besides numerous outbuildings and sheds; the company have a large dock frontage, which enables them to ship goods by water as well as rail. The firm are manufacturers of animal oils for lubricating purposes, including high grades of lard, tallow and meats, foot oils and stearine for soap and candle-makers' use. The low temperature of these oils is their specialty, the products being so manu- factured that they run freely in cold weather. The plant was entirely destroyed by fire in 1892, and has been reconstructed on a large scale, with all the latest conveniences and appliances. The works are run night and day — having both day and night shifts. The firm was started in 1865 as Cooke Brothers, later becoming Cooke Brothers & McCord, then again Cooke Brothers. The individual members of the firm are C. A. and H. C. Cooke. EUGENE MUNSELL & COMPANY. The Manhattan Stove Works are located on Fulton and Marshall streets, between First and Second. The business was established in 1840 by Munsell & Thompson, at Crescent, New York. In i860 it was. removed to this city and at the start utilized the factory now occupied by Graff & Company. The present factory was built by 15 226 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Munsell & Thompson, and occupied in 1870. The foundry building is 200x75 feet, with two additions 100x40. This firm manufacture heating and cooking stoves, furnaces, fire-place heaters, brick-set and portable ranges, gasoline and oil stoves, etc. , and are proprietors of the Manhattan stoves. Their trade extends all over the United States and to foreign countries, and they employ a large force of men constantly. The firm is composed of Eugene Munsell, I^ewis W. Kingsley and Franklin Brooks. CRESCENT SHIP YARDS. In 1895 Mr. Lewis Nixon, formerly constructor of the United States navy, leased the Crescent Ship Yards, Elizabethport, from the Samuel L. Moore & Sons Company. The company was at once reorganized, with Arthur ly. Busch, construction manager, and C. C. Bowers, superintending engineer, and during the past twelve months they have built vessels to the value of seven million five hundred thousand dollars. It was at the Nixon Ship Yards that the yacht Free Uauce, now acknowledged to be the finest craft afloat, was built. The record made an her trial trip was twenty-one miles an hour. During the last year the company have built twenty-four vessels and repaired fifteen others. The yard is situated on Staten Island Sound and covers about forty-eight and one-half acres. They employ a working force of five hundred expert mechanics. THE NEW JERSEY DRY DOCK & TRANSPORTATION COMPANY is located on South Front street, and was incorporated in 1883. It has a most excellent establishment for the building of wooden vessels, and the repairing of both iron and steel ones. Three hundred skilled mechanics are furnished constant employment in the various depart- ments. The entire establishment covers two hundred and fifty thousand square feet, with a frontage of one thousand feet on Staten Island Sound. The officers of the company are Henry D. Heissenbutter, president and secretary; A. L. Alpers, treasurer; Thomas Dunn, general manager. THE SANFORD CLARK COMPANY. This company was founded in 1892, by Sanford Clark, and incor- porated in 1894. The company are probably the largest dealers in masons' supplies in the city, and they employ six workmen for the handling and delivering of their goods. The ofiicers of the company are Sanford Clark, president; and H. A. Bushnell, secretary and treasurer. W. C. Arzt, manufacturer of wagons used by merchants for delivery purposes, entered into this business in 1892. His factory is located on South Spring street. Twelve workmen are employed. Alfred S. Campbell, art photographer, was formerly in business with HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 227 the late Sarony, in New York. In 1886 he removed to Elizabeth where he began in a small way a business which has now grown to large proportions. He employs from three hundred to four hundred expert workmen, and last year manufactured over one hundred million stereoscopic pictures and photographs of distinguished celebrities, mostly for the Sweet Caporal brand of cigarettes. The works of W. H. Rankin are at the foot of Elizabeth avenue. He is a manufacturer of painted felt, roofing pitch, three-ply brown felting and tarred single, and two-ply and three-ply roofing. Eight different kinds of roofing paper are made in these works, from woolen rags. Under the name of the Empire Target Company, Mr. Rankin manufactures annually about ten million flying targets, or clay pigeons, for sports- men's use. The business was established in 1873. A. & F. Brown are manufacturers of power-transmitting machinery. Three buildings, on Third street, Elizabethport, are occupied in the manufacture of shaftings, couplings, hangers, ai^d iron pulleys. Motive power is derived from a two hundred horse-power engine. The firm was founded in 1855 by Adolph and Felix Brown, and at that time they employed about thirty men. They now employ two hundred and fifty skilled mechanics. On the death of Adolph Brown, in 1881, Felix Brown, Sr., assumed full charge of the business. The Pacific Rubber Company occupies a building on East Jersey street, in the manufacture of mackintoshes, rubber cement and coat cloths, for corset and hat manufacturers and for hospital sheetings. The business was commenced in 1893, and it now gives employment to more than eighty operatives. The officers of the company are: S. G. Hartshorne, president; J. E. Gates, vice-president; and F. M. Harts- horne, secretary and treasurer. Charles Spittlehouse, whose large establishment is located on East Broad street, is successor to Tower & Spittlehouse, who began the plumbing business in 1862. From a small beginning this business has grown to its present proportions, and now about twenty workmen are employed. James H. Faulks, also a skillful plumber, occupies a large building of his own on West Jersey street, and gives employment to about twenty men. Mr. Faulks began in 1873, with L. C. McCabe. He makes a specialty of the "Triumph King Heater." The manufacture of awnings, tents, etc., was commenced in 1890 by R. G. Ivaggren, at 8 and 10 Julian Place. In 1891 he was joined by Mr. John Ball. The premises occupy over twenty-three thousand square feet of floor space, utilized for manufacturing purposes. Employment is furnished to twelve men. Reilly & Purcell began business as boiler- manufacturers and sheet-iron workers in 1894. The plant is on Trum- bull street and employment is furnished to ten skilled mechanics. The firm of F. J. Blatz and Brother had its inception in 1865, when 228 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 229 it bore the name of Schreiber & Blatz. The plant of the firm is located at the foot of High street and occupies four buildings. From sixty to seventy-five skilled male workers are furnished employment in making the best grades of gloved kid, exclusively of goat skins, and the product is chiefly used for uppers in ladies' shoes. Benjamin F. Straus, the proprietor of the Elizabeth Wagon Works, began the manufacture of wagons in the city in 1886, and his "business since that time has grown until to-day his wagons are shipped to every part of the United States and, in fact, of the civilized world. He now furnishes from twenty-five to thirty skilled employes steady work the year round. The Peter Breidt City Brewery is located on Pearl street, near Rector. This enterprise was started by Filer & Bayer in 1864. In 1882, after the buildings had been unused for years, Mr. Breidt purchased the premises and began to rebuild the entire property. The company was incorporated in 1885. The water used in the manufacture of the beers, ales and porters of this company is secured from a well six hundred and seven feet deep. The plant has a capacity of twenty-five thousand barrels annually, and employment is given to thirty workmen. The immense business of the Rising Sun Brewing Company had its inception on March 21, 1887, the plant being located at the corner of Seventh and Marshall streets. The output in the first year was fifteen thousand barrels, and in 1896 the output was fifty thousand barrels. Charles Seeber is president. ELIZABETH POTTERY WORKS. This ably conducted establishment was set in operation under its present management in 1879, succeeding the old company which had been in existence from 1835. The premises occupied for manufacturing purposes comprise buildings covering fully an acre of ground. The products of the company are semi-granite druggists' ware, jardiniers, etc. They employ one hundred and fifty men. George S. Morley is manager; L. B. Beerbower, sole proprietor. AMERICAN GAS FURNACE COMPANY. This well equipped plant is located at I^afayette, Spring and Elizabeth streets, and was established in 1879 and incorporated in 1887. The company are manufacturers of the American oil-gas machine, gas- blast furnaces, forgers, burners, etc. They make a specialty of install- ing complete fuel-gas plants for all manufacturing purposes, and in 1894 they were awarded a medal by the city of Philadelphia, on the recommendation of the Franklin Institute. This company was started in an extremely small way, about fourteen years ago, but their business has so grown from year to year that to-day all their pattern and foundry work has to be done by other firms. The officers of the company are: E. P. Reichhelm, president, engineer and manager; George Machlet, 230 HISTORY OF tfNION COUNTY vice-president and factory superintendent; Robert Von Cleff, treasurer; F. DiefFenbach, secretary. GRAFF & COMPANY are manufacturers of high-grade furnaces, heaters and ranges. The foundry is an extensive one, located at Elizabethport, the whole plant occupying an entire block, and being equipped with every modern appliance for producing first-class work. They employ a force of more than eighty skilled workmen, and their products are shipped to every part of the United States. The members of the company are John M. Graff, W. M. Seymour and John H. Forshew. Frank Dakin is superintendent. A. HEIDRITTER & SONS. The lumber business of Heidritter & Sons was established in i860, but the senior member of the firm was here engaged in mercantile pursuits many years before. The main office, planing mill, etc., are on the New Point road and Point avenue. The sons, Frederick L,- and Augustus Heidritter, Jr., are the present members of the firm. The yards and mills are well located so far as railroad facilities are con- cerned. Sidings run into the yards, and lumber, coal and other material are received in cars direct from the timber-cutting districts and the mills and mines of the west and south, without being rehandled. The firm have extensive lumber yard, warehouse and wharves on the Elizabeth river, near Staten Island Sound. THE BORNE-SCRYMSER COMPANY are manufacturers of mineral lubricating oils and grease, and are located on Staten Island Sound. Starting in 1883, they have gradually increased their plant until to-day it covers fourteen acres and consists of various buildings, scattered throughout the grounds. There are about sixty iron tanks used for storing oils and ranging in capacity from fifty to two thousand barrels each. The company manufacture about one hundred different grades of oils. The crude oil used is run through pipes from the oil regions. They have a barrel run of over one thousand feet in length, and there are always to be seen huge piles of empty barrels, occasionally numbering as many as ten thousand. All sections of the buildings are connected by a system of pipes, and there are seven stills, with a capacity of twenty-five to six hundred barrels each, and they have one tank holding thirty-five thousand barrels and two holding fifteen thousand barrels each. One section of the buildings was destroyed by fire about four years ago, entailing a loss of one hundred thousand dollars. This has been entirely rebuilt, and their facilities greatly enlarged. The plant is admirably adapted for shipping purposes, having docks on the water front and switches from the railroad running directly into the HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY 231 works. The company originally started in Brooklyn with a small experi- mental plant, capable of producing four hundred and fifty barrels of manufactured oil per month. They increased their capacity from year to year till 1883, when, on the destruction of their plant by fire, they removed to this city and built their present works ; to these they have been constantly making additions until to-day their capacity is one thousand one hundred barrels of finished oils per day. They employ forty workmen in their various departments. They have for the sale and handling of their manufactured products offices and agencies in every civilized country in the world, with offices at 80 and 81 South street, New York. The officers of the company are : J. E. Borne, president and treasurer ; Charles E. Renshaw, secretary ; Theodore G. Sullivan, general manager ; George H. Kline, superintendent of works. 232 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY CHAPTER XVIII. THE CHURCH HISTORY OF ELIZABETH. HE early religious history of the town of Elizabeth is involved in uncertainty. As early as 1667 Dr. Hatfield, from whom we quote liberally, says it is quite probable the sturdy men here wended their way to Newark to hear their venerable pastor, Abraham Pierson, who, with large accessions from Branford and Guilford, Connecticut, had taken up residence with them in that new settlement. Mention is made of the town house as early as June, 167 1. The " Town House " and the " Meeting House," were one. It is quite probable that this house was erected about the year 1665 ; for as early as February 19th, of that year, they held a ''meeting court," at which the whole town was present, and sixty-five men took the oath of allegiance and fidelity. The lot on which the house was built included the present burying-ground of the First Presbyterian church, extended on the west of the river and contained about eight acres. The earliest survey of the lot bears date of June 5, 1732, and was made by Joseph Mann, surveyor. The meeting house occupied the site of the present church, but was much smaller. Graves were sometimes dug on ground now occupied by the church building, and the whole area of the First church probably is occupied with the remains of the first two or three generations of the people of the town. Rev. Thomas James, pastor of the church of East Hampton, Ivong Island, was chosen, in 1667, first minister of the town, and had consented to cast his lot with them, but was persuaded by his people to abandon the enterprise. The Rev. Jeremiah Peck, son of Deacon William Peck, of New Haven, Connecticut, born near London, England, in 1632 or 1623, became a freeholder of this town in 1668, and about this time, on invitation extended by the people to serve them in the ministry, became first pastor of the church in this place. According to Cotton Mather's statement, Jeremiah Peck was gradu- ated at Harvard College in 1654, but his name is not included in the Harvard catalogues. He was employed as a teacher at Guilford, Connec- ticut, where he married Johannah, daughter of Robert Kitchell, of that town, November 12, 1656. He was minister to the people in Saybrook, Connecticut, from 1661 to 1665, when he returned to Guilford, and with his father-in-law, many of the Guilford people, and the greater part of Branford, with Mr. Pierson, their aged minister, came to Newark, in the autumn of 1667, becoming one of the founders of that town. His house 234 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY lot was on the east corner of Market and Mulberry streets, adjoining that of his father-in-law, on the latter street. It is probable that he served the town in the ministry until Mr. Pierson's arrival, on October i, 1667. Mr. Peck was known extensively as a minister of the gospel, and applications for ministerial services were made at different places. In 1678 he accepted an invitation to settle with the people of Greenwich, Connecticut, in the ministry, and here he remained till 1690, when he went to Waterbury, Connecticut, where he died, in 1699. Rev. Seth Fletcher became the second minister in the town, in 1680. His death occurred in August, 1682. He was a graduate of Harvard, in 1645; was the first minister of Middletown, Connecticut, in 1664; subse- quently of Wells, Maine, where, owing to the laxness of his views on the sanctification of the Sabbath, he was dismissed, in October, 1660. He was a man of scholarly attainments and of much zeal for the truth. There was no settled pastor of the church from the death of Rev. Mr. Fletcher, until the year 1687, when a call was made to and accepted by the Rev. John Harriman, a native of New Haven, Connecticut. This worthy minister was trained under the rigid old Puritan, the Rev. John Davenport, by whom he had been baptized. In his thirteenth year he came under the instruction of Jeremiah Peck, at that time principal of the grammar school at New Haven, and afterwards the first pastor of this town. He received his college education at Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was graduated in 1667. After his graduation he returned to New Haven and taught the Hopkins Grammar School several years, and in 1674 accepted a call to preach at Fordham, continuing in the ministry till his death, which occurred August 20, 1705. On the day of his death, he preached, and told his people, says the Boston News Letter, " that his time of departure drew near, and exhorted them to peace and unity with one another, and to stand fast in the covenant that they had engagad themselves to." Mr. Harriman was a man of great exactness and of large business. He had a hundred-acre lot " in the plains," and this he cleared and cultivated. He leased and operated the old mill which John Ogden had built, at the bridge on the creek. In 1698-1701 he built his house in Meadow street, north of Jersey street, and he had also a cider press, an agency for furnishing glass to his neighbors; now and then he surveyed lands, and was elected as a deputy to the legislature in 1693, 1695 and 1698, and kept a boarding school also. Mr. Harriman dealt largely in real estate and also in slaves (at least for his own use.) " We bought the negro, Toney, August 14, 1697, from Charles Tooker, Jr., for forty-eight pounds." Again, " October 28, 1701, he bought of Mr. James Emot an Indian girl, named Hagar, for nineteen pounds, ten shillings." It was during Mr. Harriman's ministry that the Episcopal church in the tow£_was formed. At first the rival church services were held at Colonel Townley's house, but afterward in the church building. Mr. Harriman held the first, beginning at eight A. m., — the established HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 235 custom of meeting on the Ivord's day, — ending at ten, A. m., after which the house was used by the Episcopalians, but with the proviso that they should not read any of the prayers of the church. They were permitted, however, to read the psalms, lessons, epistle and gospel, and says the Rev. John Brooke, the first minister of St. John's church : "I said all of the rest of the service by heart." Rev. Samuel Meylen, son of Jacob Meylen, one of the founders of the town, was the next pastor. He was a graduate of Harvard College, in 1696, after which, in 1700, he taught the grammar school at Hadley, Massachusetts. It is probable that he came here in 1703, and at the decease of Mr. Harriman was left in charge of the congregation. His ministry was short, his sun going down behind a dark cloud, about the year 1708. He was accused of some immoralities, unfitting him for the pulpit. He resided in the town until his death, which occurred in 1711. Rev. Jonathan Dickinson was the next pastor. He was born April 22, 1688, at Hatfield, Massachusetts. He was a graduate of Yale, in 1706, came here in 1708, and married Miss Meylen, sister of Rev. Samuel Meylen, in March, 1709. His ordination took place Friday, September 29, 1709, and his death occurred October 7, 1747. By common consent Mr. Dickinson was the greatest man whose name adorned the annals of his town. He was a voluminous writer, and Tracy, in his "Great Awakening," calls him one of the greatest and safest men of that age. Dr. Sprague says : " It may be doubted whether, with the'^ingle excep- tion of the elder Edwards, Galvanism has ever found an elder more efficient in this country than Jonathan Dickinson," while the Rev. Dr. John Erskine, of Edinburgh, said, " the British Isles have produced no such writers on divinity in the eighteenth century as Dickinson and Edwards." Such was the minister who began his labors, as a mere youth, in a town whose field of labor had begun to stretch out in every direction. During his ministry his church changed from independency to Presby- terianism, and at the meeting of the newly constituted synod of Philadel- phia, September, 17 17, his name is enrolled as the youngest member of that body. In the synod of 1721 he was chosen moderator. At the meeting of the synod in 1727 it was proposed to require of every minister and candidate a hearty assent to the Westminster Confession and cate- chism. Mr. Dickinson, the ablest and most influential member of the synod, as Dr. Hodge calls him, at once took grounds against the propo- sitition. His reasons for rejecting it were afterward printed, April 10, 1729, by Zenger, at New York — a copy of the document having been found in the old South church library, Boston. Having been placed on the committee to whom the proposition was referred, he succeeded in uniting the whole synod in the support and adoption of the measure thence- forward known as the "Adopting Act." The period in which Mr. 236 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Dickinson served his church, was noted for the prevalence of skepticism. To breast and beat back these waves of error he prepared and preached to his people a series of discourses, which were soon afterward printed in a convenient manual edition. He wrote many books. In 1733 the presbytery of east New Jersey was formed out of the presbytery of Phila- delphia, and Dickinson at once became the head of the new presbytery. In 1738 he and his church became connected with the presbytery of New York. Monday, October 19, 1739, the Rev. George Whitfield visited Eliza- beth Town and preached to upwards of seven hundred people, in Mr. Dickinson's church, and in the spring the gifted Whitfield preached for them again. In the year 1740 occured the well known revival, with manifest and marvelous benefits to Mr. Dickinson's congregation as well as to those elsewhere. In the month of June " near about sixty persons have received a saving change in this congregation alone," writes the pastor to the Rev. Foxcroft, of Boston. Mr. Dickinson had long felt the necessity of a collegiate institution more accessable than Harvard or Yale, and mainly through his efforts a charter was granted, October 22, 1746, for the College of New Jersey. The first term it was opened at Mr. Dickinson's house, on the south side of the old Rahway road, directly west of Race street. Mr. Caleb Smith, a graduate of Yale College, was the first tutor. The first graduates of this institution became prominent men in the church, having received their education for the ministry from the instruction of Mr. Dickinson and his tutor. In the midst of these laborious employments Mr. Dick- inson died, of pleurisy, October 7, 1774, in the sixtieth year of his age. The Rev. Elihu Spencer, born at East Haddam, Connecticut, February 12, 1721, was graduated at Yale College in 1746; ordained September 14, 1748; was employed about the ist of May, 1749, first as a stated supply, then as pastor of this church. Owing to the absence of the church records, nothing can be learned of the fruits of his ministry, which terminated in 1756, about seven years from the time of its commencement. J. Rev, Abraham Kettletas, a graduate of the class of 1752 at Yale College, served the church at " at ^i.io.o per Sabbath" as a candidate for six months, " at 130 lyite Money. " He was inaugurated September 14, 1757, and his ministry continued till the month of April, 1760. The pulpit now remained vacant more than one year and a half, during which time not less than twenty-one different ministers of the gospel preached in the church. In November, 1761, Rev. James Caldwell, a Virginian, received a call which was accepted. On the 14th of March, 1763, Mr. Caldwell was united in marriage to Hannah, the daughter of John and Hannah (Sayre) Ogden, of Newark. Her father was the great-grandson of John Ogden, the planter, who came to this town in 1664. Mr. Caldwell was HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 237 a graduate of the College of New Jersey, in 1759, and was licensed to preach July 29, 1760. The ministry of Mr. Caldwell was a memorable one. During his time the great war of the Revolution was fought, and his participation in that struggle gave him a national rather than a local reputation. He was the patriot minister of that church giving his life, at the hands of a murderer, upon his country's altar, November 24, 1 781. His wife, too, the greatly beloved Mrs. Hannah Caldwell, in one fatal moment, was shot down by a British rufiian, instigated by malice, deliberate and infernal, on June 8, 1780. Mr. Caldwell's ministry was fruitful of some great revivals in religion. The apostolic Whitfield preached twice in this church on November 27, 1763, and he himself alludes to the "four sweet seasons at New Jersey College, and two at Blizabethtown on my way hither." A great revival occurred in 1796, and many additions were made to the church during the years of 1771 and 1772, in particular. Mr. Caldwell had an ardent temperament, and dared all that a man could dare for his country, in the rush of events precipitating the war of the Revolution. His patriotism appeared in all of his prayers, often in his sermons and exhortations, and, in consequence, no society in the land took a bolder, nobler stand than that of Caldwell. Among his congre- gation at the commencement of the Revolution were such men as William Livingston, the noble governor of the state ; Elias Boudinot, afterwards president of the continental congress ; Abraham Clark, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence ; the Hon. Robert Ogden, speaker of the assembly at an earlier day, with his three sons, Robert, Matlinas and Aaron, — the last two becoming distinguished officers in the United States army ; the Hon. Stephen Crane, speaker of the assembly; Elias Dayton and his son Jonathan, both of whom subsequently became general officers of the army, and the latter, speaker of congress; William Peartree Smith, one of the most distin- guished civilians of the day; Oliver Spencer and Francis Barber, both of them colonels of the New Jersey Brigade; and others,— amounting in all to forty-two commissioned officers and about one hundred officers and privates in toto, who went forth, inspired by the shepherd of this flock, to fight the battles of independence. In April, 1776, Colonel Dayton's regiment, made up of many officers and privates of Mr. Cald- well's congregation, was ordered to march to the relief of the northern army, then besieging Quebec. Mr. Caldwell accompanied this regi- ment, as its chaplain, preaching for them ordinarily twice every Sab- bath, and always taking an active part in the military operations. During the absence of this regiment British troops took possession of Staten Island, which greatly alarmed the people of this town for their personal safety. Early in the autumn Mr. Caldwell, therefore, returned to his family and people, his services being here pressingly needed. In November of 1776 he took his family up into the mountains, and found 238 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY a retreat for them in a place then called Turkey, now New Providence. From this time forward Mr. Caldwell was occupied more or less continually in the service of his country, to the close of his life. The journals of congress show that on March 15, 1777, two hundred dollars were ordered to be paid Rev. James Caldwell, of Elizabeth Town, for extraordinary services. On the 27th, $4,873.54 were ordered to be paid Rev. James Caldwell ' ' for the services of a company of light horse of Essex county, in the state of New Jersey, commanded by Captain Jacob Wynans, their horse hire and expenses." At various times, during the war, Mr. Caldwell not only served as chaplain of the Jersey Brigade, but as assistant commissary-general, and his salary from April, 1777, to April, 1779, consisted only of what his congregation gave in the Sabbath-morning collections. On February 25, 1779, the parsonage was destroyed by the torch of the enemy. During the year 1778, Mr. Caldwell resided in Springfield, and in the summer of 1779 he removed to Connecticut Farms, in order to be nearer his people, it not being safe for him to reside at a nearer point. The church was destroyed by fire on the night of January 25, 1780, and the services were thenceforth held in Colonel Hatfield's "Red Store House," nearly opposite the site of the old parsonage, which was situated on the lot west of Race street, fronting on the Rahway road, and nearly opposite Sherry. It was probably while preaching here — Mr. Caldwell preached with his pistols lying on either side of him in the pulpit, and sentinels had to keep watch during the time of service — on June 8, 1780, that his beloved wife was killed at Connecticut Farms. The house was plundered at the same time, and what was not carried off was destroyed. Many of his papers were carried to New York and some of his corres- pondence published in Rivington's Gazette. No one save Governor Livingston was more feared and hated by the Tories and the British than Mr. Caldwell. Gladly would they have kidnaped him if they could, and, doubtless, they would have done it had he continued to reside in the town. In the fall of 1780 he was chosen a member of the state council, and he continued in these several capacities until the autumn of 1781, when he too was murdered, as before stated, November 24, 1781. The circumstances attending this mournful event were as follows : " Mr. Caldwell being informed of the arrival, at the Point, in a flag-ship from New York, of a lady whose family had been peculiarly serviceable to our unhappy fellow citizens, prisoners with the enemy, proposed wait- ing on her, and conducting her to the town, as a grateful acknowledge- ment of the services offered by her family as above mentioned. He accordingly went to the Point in a chaise for that purpose, and after the young woman had been seated in the chaise, the sentinel observed in her hand a handkerchief tied up in a bundle, and told Mr. Caldwell he must sieze it in the name of the state ; on which Mr. Caldwell jumping out of HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 239 the chaise, said if that was the case he would return it to the commanding officer who was then present ; but as he stepped forward another imper- tinently told him to stop, which he immediately did, but notwithstanding this, the soldier, without further provocation, raised his gun and shot him dead on the spot." — [New Jersey Journal, November 28, 1781.J The lady whose advent occasioned the calamity was Beulah, daughter of Robert and Mary Murray. The villian who did the shooting was immediately seized and secured. His name was Morgan. As there was no cause for the murder, it was commonly believed that he was bribed by the enemy. He was found guilty of murder and was hung, at Westfield, on Tuesday, January 29, 1782. The body of Mr. Caldwell was carried to the Public House at the Point, and from there brought to town in an ambulance, a crowd of people, greatly excited, gathering by the way. The people seemed to be crushed under the sad calamity. The funeral services were performed on Tuesday, the 27th, the whole town suspending all business and gathering, in uncontrollable grief, at the house of Mrs. Noel. The Rev. Dr. Alex. McWhorter, of Newark, performed the services, preaching from Ecc. viii:8. His body was laid by the side of his wife's remains, and over the graves was placed a marble slab, with the following inscription: Sacred to the memory of the Rev. James Caldwell and Hannah his wife, who fell victims to their country's cause, in the years 1780 and 1781. He was the zealous and faithful pastor of the Presbyterian church in this town, where, by his evangelical labors in the gospel vineyard and his early attachment to the civil liberties of his country, he has left in the hearts of his people a better monument than brass or marble. STOP, PASSENGER ! Here also lye the remains of a woman who exhibited to the world a bright con- stellation of the feminine virtues. On that memorable day, never to be forgotten, when a British foe invaded this fair village and fired even the temple of Deity, this peaceful daughter of heaven, retired to her hallowed apartment, imploring heaven for the pardon of her enemies. In that sacred moment she was, by the bloody hand of a British ruflSan, dispatched, like her divine Redeemer through a path of blood to her long-wished-for native skies. Mr. Caldwell left nine children, four sons and five daughters, with but a scanty patrimony at the best. The Hon. Elias Boudinot cheer- fully took upon himself the administration of the estate and the care of the children. Rev. James Francis Armstrong the next pastor took charge of the congregation in June, 1782, but his labors closed in April, 1784. The new church was dedicated about the ist of January of this year, and during the next two years the congregation was again visited with a special outgoing of the spirit of God. In 1786 Rev. William Adolphus Ivinn accepted an invitation to supply the pulpit, but in six months from the time of his installation, to the regret and indignation of the people, this excellent preacher without much hesitation or delay, accepted a call to the Collegiate Reformed Dutch church, of New York. During this ministry the grant of a lottery was obtained from the legis- 240 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY lature, " towards finishing a building erected by the Presbyterian congregation in Elizabeth Town." September 9, 1788, the Rev. David Austen was ordained pastor of the church. During his ministry the graceful spire was erected, and subscriptions for the purchase of a bell obtained. Mr. Austen began, in 1790, the publication, by subscription, of the "American Preacher," — a serial containing some of the choicest discourses of living American divines, without respect to denomination. Four volumes were issued, between the years of 1791 and 1793. In the meantime Mr. Austen's attention was directed to the prophecies of the Bible. Indeed, about this time men everywhere were studying the remarkable events of the period in which they lived, under the inspiration of the wonderful movements of divine Providence, and the pulpit throughout the land began to resound with earnest utterances against Babylon, and in prophecy of the speedy coming of the millennial reign of Christ and his saints. In pursuing the study of these sublime and mysterious oracles, the excitable temperament of Mr. Austen gracefully yielded to the cur- rent of general belief that seemed to sweep everything before it. In the spring of 1793, first in his own church and again, on April 7th, in New York, Mr. Austen preached a sermon that produced a profound sensation. The title was "The Downfall of Mystical Babylon, or a Key to the Providence of God, in the Political Operations of 1793-4." Adopting the theory that the days of prophecy are years of Providence, and the twentieth chapter of the Apocolypse are yet entirely in the future, he persuaded himself and most of his congrega- tion that the latter-day glory of the church had already dawned, and that the Redeemer would soon return to earth, and reign personally and visibly over all mankind. This was becoming more and more, from day to day, the absorbing topic of his thought, remark and efibrt. Finally he became perfectl}' convinced that he had ascertained the precise day of the second advent of the I/ord Jesus Christ. He delivered a series of sermons on this topic, from the sixtieth chapter of Isaiah, in language of surpassing eloquence, deeply moving his congregation, who, for the most part, were carried away with the holy fervor of their beloved pastor. At length, on the Sabbath of May 8, 1796, Mr. Austen announced that the Lord would surely come on the ensuing Lord's day, — the 15th. A prodigious excitement followed this announcement. In the midst of this ferment Mr. Austen made all his arrangements to receive his adorable Lord in a becoming manner. There were selected several young females, for whom white raiment was prepared, that they might attend upon the Lord at his coming. Much of the time during the week was occupied with religious exercises. On the evening of Saturday, the 14th, a crowded and deeply agitated meeting was held in the Methodist church. The long-expected, dreaded, wished-for day HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 241 arrived; the church was thronged. The church-going bell tolled long, but the heavens gave no sign. Mr. Austen, after long and wearisome waiting, took the desk, taking for his text, "My lyord Delayeth His Coming." A slight error, it is said, in the computation of dates satisfied some of the congregation, but the more substantial portion were disaffected and deeply grieved. The congregation met April 19, 1797, at which time measures were taken for dispensing with his future services. In June, 1799, the church gave a call to Rev. John Giles, and he was installed pastor on Tuesday, June 24, 1800, but, on the 7th of October following, he applied to the presbytery to be released from his charge, and, the congregation offering no objection, it was granted. Rev. Henry Kalloch was the next pastor. He was ordained December 10, 1800, but in 1803 was removed. The pulpit was again vacant, by the removal of the pastor to another charge. On the 29th of July, 1804, the congregation voted a unanimous call to the Rev. John McDowell, D. D. He graduated with honor at the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, in 1801, professed religion in September, 1802, and was licensed to preach in 1804. A few weeks after his installation he married Henrietta, daughter of Shepherd Kalloch, and sister of his predecessor in the pastoral office. He continued as pastor of this church for a period of twenty-eight and a half years. The attendance on his ministrations steadily in- creased until it reached the full capacity of the church edifice ; so that, in February, 1820, measures were adopted for the gathering of a second Presbyterian church. The number added to his church during his ministry, on profession of faith, was nine hundred and twenty-one ; on certificate, two hundred and twenty-three, — in all eleven hundred and forty-four. The baptisms numbered fourteen hundred and ninety-eight, of which two hundred and eighty-two were conferred upon adults. He was in high repute both as a preacher and an author. As a trustee of the College of New Jersey and as a director of the theological seminary at Princeton, he rendered the most important services to the cause of education and of religion. Calls were extended to him at different times from all quarters of the country, but were not entertained. He was chosen a professor in the theological seminary at Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and in the Union Theological Seminary of Virginia, He was also appointed secretary of the board of missions. In pastoral labors he ranked among the most useful ministers of the church. In April, 1833, a call was extended to him by the Central Presbyterian church of Philadelphia, and was accepted. His death occurred February 13, 1863. The Rev. Nicholas Murray, D. D., succeeded to the vacant pulpit almost immediately. He was a native of Ireland, born in that land December 25, 1802. His parents were Roman Catholics and he was 16 242 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY trained in the dogmas of popery until nine years of age. Then his mother's sister took charge of him, his father having died when he was but three years of age. At twelve years of age he entered a store as clerk, but the brutal treatment of his employer was such that, at the age of fifteen years, he left the place, and soon after emigrated to America. In New York he found employment in the printing establishment of the Messrs. Harper and boarded first with their mother. About this time he was induced by some of his religious associates to hear the Rev. John M. Mason, and was cured of his popery. His development, both mentally and spiritually, was such as to lead several of his godly friends to urge upon him a preparation for the gospel ministry. In the winter of 182 1-2 he began his study of the languages, and in the autumn of 1822 entered the freshman class of Williams College, at Williamstown, Massachusetts, graduating at that institution in 1826. He entered the theological seminary at Princeton, New Jersey, November 9, 1826, and completed his course there May 7, 1829. ^^ "^^ installed here July 23, 1833. His ministry extended through a period of nearly twenty-eight years. He entered fully into the round of pastoral labor to which the people had so long been accustomed, and made full proof of his ability. In the presbytery his influence was second to none. His counsels were highly valued in the synod and general assembly. His labors resulted in the steady growth of the congregation, so that at the close of his ministry, January i, 1861, for the first time in the history of the church, it was declared out of debt, with about four thousand dollars in funds for the poor, in hand. Dr. Murray obtained fame as a writer. He wrote for various publications, but became most widely known, however, through a series of twelve essays on popery, which were subsequently published in book form and excited no little inquiry. A second series followed, on the "Decline of Popery, and its Causes," preached in reply to Bishop Hughes, and these were published widely also. Having revisited his native land, extending his travels to Rome, in 1851, on his return he published a series of letters entitled " Romanism at Home," addressed to Chief Justice Taney, and these appeared in 1852. Besides writing many books for publication. Dr. Murray filled many important and useful positions in his church at large until his death, which came somewhat suddenly. He was called to his eternal home February 4, 1861. At his funeral, on Friday, the 8th, all business was suspended, and a great multitude, including many clergymen, attended the services. His wife and four children survived him. REV. EVERARD KEMPSHALL, D. D. September 18, 1861, Rev. Everard Kempshall was installed pastor of the First Presbyterian church, of Elizabeth. Dr. Kempshall was born at Rochester, New York, August 9, 1830. His father, Thomas Kempshall, was elected member of congress, in 1838, representing HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY 243 western New York, in which section of the state he was interested in nearly every large industrial enterprise. Dr. Kempshall attended Williams College from 1848 to 1851, entered Princeton Theological Seminary in 1852, and was graduated in 1855, receiving the title of Doctor of Divinity from both colleges in ■ 1870. He was ordained at Buffalo, in 1855, and served his first pastorate in Calvary church, of that city, where he spent two and one-half years. He then went abroad for several months, and on his return was called to a church at Batavia, New York, where he served until called to the vacant pulpit of the old First Presbyterian church of this city. In a private journal, dated September 8, 1861, Dr. Kempshall wrote the following : " I have received and accepted a call to the pas- torate of the First Presbyterian church of Elizabeth, New Jersey, made vacant by the death of Rev. Dr. Murray. I trust I have been guided in this step by the spirit and providence of God. The congregation is large and scattered, and there is, I am told, opposition on the part of some to my being settled there as pastor, but if I am in the path of duty which God has marked out for me, He will sustain me, and I trust my decision has been made in the fear of God, and with a sincere desire to follow His leading. It is not without fear and trembling that I enter upon this service, but I cast myself upon God, and lean upon His promises ; that is all I can do." At the time Dr. Kempshall entered upon his duties as pastor of this church, — now thirty-five years ago, — the population of Elizabeth was twelve thousand, and in appearance the city was but a quiet little village. There was not a single paved street, and only on Broad street a partially flagged sidewalk, while at the depot one hack, with its single white horse and venerable colored driver, was the only public conveyance then to be found for passengers through the muddy streets of the city. At that time an old brick wall shut ofi" the church from the road way. A row of venerable buttonwoods stood guard over the church-yard, under which trees 4th of July celebrations were held. The installation exercises of Dr. Everard Kempshall as pastor were opened by the reading of the eighty-fourth Psalm, by Rev. Mr. Edgar, of Westfield, after which an impressive prayer was offered by Rev. Dr. Magie. Rev. Dr. Mclllvane, of Princeton College, preached the sermon, taking for his text the sixth verse of the third chapter of Second Corinthians. On the twenty-fifth anniversary of his pastorate of the old First church, public services were held and his Sunday-school scholars gave him a valuable gold watch and chain. On the thirtieth anni- versary they gave him thirty pieces of gold, and when his health broke down under the combined strain of his pastoral duties and the anti-race-track crusade, his people sent him abroad, supplied his place and continued his salary. He was a delegate to the Pan-Presbyterian 244 HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY council in Belfast, and has often been a representative to the general assembly. ' ' Dr. Kempshall, ' ' says a writer, " is a man of very marked ability. His position on any question is never uncertain. His yea means yea, and his nay, nay. What his hands find to do he does with all his might. His sermons are practical and marked with directness, thought and vigor. He has much local pride and interest and is prominent as citizen as well as clergyman." His sermons denouncing race-tracks and gambling were begun in the spring of 1890. These anti-race-track crusade sermons began about one year before Governor Abbett dropped a hint one Saturday afternoon that unless the people objected, he would sign a race-track bill which the legislature had just passed. The next day a call for a union meeting was read from- all the pulpits of Elizabeth, and in the evening all but two churches were closed, and the people met in a monster anti-race-track gathering in St. John's Episcopal church. The immense building could not contain the throng, and an overflow meeting was held in the old First church. On Monday a large delega- tion from Elizabeth, Rahway, Plainfield, and other towns appeared before Governor Abbett to protest against the bill, and Dr. Kempshall delivered what was known as the " Coon-skin Speech." The bill was not signed. On the same day the State Citizens' League was formed, with Dr. Kempshall as president. In 1892 a bill giving the state five per cent, of all race-track gate receipts, was introduced into the legislature. It was persistently opposed by the Citizens' League, and it died in the committee. In 1893 the race-track men controlled both branches of the legislature and turned a deaf ear to all remonstrance and petitions against their proposed schemes. But the opposition of the people to the race-track element culminated in a public gathering of the citizens of New Jersey in the city of Trenton. This was the "result of a call of Dr. Kempshall, chairman of the Citizens' League, to all the citizens opposed to the race-track power to meet on this date for the purpose of a hearing by the senate then in session. About two thousand citizens of the state responded to this call, but upon entering the capitol, they found the doors of the assembly rooms closed and locked. This seemed to them a crowning evidence of the determined purpose of the legisla- ture to refuse the people a hearing in any form. A cry was raised "Burst the door !" but the janitor, having received direction from the proper authority, opened the door, when the citizens instantly took possession of the assembly rooms, and placed Dr. Kempshall in the speaker's chair. His opening remark was as follows: "FELLOW Citizens of the as yet Free and Sovereign Commonwealth of New Jersey: We are met here to-day not by the permission of Speaker Flynn, but under the right of eminent domain." HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 245 After organization the meeting adjourned to the opera house, where addresses were made by Chancellor Bird, Dr. Scott, pjesident of Rut- gers College, and other eminent men. At this meeting it was resolved that an appeal should be made to the people of the state to overthrow the race-track power at the ballot box. A circular was issued to every minister in the state, and the pulpit and the press united in the effective attack upon this monster evil, resulting indeed, in a revolution of poli- tics throughout the state . The outcome of this agitation was the utter rout of the race-track power in the next session of the legislature, whereas the Republican party, which had not elected a governor for a quarter of a century, — the ordinary majority of the Democratic party having been from eight thousand to twelve thousand, — gained through this agitation a plurality of twenty-three thousand, with control of both branches of the legisla- ture. In that session of the legislature all previous enactments in aid of the race-track interests were repealed, and statutes were enacted which make it practically impossible to conduct race-tracks in the state after the system which hitherto existed. To crown all and make sure that this work of the people, for the people, should not be undone, an amendment to the constitution forbidding all book-making, pool-selling, and gambling of any kind, and forbidding the repeal of existing statutes against the race-track gambling, was passed by the legislature and was submitted to the people for their action, and was unfortunately defeated. The aim of this crusade, of four years' continuance, under the leader- ship of Dr. Kempshall, was to free the state of New Jersey from the humiliating tyranny of gamblers who had gained control of the legisla- ture, and to remove from its citizens the temptation to indulgence in a most demoralizing vice. THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. So numerous were the accessions to the old church during the revival of 1813, that the Sessions house, on the rear of the parsonage lot, and fronting on Washington street, was opened for worship on September loth of that year. The great revival of 1817 made it necessary to take measures for the organization of a second church. On Tuesday, February 29, 1820, application having been made to that effect, arrangements were consummated, whereby the Sessions house might be used on the Sabbath, free of rent for five years, by such persons as were desirous of forming a second church. The house was enlarged in the summer following. Separate Sabbath services were commenced March 26, 1820. A religious society was organized by the election, October 26, 1820, of Messrs. David Meeker, John Humes, James Crane, Richard Townley, Elijah Kellogg, William Brown and Elihu Price as trustees. A church of forty-one members, all but one from the First church, was constituted on Sunday, December 3, 1820, 246 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY when Elihu Price, James Crane and David Meeker were set apart as elders. The same month they called as their pastor the Rev. David Magie. He was the great-grandson of John Magie, who came over from Scotland during the period of persecution, 1685-7, and the father of Justice Magie, of the supreme court of the state. His ancestors were noted for their piety and stanch Presbyterianism. SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH David was converted in the revival of 1813, and in June of that year was received as a member of the First church. He prepared for college under the supervision of his pastor, and graduated at the College of New Jersey in 181 7. He at once entered the theological seminary at Princeton, New Jersey, and the next year was appointed one of the tutors of the college, holding the post for two years. In the spring of 1830 he was licensed by the presbytery of New Jersey, and preached his HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 247 first sermon on April 28th. He began his work in the ministry October i, 1820, was ordained and installed on Tuesday, April 24, 1821. May 7, 1821, he married Ann F. Wilson, the daughter of James Wilson, deceased. April 30, 1821, measures were taken to build a new house and on June 20th following, the corner-stone of the new church was laid. The house was dedicated May i, 1822. This was Mr. Magic's first and only charge, and he continued to labor as a faithful minister of the gospel here among his own townsmen nearly forty-five years, declining promptly several calls and appoint- ments to other fields and spheres of labor. In 1842 he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Amherst College. The additions to the church during his ministry were six hundred and fifty-one on profession, and five hundred and ninety-six on certifi- cate. He departed this life May 10, 1865, greatly lamented, as he had been greatly loved. Rev. Dr. W. C. Roberts, associate pastor with Dr. Magie, succeeded him and remained until 1866, when he resigned to become pastor of the new Westminster church, in another part of the city ; a number of members also going to form the new church. Rev. James Patterson was the next pastor and served ten years. Rev. Eben E. Cobb was installed in 1887, and under his pastorate the church has now become one of the most flourishing churches of the city. Dr. Cobb is a native of Auburn, New York, and was graduated at Hamilton College, New York, in 1875. From this institution he secured his degree of Doctor of Divinity, in 1895. THE GREYSTONE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. [by ELIAS 13. SMITH.] This organization has just completed its half century of existence, and celebrated its semi-centennial in 1896 in a fitting manner. Organ- ized in 1846, as the First Presbyterian church and congregation of Elizabethport, and commonly known, for many years after the town became merged into the city of Elizabeth, by the more distinctive title of the Marshall street Presbyterian church, it marked its jubilee by taking possession of its handsome new edifice, at the corner of Elizabeth avenue and Florida street, and changing its name to that given in the above caption. For years the old building on Marshall street had ceased to meet the wants of its vigorous and growing congregation, and a movement for better accommodations, which was begun in 1892, cul- minated in the possession of its present very desirable quarters. The building is of light grey-stone, trimmed with rough-built doorways and window openings, and in architectural design it is a pleasing and har- monious example of the Romanesque style. The main audience-room in front, opening upon the avenue, and the Sunday-school room and the parlors in the rear, upon the same level, can all be thrown into one 248 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY room by large sliding doors. Underneath the rear rooms is the enter- tainment room and kitchen, with entrances in the side street. It is furnished with an organ, piano, steam heat and electric lights, and in all its appointments is fully up to the latest requirements of church work. The first pastor was Rev. Oliver S. St. John, who served only a few months, when he was succeeded by Rev. Edwin Harley Reinhart, who for forty-three years was the honored pastor among his people. He was called to his rest in 1890, leaving an enviable record for effici- ent and faithful service. Rev. Isaac H. Condit was called as co-pastor in 1885, and retired in 1889, when Rev. George Buckle was chosen to fill his place. After the death of the pastor, he was elected to that office in 1891 and still remains in charge of the organization. The membership of the church comprises about three hundred and fifty, and its affairs are supervised by four elders and nine trustees. The Sabbath school is one of the largest in the county, numbering a little over five hundred members, with a full corps of officers and teachers. The Y. P. S. C. E. and the Y. P. Missionary Society are in flourishing condition, while the Ladies' Aid and other organizations add to the variety of church work followed out in different lines. Under the care of this church is a vigorous branch of the work known as the Good Will Mission, numbering about one hundred and twenty-five, located in a chapel building situated in South Park street, near the corner of Fifth street, in a section of the city fast filling up with residents. Its workers are all members of the home church and it may be that in future years it will prove to have been the predecessor of another strong and enterprising church congregation. THE THIRD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. November 17, 1851, the presbytery of Elizabeth Town organized a third church, which had become necessary on account of the crowded state of the other two Presbyterian churches as increased in membership by the growth in population of the city. The new church numbered seventy-six members, who had been dismissed in equal proportion from the first and second churches for this purpose. Public service was commenced by the new congregation in Collet hall, September 14, 1851. Rev. Robert Aikman, previously of Troy, New York, began his services as their pastor on September 21, 1852, and served sixteen years. The grounds of the late Dr. Isaac Morse, on Jersey and Bridge streets, 145 X 245 feet, were purchased in June, 1852, for three thousand dollars. On September 21, 1852, the corner-stone was laid, and the house completed and dedicated March 28, 1855. The Rev. Mr. Aikman was succeeded, in 1868, by Rev. E. G. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 249 Read, D. D., 1875; Rev. E. C. Ray, D. D., from 1876 to 1881 ; Rev. Paul F. Sutphen, 1882-6 ; and Rev. John T. Kerr, from May 14, 1886, to the present time. Mr. Kerr is a graduate of Princeton College, in the class of 1879, ^^^ °^ the seminary of that institution, in 1882. During the years just prior to the late war this church entered upon a period of financial depression, and during the memorable THIRD PRESBVTERIAN CHURCH Struggle a number of its members went to the front, but this depletion in finance and membership has been fully recovered, and the church is now in a healthy and prosperous condition. WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. This church was organized on the 31st of January, 1866, ninety- three members from the Second church, and seven from other churches. 350 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 251 joining the organization. The church was organized under the corporate name of the Westminster Presbyterian church of Elizabeth. The£rst services of this church were held in Library Hall on the 4th of March, 1866, and the Sabbath school was organized with about sixty scholars. On June 13, 1866, the corner-stone for the new ediiice, at the corner of Westminster and Prince streets, was laid on grounds costing seven thousand dollars, and during the next eighteen months a massive building of brown stone in the Norman style, 75 x 105 feet, with an organ projection on the north side, 16x27 feet, was erected and was opened for worship December 29, 1867. The original cost of the property was one hundred and thirty-five thousand six hundred and six dollars. The large tower and spire cost over twenty thousand dollars. The Rev. William C. Roberts, installed March 7, 1866, served till September 11, 1881, when his relation was dissolved that he might enter upon the duties of a secretary of the board of home missions. The Rev. John Gillespie, D. D., from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, was installed as his successor, January 26, 1882, and served this church with signal ability and faithfulness until February i, 1886, when he too was released from pastoral responsibility, in order that he might become one of the secretaries of the foreign mission board. June 6, 1886, the Rev. John W. Teal, D. D., accepted the call to the pastorate of this church, and was installed July 2d, of that year, and he was succeeded by the present pastor, the Rev. Henry A. MacKubbin. MADISON AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. This church edifice was erected in 1884, and is of the Queen Anne style of architecture. The church is the outgrowth of a Sabbath school, organized by Westminster church, October 6, 1873, the school having been under the superintendency of Charles L. Doe. Rev. William S. C. Webster commenced in July, 1875, as a stated supply, and in September, 1876, the services of Rev. A. L,. Clark were procured, and on May 7, 1877, this church was organized. Mr. Clark officiated as pastor until April, 1879, beloved by his people. He was succeeded by the Rev. C. E. Cunningham, who began his ministrations in September, 1879, and continued the same until in June, 1889. Under the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Cunningham the church prospered spiritually and temporally. On January 23, 1890, Rev. James M. Nourse was installed as pastor and served the church until January, 1894. During his pastorate an addition was made to the building for the accommodation of the largely increasing Sabbath school. On October 5, 1894, the Rev. Harle Wallace Hathaway was installed. Mr. Hathaway was graduated at Princeton seminary in May, 1894, and was called to the church in July of that year. 252 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY THE GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. The German Lutheran congregation was organized in May, 1858. The first pastor was Rev. John Charles Wirz, and the Rev. C. G. Fisher is the present -pastor. The church building was erected in 1859. In 1871 it was enlarged and a steeple and a bell were added. The first parish-school building was erected in i860. The church has a large and flourishing Sunday school, and the church likewise is in a prosperous condition. In 1884 a commodious parsonage was built, and in 1885 a new school building was added. The church is open every day. THE FIRST GERMAN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. This church building stands on Third street, between Livingston street and Broadway. The congregation was gathered by Rev. John Rudalph in 1875, and he served as pastor of the church until August, 1889. The congregation at first worshiped in a hall on the corner of Third and Fulton streets, rented November 15, 1875. In January, 1878, they moved into the lecture room of the new church, dedicated September 8, 1878, the Rev. Dr. W. C. Roberts preaching the dedicat- ory sermon in German and the Rev. Dr. Kempshall in English. The present pastor is the Rev. Alfred K. Wirtli. The work of erecting the church was financially encouraged and assisted by the HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY 253 Presbyterian churches of this city and the presbytery of Elizabeth, and by the German Presbyterian churches of Newark. The church prop- erty is valued at ten thousand dollars. A parsonage was built in 1881. GERMAN MORAVIAN CHURCH. This society was organized in 1863 under favorable auspices. The first location was in a school house on the corner of Second avenue and Centre street, then in a mission chapel on Martin near Smith street, GERMAN MORAVIAN CHURCH and in 1869 the present church building was erected at the corner of Seventh and Marshall streets. Rev. Christian Neu was installed pastor in 1867. Rev. Nagel succeeded Pastor Neu and he was followed by Rev. Schwarze. The present pastor is Rev. Clemens Hoyler. THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. This church was organized in January, 1864, in a chapel that stood on the corner of First and Uvingston streets. Its first pastor was the Rev. Frederick H. Parmenter, under whose ministry the church made rapid growth. In 1865 the present edifice was erected at the corner of Third and Marshall streets. Rev. C. C. Clark is the present pastor. 254 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY The church has been fortunate in securing able men for the pulpit, and it is steadily growing. The pews are free and everybody is made welcome. The property is handsomely located in a growing part of the city. THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH. There were churchmen among the early settlers of Elizabeth town, but Episcopal services were not performed in the town until after the surrender of the government, by the proprietors, to the crown, in 1702. FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH Ivord Cornbury, the royal governor, had been charged with a special mission in behalf of the Church of England, and about this time a church was gathered here through the labors of George Keith, a missionary for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. Keith had been a Quaker. He was born in 1638, in Aberdeen, Scotland, was educated at the University there, and was brought up a Presbyterian. In 1682 he emigrated to America, and was surveyor-general of East Jersey from 1685 to 1688. In 1700 he went to England and was ordained a priest by the bishop of London. In 1702 he returned to America. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 255 111 the town of Elizabeth he had many acquaintances, and at the house of Andrew Craig, a fellow Scotchman, he preached from second Peter i : 5, November 3, 1703, and on the same occasion he baptized ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL the four children of Mr. Craig, and also the seven children of a widow. On the next day he baptized the children of Andrew Hampton, eight in number. On Sunday, December 19, he returned to Elizabeth and preached at the house of Colonel Townley, both forenoon and after- 256 HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY noon, and baptized a child of Mr. Shakmaple, son-in-law of Colonel Townley. The establishment of the Episcopal chnrch in Elizabeth Town was accomplished. The Rev. John Brooke, the first minister of St. John's church, was also a missionary for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and arrived in East New Jersey July 15, 1705. Lord Cornbury directed him to officiate sometimes at Perth Amboy. He was probably a graduate of Emanuel College, Cambridge. During the fall and winter of 1705-6 Colonel Townley's house accommodated the congregation on Sundays. In the spring of 1706 they began to worship in a barn, but after the harvest season, the barn being occupied by the summer crops, the missionary was permitted to officiate twice every Sunday in the Independent church, with the understanding that the service of the common-prayer book was not to be read. Mr. Brooke, in speaking of this agreement, says : " I complied upon the condition I might read the psalms, lessons, epistle, and gospel appointed for the day, which I did, and said all the rest of the service by heart, the doing of which brought a great many to hear me who otherwise probably would never heard the service of the church, and (through God's blessing) hath taken away their prejudice to such a degree as that they have invited me to preach in their meeting house until our church be built. Their teacher begins at eight in the morning and ends at ten, and then our service begins, and in the afternoon we begin at two. The greater part of the dissenters generally stay to hear our service." In his report of October 11, 1706, Mr. Brooke says: "I laid the foundation of a brick church at Elizabeth Town, on St. John the Baptist's day, June 24th, whose name it bears. It is fifty foot long, thirty wide, and twenty-one high. It hath nine windows, — one in the east end, ten foot wide and fifteen high ; two in each side, six foot wide and ten high ; and four ovals, one in the east window, one in the west end, and over each door, which are near the west end. The church is now covering, and I hope to preach in it in six weeks or two months. We shall only get the outside of our church up this year and I'm afraid 'twill be a year or two more before we can furnish the inside, for I find these hard times a great many are very backward to pay their subscriptions." The church was erected chiefly by the care and diligence of Colonel Richard Townley, who gave the ground it stood on and a place for a burying ground. The ministry of Mr. Brooke came to an abrupt termination in November, 1707. The Rev. Thorowgood Moore, of Burlington, had, by his faithful rebuke of Lord Cornbury' s disgusting immoralities, drawn upon himself the wrath of the governor, by whom he was arrested and imprisoned in New York. Mr. Brooke deeply sympa- thized with his afflicted brother, and, when in prison, visited him. Mr. Moore escaping, and Mr. Brooke being sought for by the enraged HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 257 governor, they resolved to proceed to London and lay their grievances before the proper authorities at home. They embarked at Marblehead, Massachusetts, in November, 1707, for England, but the vessel was lost at sea and all on board perished. Mr. Brooke seems to have been greatly esteemed, and had the reputation of being the most pious and industrious missionary the honorable society ever sent to the colonies. He left a widow, a daughter of Christopher Billop, whose residence and large plantation, at the south end of Staten Island, gave to it the name of Billop' s Point, which name it still retains. Rev. Edward Vaughan was appointed by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, the missionary at Eliza- beth Town, Amboy, and Piscataway, in thesummer of 1709, to succeed Mr. Brooke. Mr. Vaughn was from the west of England. In Decem- ber, 1709, he writes : " That there is not one family in Elizabeth Town that can accommodate me with an ordinary lodging excepting Colonel Townley, who, on account of some difference with Mr. Brooke, (though a gentleman of an unblemished character) hath declared never to enter- tain any missionary after him. Secondly, that my salary of fifty pounds per annum will not afford me a competent subsistence in this dear place, where no contributions are given by the people towards my sup- port, and where I am continually obliged to be itinerant and conse- quently at great expenses, especially in crossing ferries." Colonel Richard Townley (the main pillar of St. John's at that early period) died within the year 171 1. The church then had about thirty monthly communicants. In the summer of that year the Rev. Thomas Holliday was sent by the society to take charge of Amboy and Piscataway, leaving to Mr. Vaughan, Elizabeth Town and Rahway. But Mr. Holliday proving unworthy of his office, was obliged to leave Amboy, and this parochial district was again included in that of Mr. Vaughan. Shortly after the decease of Colonel Townley, the congre- gation obtained from his son, Charles, a clear title to the church lot, for want of which the interior of the church had not been fitted accord- ing to the rules of decency and order. In the year 1714, Mr. Vaughan married Mrs. Mary Emott, widowof James Emott, of New York, the daughter of Mrs. Philip Carteret, and the stepdaughter of Colonel Townley. She had a handsome fortune of two thousand pounds; was of high social standing, and was married at the close of the first year of her widowhood. After this marriage Mr. Vaughan removed his residence to Amboy for the benefit of his health, but continued to oflSciate in the forenoon and afternoon three Lord's days successively in every month, the other being given to Amboy. But the society did not favor this plan of non-residence, and he returned to his former charge in or before the year 172 1, the exact time not being given. In 1 72 1 his audience had increased to two hundred souls, and the 17 •258 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY communicants were over forty in number. At the close of 1733, he reports the baptism, for the year, of eighty-eight children and five adults; and for 1734 "thirteen adults, six of whom were negroes; beside these, there were one hundred and sixty-two children." The communicants were seventy. In 1739 the number of communicants was eighty-four. A glebe of nine acres of good land, with a fine orchard thereon, had been given by Mrs. Anne Erskine, of Elizabeth Town. Mrs. Erskine was the widow of John Erskine, who came over in the Scotch emigration of 1684-5, ^""^ '^^s, doubtless, originally a Presbyterian. The land referred to appears to have been subsequently sold by the church. Mr. Vaughan continued his work in the ministry as rector of St. John's church until his decease, about the 12th of October, 1747. This was a few days after the death of Rev. Mr. Dickinson, of the First Presbyterian church, who died on the 7th. The personal relations between these two ministers were always of the most pleasant character, and when tidings of the death of Mr. Dickinson reached Mr. Vaughan, then old, feeble and nigh unto death, he exclaimed: "Oh that I had hold of the skirts of Brother Jonathan." The memory of Mr. Vaughan, as in the case of Mr. Dickinson, was very precious to the people of his charge. The decease of Mr. Vaughan left the church without a settled pastor. It was no easy matter to fill vacancies, as all the Episcopal clergymen either came here from the mother country, or were under the necessity of making a voyage to England to obtain orders. As this required time, Mr. Chandler, then a young man in his twent}-second year, teaching school at Woodstock, Connecticut, and studying theology at intervals with Dr. Johnson, was induced to come to St. John's as lay reader, aboitt December i, 1747; was subsequently recommended by the Rev. Dr. Johnson and others to the propagation society, and in Ma}', 1748, was appointed catechist at Elizabeth Town, on the stipend of ten pounds a year, the church having agreed, in case he should be appointed to the mission, to raise the sum of fifty pounds, current money of the province, per annum, in addition, and to provide him with a convenient parsonage. December 11, 1749, the church purchased about four acres of land on Peark street, with the old dwelling-house built in 1696-7 by Andrew Hampton. Most of the land has been sold, but the house, subsequently rebuilt, still (1897) belongs to the church. It served for more than a century as the parsonage, but is now known as St. John's home. In the year 1750 " a register for the use of the missionary at St. John's church, Elizabeth Town, New Jersey," was commenced and, with the exception of the Revolutionary period and a few )'ears after, was in use in the parish for the entry of baptisms, marriages, etc., for over a centur)', and is still in possession of the church. If any records were left prior to 1750 they have never been preserved. An old silver cup in the HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 259 communion service was presented to the church by Mrs. Dennis previous to 1750. Mrs. Dennis spun the flax to make the linen for the napkins and table cloth for the communion table, and spun the flax to send to England to make the linen which was sold to procure the means with which to purchase the cup. Mr. Chandler remained catechist three years in this church, reading divine service, catechising- children and visiting all ranks of people, both here and in Rahway. Urgent representations having been made to the society for a resident rector, — one who could give them his whole time, Mr. Chandler was appointed missionary at Elizabeth Town in 1750, should he, upon his arrival in England, be found worthy of ordination as a deacon and priest. In the summer of 175 1 he repaired to England and was admitted to the priesthood by Dr. Thomas Sherlock, bishop of Eondon. About the first of November he returned and began his labors in the church on a salary of thirty pounds sterling from the society and sixty pounds New Jersey currency (valued at a little more than thirty pounds sterling) with a house and glebe, from the people. In the year 1753 he was married to Jane, daughter of Captain John Emott, and his wife, Mary, daughter of Elias Boudinot, Sr. At the close of 1754 the congregation included eighty-five families and numbered ninety communicants. About the year 1757 King George II. ordered a chime of bells and a valuable library for the use of the congregation, with some plate for the altar, but they were all captured by the French. In 1757, during the prevalence of the smallpox, of which President Edwards and his daughter, Mrs. Burr, died in the spring of 1758, Mr. Chandler was prostrated by the terrible scourge and did not recover from its ill effects for nearly three years, his face retaining its marks to the end of his life. The church was incorporated July 20, 1762. The charter appoints John Halsted and Jacob DeHart to be the first and present church wardens of the said church, and Henry Garth wait, Jonathan Hampton, Amos Morss, Ephraim Terrill, Matthias Williamson, John DeHart, John Ogden, Chevalier Jouet and John Chetwood to be the first and present vestrymen of said church. In November, 1763, Mr. Whitfield again visited the place, and the refusal of Mr. Chandler to grant him the use of this pulpit offended many of the people. Mr. Whitfield was very popular here among all classes, and a division was created in the parish, reducing the number of the communicants of the church to about seventy-five, of whom seldom more than fifty could be gathered together at any one time. The revival of religion in 1764 tendered to embarrass Mr. Chandler, also as he opposed movements of this kind, but at the close of the next half year matters improved. The services were better attended and an enlargement of the parsonage was provided for by a generous subscrip- 260 HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY tion. In 1766 the Stamp-act agitation, then at its height, constrained him, however, to feel and say that "the duty of a missionary (Episcopal- of course) in this country is now more difBcult than ever." In 1766 the University of Oxford conferred on Mr. Chandler, at the solicitation of Rev. Dr. Johnson, of New York, the degree of Doctor of Divinity. The struggle in reference to an American episcopate was now in progress, and was exciting deep interest. Som^ of the ablest writers took part in the discussion, and at the solicitation of Dr. Johnson, whose infirmities would not allow his undertaking the work himself, and by appointment of the clergy of New York and New Jersey met in convention at Shrewsbury, October i, 1766. Dr. Chandler, prepared and published at New York, in June, 1767, an "Appeal to the Public in Behalf of the Church of England in America." To this the Rev. Dr. Charles Chauncey, of Boston, Massachusetts, responded, in 1768, in a pamphlet entitled, "The Appeal to the Public Answered, in Behalf of the non-Episcopal Churches in America, Containing Remarks on what Dr. Thomas Bradbury Chandler has Advanced, etc." It was natural for Dr. Chandler to magnify the importance of the peculiarities of his church, and having been bred an Independent, with all the zeal of a proselyte, he sought to widen rather than to narrow the beach between the "Church and the Meeting," as it was customary then to call the two bodies of the Christian people. Consequently there were not a few appeals and rejoinders from both sides. Dr. Chandler continued in the regular discharge of his parochial duties, however, and the congregation increased in numbers until, in 1774, it was found necessary to build a new church. The foundations of the new building, 85 X50 feet, were laid around the old building, materials were collected and money subscribed to pay the expenses, but the first shock of the war put an end to the work, destined not to be resumed by that generation. "Dr. Chandler," says Dr. Rudd, "found his situation painful and unpleasant, as well as from the active part which he deemed it his duty to take, as from the violent feeling generally entertained against the church of which he was a minister. These considerations induced him to leave the colonies and go to England." Just before his departure he received a letter from John Pownall, under secretary of state, bearing date April 5, 1775, as follows: "I am directed by the Earl of Dart- mouth to acquaint you that His Majesty has been greatly pleased from a consideration of your merit and services to signify His Commands to the I/ords Commissioners of the Treasury that they do make an allowance to you, out of such Funds as their Lordships shall think proper, of two hundred pounds per annum, the said allowance to continue from the first of January last." On the night of the loth of May, 1775, the house of Dr. Myles Cooper, of New York, a friend of Dr. Chandler, was sacked, which so HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY 261 alarmed the latter that they together found refuge on the Kingfisher, Captain James Montague, a British ship-of-war in the harbor of New York. On the 34th of May, in company with Dr. Cooper and Rev. Samuel Cook, he sailed in the Exeter, for Bristol, England. The church being left without a supply for the pulpit, public wor- ship was, at length, suspended. As the combat thickened, houses were needed for hospitals, and barracks, and St. John's being used for such purposes, the building suffered in consequence. Nearly all the wood- work of the interior was destroyed, and two futile attempts were made to burn the edifice. The organ was demolished, the metal pipes being converted into bullets. The dragoon who tethered his horse by day upon the graves of the dead, led him by night within the church for a shelter from the storm. About the year 1779 or 1780 the congregation began to assemble in a private house for public worship on Sundays. The Easter elections were resumed in 1778, no record previously occur- ring for four years. In 1779 the election was held at the church. It is probable that from this time, or perhaps earlier, worship was resumed there. In 1786-7 the church and steeple were put in repair and the seats were rented for revenue. Dr. Chandler remained in exile the full period of ten years, a pen- sioner upon the royal bounty. During this time his family continued to occupy the rectory as before, and various clergymen filled the pulpit in his stead, the Rev. Uzal Ogden, of Newark, officiating from time to time for several years. Dr. Chandler greatly desired the restoration of the royal authority in America, but Cornwallis' surrender was the beginning of a change in his opinions. December 3, 1781, he wrote from London to the Rev. Abraham Beach, of New Brunswick, New Jersey: " The late blow in Virginia (Cornwallis' surrender) has given us a shock, but has not overset us. Though the clouds at present are rather thick about us, I am far, very far from desponding; I think matters will take a right turn and then the event will be right." In May, 1783, after the proclamation of peace, an effort was made to secure the appointment of a bishop for the province of Nova Scotia, to minister to about thirty thousand refugee loyalists who had removed from the states to that land, many of whom were from New York and its vicinity. The zeal to provide an episcopate for their benefit, as very few of them belonged to any other body than the Church of Eng- land, naturally directed attention to the Rev. Dr. Chandler as a person in every way qualified to discharge the duties of that office with dignity and honor. The Doctor greatly desired the office, but, after waiting over two years for the appointment, and desiring greatly to visit his family, he engaged passage in the ship Greyhound, and on Sunday, June 19, 1785, reached New York, but too infirm to resume his paro- chial charge. In 1786 the long-sought episcopate of Nova Scotia was offered to him, but his health was so impaired that he declined it. At 262 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY the request of the vestry, he retained the rectorship and rectory until his death, which occurred at his home, June 17, 1790, in the sixty-fifth year of his age. Mrs. Chandler, to whom an annual pension was allowed by the British government, after the decease of her husbandi survived him until September 20, 1801, dying in her sixty-ninth year. Rev. Samuel Spraggs, the resident minister of St. John's church from April, 1789, succeeded to the rectorship after the death of Dr. Chandler, being appointed January i, 1791. Mr. Spraggs had been an acceptable preacher in the Methodist Episcopal church, having been admitted on trial May 25, 1774- He served on different circuits, having charge of the old John street chapel, New York, from 1778 to 1783. He was regarded by the British authorities as a loyalist, so neither he nor the chapel was disturbed during the war. His ministry there closed in 1783, and it is probable that he became connected with the Episcopalians about this time. He came to Elizabeth Town from Mount Holly. His salary at first was one hundred and twenty pounds, but was raised, in April, 1793, to one hundred and fifty pounds. He died sud- denly, September 7, 1794. Rev. Menzies Rayner, formerly a circuit rider also in this town for the Methodist church, after the second call, accepted the charge and began his ministry here January i, 1796. He was a young man of promise, and entered the Methodist ministry in 1790, and was very acceptable among his people as a preacher. Hav- ing engaged himself to marry a young lady whose family was unwill- ing that she should share his privations as an itinerant, he chose the alternative of resigning his ministerial post. " It was done," says Dr. Stevens, " with frank notification of his purpose to his presiding elder, Rev. George Roberts, and the avowal of undiminished confidence in the doctrines and discipline of Methodism." He had just left the con- nection when he was called here. His pastorate continued nearly six years. He then served the Episcopal church of Hartford, Connecticut, for twelve years, and later withdrew from the Episcopal ministry, and became a Universalist preacher. Rev. Frederick Beasley, a native of Edenton, North Carolina, and a graduate of the College of New Jersey, was next called to St. John's, and was installed in February, 1802. He resigned June 5, 1803, having accepted a call to the rectorship of St. Peter's church, Albany, New York. He was afterwards rector of St. Paul's church, Baltimore, and subse- quently provost of the University of Pennsylvania. His son was the late chief justice of New Jersey. His successor was Rev. Samuel Eilly, who was appointed rector of St. John's, August 28, 1803. He was to receive a salar)^ of five hundred dollars and the use of the parsonage. There was some difificulty about raising the salary, and Mr. lyilly agreed to resign his charge May i, 1805, "being paid up all arrears of the stipend due to that time." Some time aftei^ard he removed to the south, where he died. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 263 In December, 1805, Rev. John Churchill Rudd became rector of St. John's, with a salary of five hundred dollars and the use of the rectory. Mr. Rudd's ancestors were of Puritan faith, and he himself was bred a Congregationalist. At this time, the congregation seldom exceeded a hundred souls and the communicants were sixty in number. A new steeple was erected in 1807. In 1 808 the length of the building was increased seventeen feet. These repairs cost about four thousand dollars. In 1810 Mr. Rudd's salary was increased to six hundred dollars. In 1813 Mr. Rudd became editor of a new series of the Churchman's Magazine, and the place of publication was changed from New York to this town. In 18 18 the parsonage was rebuilt at an expense of about three thousand dollars. In July, 1823, the University of Pennsylvania conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Owing to the loss of health, and particularly his voice. Dr. Rudd was released from his parochial charge June i, 1826. He died at Auburn, New York, in 1848, but was buried in St. John's churchyard. He was succeeded June i, 1826, by the Rev. Smith Pyne. His salary was five hundred dollars and the rectory. His ministry was acceptable, but he resigned the rectorship December 31, 1828. March 8, 1829, ^ call was extended to the Rev. Birdseye Glover Noble, who came here on a salary of five hundred dollars, the rectory and his firewood. His ministry terminated by his resignation in 1833. The church met with severe losses by death during the cholera season of 1832. At the close of January, 1834, the Rev. Richard Channing Moore, Jr., son of Bishop Moore, of Virginia, was chosen rector and at once entered upon his work. He was graduated at Washington (Trinity) College, Hartford, in 1829. H^ continued in charge of St. John's till March, 1855, when he resigned. At first his salary was four hundred dollars, with the usual perquisites, but it was afterwards increased. His ministry was very acceptable to the people, and during his stay as rector an addition of eight feet was made to each side of the church, and the interior was wholly renewed. He was succeeded by the Rev. Samuel Adams Clark, to whom a call was extended February 4, 1856, on a salary of twelve hundred dollars and the usual perquisites. He was born in Newburyport, Massa- chusetts, January 27, 1822. He belonged to a family of clergymen, several of whom have been prominent. An elder brother is the present bishop of Rhode Island, Rt. Rev. Thomas M. Clark, D. D. He was prepared for the ministry at the theological seminary at Alexandria, Virginia. In 1856 the parish library was founded, one hundred dollars being contributed by Mr. I^a Chaise. It is still maintained, is constantly added to, and has become quite a valuable collection. In April, 1857, measures were taken to raise twenty thousand dollars for a new church, and the work was undertaken in 1859, the corner-stone being laid Sep- tember 5th, and the new house completed in the following year. 264 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY The new St. John's is a noble specimen of the Gothic style of architecture of the fourteenth century. The whole cost was about fifty thousand dollars. A chapel was built in 1867, costing about fifteen thousand dollars. On St. John the Baptist's day, June 24, i860, the new church was opened for service, that day being the one hundred and fifty-fourth anniversary of the laying of the foundation of the original church building. It was consecrated March 26, 1865, by Bishop Oden- heimer. The tower was completed in December, 1864, and by competent authority has been pronounced one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in the land. Dr. Clark died January 28, 1875, no head of St. John's church ever being so heartily mourned. His ministry was pre-eminently successful. It was due to his efforts that the new church and chapel were built. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Rutgers College, New Brunswick, New Jersey. He wrote a history of St. John's church, pub- lished in 1857 by J. B. lyippincott & Company, Philadelphia. Dr. William S. lyangford succeeded in July, 1875. His ministry continued ten, years when he resigned, September i, 1885, to become general secretary of the board of foreign and domestic missions, at the urgent request of the church at large, and against the wishes of his own people. Rev. Otis A. Glazebrook, D. D., was elected as his successor, and took charge in November, 1885. He was born in Richmond, Virginia, October 13, 1845, ^^^ '^^^ prepared for the ministry at the theological seminary at Alexandria, in his native state. He first took charge of a parish at L,awrenceville, Virginia, going from there to Baltimore, Maryland, and next to Macon, Georgia. While there he met with a terrible railroad accident which nearly cost him his life, and caused him to resign his charge, as the surgeons thought he could never resume work. Recovering, after prolonged treatment at home and abroad, he was made chaplain of the University of Virginia and from there he was called to St. John's. During his rectorship the church has had large accessions to its membership, and it is now the largest Episcopal church in the state. In 1897 the communicants enrolled numbered eleven hundred and eighty-two. The pews of St. John's are rented, but in 1888, with the consent of the pewholders, the vestry declared the church free on Sunday evenings. During the latter part of the rectorship of Dr. Clark he built a home of his own on a portion of the old parsonage lot, which he had bought from the church. For some years the parsonage was rented, and after Dr. lyangford became rector it was thought advisable to locate nearer the church, and a house and lot on East Jersey street were purchased, in December, 1875, for about thirteen thousand dollars. This house was occupied as the rectory until early in 1894. In March, 1892, a committee of the vestry was appointed to consider the advisability of selling the HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 265 rectory and erecting a parish building and rectory adjoining the church, and in December, 1892, the land adjoining the churchyard on the south and having a frontage of thirty-three feet on Broad street, was purchased for ten thousand six hundred dollars. In November, 1893, the rectory on East Jersey street was sold for about the same amount paid for it in 1875, and in October, 1894, the erection of a new rectory was begun on the Broad-street property, and the work was completed in about a year. The new rectory is of pale brick, trimmed with stone, and the style of architecture is the domestic gothic. It cost about nineteen, thousand dollars, exclusive of the land. It is proposed to ultimately raze the chapel in the rear and erect a parish building, connecting the church and the rectory, the buildings forming three sides of a quadrangle and making a beautiful group. The architect was Mr. Augustus Howe. Much costly work has also been done within the church building during the present rectorship, the walls having been decorated and the floors tiled. In 1879 ex-Chancellor Benjamin Williamson, then senior warden, gave to the church five thousand dollars as a "Memorial Easter Offering," to be used to establish a " missionary home for charitable purposes," and with part of this money and its accumulations the old parsonage on Pearl street was secured for the home. Together with about four acres of land, it was purchased by the church, December 11, 1749, for one hundred and sixt3'-two pounds. New Jersey money, at eight shillings the ounce. This glebe was one of the oldest in America. After being thoroughly repaired the building was opened as St. John's Home, April 23, 1885. It was intended as a place for rest and convalescence and a centre of church work, and as such was used for some years, but, conditions changing, it was deemed wiser to concentrate parish work near the church. After consultation with Mr. Williamson, and with his approval, it was decided, in 1892, to sell the home and apph- the proceeds toward the erection of the proposed parish building. These times of business depression have not, however, been propitious, and nothing has }'et been done. In 1872, during the rectorship of Dr. Clark, mission services were begun in private houses, and later on were regularly established in two places, — one in South street and the other in the neighborhood of Catherine street and Magnolia avenue, — such buildings being rented as could be procured for the purpose. In January, 1886, a house and lot at the corner of Bond and Catherine streets were purchased, and here for several years the services were held, and a workingmen's club was estab- lished. About the same time the South-street services were discontiued and services were held at St. John's Home instead. Dater a change of location seemed desirable, and in 1890 the Bond-street mission was sold, and land bought in Division street, near East Jersey street, on which a frame chapel, named St. Andrew's, was erected. In 1893 the adjoining lots to the north, and extending to Rebecca Place, were purchased, giving the whole property a frontage of over one hundred and 266 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY eighty-three feet in Division street and one hundred feet in Rebecca Place. The work at St. Andrew's is in a flourishing condition, and it is not unlikely that it will ultimately result in the formation of an indepen- dent parish, like Grace, Christ's and Trinity, to all of which St. John's bears the relation of the mother church. The work at St. Andrew's and at the former mission stations has been largely conducted by the laymen of St. John's, though, at times, an assistant to the rector has been employed on this field. At Bond street, Mr. J. Augustus Dix, and at South street, Mr. J. Parkinson Roberts and Mr. James Morrison were the principal workers. St. John's and St. Andrew's each have flourishing Sunday schools, St. John's Sunday school having been founded in 1818, May 24th. CHRIST CHURCH, RECTORY AND GUILD ROOM CHRIST CHURCH was formed in 1853. ^^^ ^J^^t Sunday service was held April 10, 1853, in the lecture room of the First Presbyterian church, where they continued to worship until their chapel, on the corner of East Jersey and Bridge streets, was built. The chapel, rectory and the school house cost, with the land, about thirty thousand dollars. Rev. Eugene A. Hoffman, D. D., was rector for ten years, when he left, in 1863, to take charge of Grace church, Brooklyn, New York. He was succeeded by the Rev. Stevens Parker, D. D., of Boston, a grandson of Bishop Parker. His valuable ministrations to this people continued, to the honor of Zion, and to the exaltation of his Master, till his resigna- tion, in the year 1879, when, on the ist of June, the Rev. H. H. Oberly, the present pastor, was called to his place. Daily service has been maintained in this church since 1854. In 1857 the weekly Eucharist was established. Two Sunday schools provide instruction for the children. A gothic stone rectory adjoins the church. The church also built, in 1885, a mission chapel, established in 1881, and named St. Paul's. The church is open all day. HTSrORY OF UNION COUNTY 267 INTERIOR OF CHRIST CHURCH GRACE CHURCH. Rev. Abraham B. Carter preached at the house of Mr. Vincent Bodine, November 3, 1845. I'his was the first service of Grace church, Elizabeth, and these services were continued at Mr. Bodine's residence until the spring of 1846. Rev. Mr. Carter was followed by Rev. Edward B. Boggs, who, in turn, was succeeded by Rev. David Clarkson, in December, 1848. The parish was organized on the i8th of August, 1849. '^^^ church was at once built, and on April 2d following was consecrated. Rev. Eugene A. Hoffman took charge of the parish in August, 1851, remaining until 1853, other ministers officiating until March, 1857, when Rev. Clarkson Dunn accepted the rectorship and continued in charge for thirteen years, until his death in 1870. Succeeding rectors were Rev. Joseph Mayers, 1870-2; Rev. James Stoddard, 1872-6 ; Rev. John F. Esch, 1876-7 ; Rev. Henry Duncan, D. D., 1878-83 ; Rev. Samuel B. Moore, 1883-7. In 1888 the Rev. Henry H. Sleeper, the present rector, was called to the rectorship. He was graduated at Princeton College in 1884, and from the theological seminary in the class of 1887. The church was enlarged in 1873. The number of communicants at the present time is four hundred and thirty. TRINITY CHURCH. This church was organized as a new Episcopal parish May 23 and 30, 1859, and incorporated June 22d of the same year. Services were held regularly in the county court-room until January, i860. A gothic church edifice, capable of seating about four hundred persons, was erected 268 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY on the corner of East Jersey and Jefferson streets, bnt in 1865 it was sold to St. Paul's church. The parish then held services in the Third Presbyterian church until a chapel was built on the plot selected for the church, on North Broad and Chestnut streets, in 1866. Rev. Daniel F. Warren, D. D., was the first pastor. He resigned June I, 1868, and Rev. Mr. Lowry succeeded him in 1869. Mr. Ivowry TRINITY CHURCH, PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL retired in 1873, and Rev. F. Marion McAllister, the present rector, succeeded. The corner-stone of the present church was laid April 10, 1 87 1, and the first services were held Christinas day of that year. FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. In 1842 Elkanah Drake, a member of the church at Mount Bethel, came to Elizabeth to reside. He soon gathered a few Baptists together and established a " meeting " in the Select School, in Union street. On June 5, 1843, a council from eight churches met in the Select School and recognized as a gospel church the " First Baptist church of Eliza- beth." The first officers chosen were David S. Higgins, deacon ; and Elkanah Drake, clerk. The Select School room was purchased, and on November 16, 1843, was dedicated. The society was formed on February 15, 1845, and HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 269 incorporated April 25, 1848. The first pastor was Rev. Charles Cox. The first baptism by immersion occurred in the Elizabeth river, when Pastor Cox baptized his wife and Miss Ann Holton. The pastorate of Rev. Mr. Cox was a short one, but the church membership grew to number thirty- one under his ministry, and in 1844 a Bible school was organized. Following came pastors : Edward Conover, E. Tibbals, W. H. Turton, I. H. Waterbury, T. S. Rogers, I. N. Hill, George W. Clark, T. FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH W. H. Shermer and Rev. A. K. Gessler, J. C. Allen, Carter Helm Jones, William Staub, the present incumbent. Under the ministry of I. N. Hill the building in West Jersey street was erected, at a cost of three thousand dollars, and was dedicated September 28, 1858. In 1866, under the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Clark, a revival occurred, and in that year forty-eight members withdrew and formed a new church, now known as the Central Baptist church. 270 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Under the able direction of the Rev. Mr. Gessler the present house of worship, at the corner of Union avenue and Prince street, was erected in 1868. About this time thirteen more members withdrew from this organization to form the Memorial Baptist church. Under Mr. Allen's ministry, in 1884, the indebtedness of the church, then amounting to forty thousand dollars, was removed. CENTRAI, BAPTIST CHURCH. The society of the Central Baptist church was organized Septem- ber 25, 1877. The church building stands on the corner of East Jersey street and Jefferson avenue, and is a gothic structure capable of seating about four hundred persons. It was erected by Trinity church in 1859, and was sold by them to St. Paul's Methodist church. The present owners came into possession of the property about the time of their organization, at which time also a membership of sixty persons was received by letter, under the supervision of a committee consisting of Messrs. C. C. Taintor, D. W. Silvers, and G. W. Kiersted. Upon organization the church immediately extended to Rev. John McKinney a call which was accepted on the 2d of October, 1877. April 20, 1888, Rev. Mr. McKinney was succeeded by the present pastor, the Rev. Everett T. Tomlinson, Ph. D. Officers of the church at time of organization were as follows : Trustees, J. Madison Watson, A. D. Coykendall, and Frederick Foster; deacons, G. W. Kiersted, T. O. Conant, and J. Madison Watson; treasurer, Frederick Foster; Clerk, I. E. Gates. The officers in 1896 are as follows: Trustees, C. C. Taintor, F. H. Davis, G. E. Dimock, A. R. Van Deventer and R. C. Myer; deacons, J. Madison Watson, J. J. Coyne, I. M. Ivittell and A. D. Myer; treasurer, A. W. Macdonald; clerk, J. M. Dudley. The church has a membership of three hundred and sixty. Dr. Tomlinson is a graduate of both Williams and Colgate Colleges. He is a writer of historical fiction of recognized merit, and as an educator he has been honpred with two calls to the presidency of the college in Chicago that was recently endowed by John D. Rocke- feller, and since that time he has been called to the presidency of the college at Kalamazoo, Michigan, — all of which offers, however, have been declined. THE EAST BAPTIST CHURCH. This church was built to accommodate, in the east section of the city, a few families of the Baptist faith, who, prior to 1871, maintained their prayer meetings by holding them weekly from house to house. In 1871 Peter Amory purchased a small building, which he moved to Third street, and in September, 1871, it was dedicated as a Baptist mission, a memorial to the founder's daughter. In January, 1872, thirty-seven Baptists organized a church and obtained the free use of HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 271 this building. In 1879 that church was disbanded, and in January, 1880, the present East Baptist church was organized, and began worshiping under the pastorate of Rev. Adatn Chambers. He was succeeded in 1882 by Rev. Theron Cutwater, of Sanborn, New York, under whose pastorate the church erected an edifice on the corner of Third and Franklin streets. The church property is valued at ten thousand dollars. Rev. J. Madison Hare succeeded Rev. Mr. Outwater in 1888. The present pastor, the Rev. W. H. Shermer, is very popular, and under his ministration the church is growing rapidly. METHODISM IN ELIZABETH. " Bishop Asbury on passing through the town," says Dr. Hatfield, "preached by invitation, September 6, 1785, in the unfinished Presby- terian church. It was about this time that a society of Methodists was organized here and taken under the care of the conference. Of this society one of the earliest and most efficient members was the wife of Mr. Jonathan Morrell. She was a member of the first Methodist class in America, converted and enrolled as a member of the Methodist church in New York, under the preaching of Philip Embury, the carpenter, in his own house; in the year 1766. In 1772 Mr. Morrell moved to this town, and, with his wife, united with the First Presbyterian church, under the care of the Rev. Mr. Caldwell. At the organization of the Methodist church, Mrs. Morrell returned to the people of her first love and became one of the principal supports of the society." Thomas Morrell, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Morrell, familiarly known as Father Morrell, and practically the founder of Methodism here, in speaking of his mother, says : "It was about the year 1760 she was converted to God, and when Mr. Embury, the first Methodist preacher, came over, she went to hear him and was among the first members who joined the society in New York, and, consequently, the first Methodists in America. When we moved to Elizabeth Town, about the year 1772, there was no society in that place, and she communed with and joined the Presbyterian church there. But it pleased God to send the Rev. John Hagerty to Elizabeth Town in 1785, who was recom- mended to our house (through whose instrumentality I was awakened that year), and being kindly entertained at our house, laid the foundation of Methodist preaching in Elizabeth Town, and so of forming the circuit. She was, indeed, a mother to the preachers and a mother in Israel. She was a Christian thirty-six years. She knew from the first that her sickness would be unto death. * * * * My mother when she died was aged sixty-eight years, nine months and two days. I mourn only as one that has hope, and murmur not. This day, while she is a corpse in the house, I do afresh dedicate myself to God, and humbly hope, through mercy and grace, to persevere to the end, and meet my dear mother in glory ! God grant it for Jesus' sake, Amen. She was 272 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY o X I- HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 273 interred in the family vault on Monday, ist of August. Her corpse was first carried to the Methodist tabernacle, where a sermon was preached by Brother Filters." Mr. Jonathan Morrell was a man of sterling character. He did not enter with the Methodist society, but called himself a " Bible Man," and when the circuit preachers were not present he would exhort the people, preaching to and praying with them. The Rev. John Hagerty, the spiritual father of Thomas Morrell, was very useful in different fields of labor. In 1785 he was stationed in New York. The Rev. Thomas Morrell was the eldest child of Jonathan Morrell, and was born in New York, November 22, 1747. His father was a merchant, and from the time of their coming, to this town, in 1772, the son had a partnership in the business. When the tidings of the battle of Ivcxington reached the town, a company of volunteers was immediately gathered, of which he was chosen captain. He was in command of one of the boats that captured the "Blue Mountain Valley," off Sandy Hook, January 23, 1776. In June, 1776, he received a captain's commission, with orders to muster a company of seventy-eight men and report to General Washington, then in New York. Two companies of militia were parading in front of the Presby- terian church, and young Morrell gave them an earnest talk and then called for volunteers. So effective was his speech that in five minutes his quota was filled. Six days after the Declaration of Independence they reported at New York, ready for service. In the fatal engagement at Platbush, August 27, 1776, they were nearly cut to pieces. Captain Morrell fell severely wounded, and barely escaped with his life. He was afterwards appointed a major in the Fourth Jersey Regiment, taking an active part in the battles of Germantown, Pennsylvania, and Brandywine, but his health becoming too much impaired for service on the field, he returned to his home, and resumed his mercantile pursuits. In the month of October, 1785, he was converted to God. In June, 1786, he began to preach as a local preacher, and in 1787, began to ride as a traveling preacher. He rode on the Elizabeth Town circuit twenty months. In 1788 he was ordained deacon; in 1789 he was ordained an elder, and continued at New York nearly five years, residing at No. 22 John street. During the first six months of his stay in New York he raised funds and built the Forsyth church. This church was dedicated November 8, 1789. A great revival followed, resulting in four hundred conversions and two hundred accessions to the society. In 1790 he was appointed presiding elder for this district, which included Elizabeth Town, and in 1794 he retired to Elizabeth Town, but subsequently accepted other appointments till 1804, when he became a permanent resident of the town. The old homestead is still standing, in the rear of the pottery 274 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY buildings oa Elizabeth avenue (formerly Water street), just on the bank of the creek. From this place Father Morrell and his family removed to a new property purchased by him farther down the avenue. Here he built for himself a house, about 1814, on the northwest corner of Elizabeth avenue and Morrell street, next to which the Methodist church building was erected. The church lot, fifty feet wide, fronting on Elizabeth avenue, is the very ground now known as Morrell street, named of course for this distinguished man. Father Morrell gave the lot and largely of his means in the building of this church, and here the Methodists worshiped until the pastorate of James O. Rogers, in 1845, "when the new church, on Elizabeth avenue, was dedicated. The Morrell street church, so called, was the only Methodist church within fifty miles, except in New York. In this church, for nearly twenty years, Father Morrell preached regularly once a Sabbath. F. A. Morrell, a son of Father Morrell, married a daughter of Jonathan Griffith, who had been one of the supports of this church for seventy years. Mrs.' Crowell, Mrs. Rogers, Mrs. Mayor Caleb Halstead (the mother of Chancellor O. S. Halstead), Abraham Cozine, John Van Name, Isaac Bird and Jonathan Chandler were among the early, active and useful members of that church ,in those earlier days. Still among the first of this church who loved and served Christ were such men as Ezra Cleveland, more than sixty years a member and seventeen years a trustee. He was the trusted friend of Father Morrell, and the friend of all the pastors. Mr. Cleveland was the first to move in the project of building the new Water street church, and, besides liberal gifts, labored with the Rev. Joseph Ashbrook to secure subscriptions for the same. John Faulks, James C. Denman, Joseph Cleveland, Enoch Coddington, Aaron Q. Thompson, Periam Price, Joanna Cleveland, Ann Hicks, Eliza Wardell, Hannah Chamberlain, Angeline A. More- house, Mrs. Elliot Hunt, Elizabeth and Ann Meeker, Robert L. Cleve- land, Moses O. Winans, Freeman T. Winans, Mrs. I. O. Reeve, Mrs. Matilda Clark, Mrs. Sarah Ayers, Samuel Osborn and Mrs. J. C. Den- man were members of the old church. THE GERMAN METHODIST EPISCOPAI, CHURCH. The German church, at the Crossroads, was established in 1852-3. J. W. Freund, of the New York conference, promised to engage in evan- gelical work among the German population of that place, and his efforts resulted in the donation, by a member of the Presbyterian denomina- tion, of three lots, on which the church was erected in 1845. Rev. John A. Roesch was the first pastor at that place, and was there during the years 1854-5. During the pastorate of A. H. Mead, 1853-4, ^^ the Water street church, dissensions arose and continued for some eleven years, culmin- ating in a withdrawal of a large number from the church. A new HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 275 organization was effected, but, not being recognized by the elder, the organization disbanded. In 1859 ^ ^^"^ enterprise was originated, known as the Mechanic street church, in which George W. Tubbs was actively interested. John F. Dodd was the first pastor of this church. In about six years this society joined with a number who came out of Water street church, and the St. Paul's church was formed. This new organization, after worshiping for a time in the court house, took possession of the edifice, at the corner of Jefierson avenue and East Jersey street, which they purchased from the Trinity Protestant Episcopal church and which was dedicated by Bishop Simpson in December, 1865. In the interests of Methodism it was decided that a church be built at or near Jefferson GERMAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH Park, and on or near Reservoir hill, the latter to retain the name of St. Paul's. In the spring of 1875, the new society was formed under the name of the Park Methodist church, and. May i6th, a chapel, which had been built on Monroe avenue, was occupied until the building was ready, — the two societies worshiping together at St. Paul's, and the two pastors officiating in turn. The church edifice on Madison avenue was erected in 1879. The project of building on Resorvoir hill was finally abandoned by the St. Paul society for another enterprise, which was consummated in the spring of 1877. From the records of St. James church we quote: "On Monday evening, the 23d day of October, 1876, a committee of eight, consisting of A. P. Baker, B. E. Browne, R. L. Cleveland and William Trewin, 276 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY of Elizabeth avenue Methodist Episcopal church, and William J. Carlton, D. Denham, James Y. Floy and I. O. Reeve, of the St. Paul Methodist Episcopal church, met at the residence of R. L,. Cleveland, 1 134 Washington street, to consider the desirability of eifecting a union of these two societies, which had been first suggested by the Elizabeth avenue Methodist church. They were also to consider the feasibility PARK METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH of an exchange of their respective properties for the property known as the Broad street Baptist church. The outcome of this and subse- quent meetings was the union of the two societies in the new organiza- tion known as the St. James' Methodist Episcopal church and the exchanges of the respective properties for the property now occupied by this society." Major Morrell, the father of Methodism in Elizabeth, was a man of decided convictions, strong will and warm temper, which were, HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 277 however, kept under control by divine grace. He was a student of religious literature, was especially devoted to the ancient fathers of the church, and, in many respects, was well fitted for his chosen work in the ministry. Following him were other noted men, also, who have served the Methodist church in Elizabeth. John McClasky, an Irish lad in the Revolution, and imprisoned a year in the old sugar house, FULTON STREET METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH in Liberty street. New York city, afterward became converted, and served this church in 1788. He was a mighty preacher, a recognized leader, and a wise counselor. In 1794 Hezekiah C. Wooster, a wonder- ful preacher of the Word, was here. He is described as a " flaming herald, whose eloquence was overwhelming." Shadrach Bostwick, M. D., whom Bishop Hedding called "a glorious man," was here in 1795; Thomas Everard whose " wit was caustic and words inspiring," rode this circuit in 1799; Joseph Lybrand, 278 HISTORY QF UNION COUNTY ' ' a princely man, whose eloquence was equal to that of Charles Pitman ;' ' Joseph Holdich, the fine scholar, afterwards professor in Wesleyan University, Connecticut; Bishop Edmund S. James, and his sweet- spirited brother, Edwin L. James, the author of the " Beauties of Payson"; William H. Gilder, father of the distinguished Richard Watson Gilder, editor of the Century Magazine, and also of J. L. and J. B. Gilder, editors of the Critic; James Buckley, the uncle of the present editor of the Advocate; John F. Hurst, now bishop, and many others equally as able, officiated as clergymen in the Methodist churches of Elizabeth. FULTON STREET CHURCH. As early as 1830 a Methodist class was formed at Elizabethport under the leadership of James C. Denman, and in 185 1 the Fulton street church was organized, and a church edifice was completed in the following year. Isaac Trotter was the first pastor of that church. ST. MARY'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. Fifty-three years ago the first regular services were held by the Catholics in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Before this a priest would occasionally come over from Staten Island and celebrate mass for the few people of that faith, but it was not until 1844 that a permanent priest was granted them. Rev. Father Isaac P. Howell, the first pastor, met his little band of twenty-five people for the first time on Palm Sunday, 1844. He proved to be a most successful guide both in things spiritual and temporal. At the end of the first year of his labors, his flock had grown in numbers to a membership of one hundred. Father Howell in the meantime had been zealously laboring to secure means to build a house of worship, much of which had to be sought for outside of the newly formed parish. The laborers on the Morris canal were appealed to and responded liberally. The pastor working unceasingly for the one end, was finally rewarded for his diligence in having a comfortable place for service, besides a rectory, which was mostly paid for by himself. He had true missionary spirit, and his memory is held in affectionate remembrance. He was followed by Father Kane, his assistant, who, after the decease of his former rector, succeeded to the charge of St. Mary's and continued therein several years. Father Kane came to Elizabeth from St. James' church in Newark, New Jersey. He was followed by Father Thebaud, of a noble French family, who fled from France during the revolution. He was a classmate of the Rt. Rev. Dr. Wigger, the present bishop of the diocese of Newark, at Brigonlisle College, Genoa, at which institution he was graduated. After his death Father Corrigan took charge of the parish. Father Corrigan was a brother to the Most Rev. Michael Corrigan, formerly bishop of this diocese, and now archbishop of New HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY 279 York. To distinguish him from this eminent prelate he was called " Father James. " He was once president of Seton Hall College. Father Corrigan died in 1890, at which time, Father O'Neill became pastor, where he still continues. Up. to September, 1896, he was ably assisted by Father Carroll, now himself rector at Newark, and whose place is filled by Father Brady. The present church building of St. Mary's was begun in 1845, when the basement walls were built. Afterward a small structure was placed upon these, in which the congregation worshiped until 1858, when they were able to begin the ST. MARY'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH work of enlarging and improving the church and rectory. This was finished in 1864, during the pastorate of Rev. Isaac P. Howell. Dr. John M. Reimer, editor of the New Jersey Herald, graphically describes the interior of the church as follows: On the walls in bass-relief are representations of the stations of the cross, being sculptures which were produced from Munich. They are fine specimens of art, and could hardly be excelled, the expressions of the figures appearing decidedly realistic and the whole effect very impressive. The ceiling is exquisitely decorated. In the centre appears an illustration of the Assunlption, which is well executed. At the corners, figures of angels and cherubs are exhibited, all of which are decidedly pleasing to the eye. The chancel has been furnished with artistic taste and at a great expense, the 280 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY furniture and carpets forming a combination of coloring which is productive of delight- ful results. On the wall back of the main altar is a fine life-size painting of the Crucifixion, while the altar on the left bears an oil painting by Torjetti, which is particularly valuable and a masterpiece of art. It is a representation of the Madonna and Child. Leaning against the altar on the right is a smaller canvas, picturing the flight into Egypt of Joseph and Mary with the child Jesus. REV. FRANCIS O'NEILL The art gems of St. Mary's church, however, are the two stained-glass windows on either side of the chancel. These windows were brought from Munich, and are the work of a master artist. The one on the left contains beautiful pictures of St. Michael and St. Gabriel on the upper portion, and of the presentation in the Temple of the Blessed Virgin when a little child, on the lower. That on the right portrays St. Raphael and St. Uriel on the upper portion, and on the lower, St. Dominick receiving the rosary previous to its introduction into every part of the world. Each line on this window is in perfect harmony with all the rest, the figures and all accessories being executed with careful attention to every detail. HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY 281 An important adjunct to St. Mary's is the society known as the Young Men's Catholic Literary Association, organized in 1879. St. Mary's parochial school was founded by Father Howell in 1851. There are at present about three hundred scholars in attendance. The present rector, Father O'Neill, is a native of St. Andrews, province of New Brunswick, Canada. He was educated in part at St. Andrews Academy, later he was a student in St. Dunstan's College, and afterward was sent to the Seminary of Montreal to prepare for ordination. He was ordained at St. John's, New Brunswick. Father Carroll, the late assistant pastor, was born in Morristown, New Jersey, April 19, 1859. His education was begun in St. Benedict's College, in Newark, but he was afterwards sent to a preparatory school, St. Charles, in Maryland. From this school he went to Seton Hall Col- lege, where he was graduated in 1881. He at once entered the semin- ary, and was ordained four years later, in 1885. He was immediately assigned to St. Mary's, as assistant to Father Thebaud. He remained in the same capacity with Father Corrigan and last with Father O'Neill. Father Carroll's zeal and sincere personality won for him a warm place in the hearts of his parishioners. Rev. Father James H. Brady, successor to Father Carroll in St. Mary's, was born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1856. In 1861 his parents removed to Providence, Rhode Island, where he was educated in the public schools, and was graduated at the high school in 1871. He then spent a year in the Christian Brothers' high school, after which he entered the Jesuits' College in Montreal, where he was graduated in 1877. After spending one year in post-graduate work, he went to Seton Hall, and was ordained in 1882. His first work was as assistant pastor in Jersey City, New Jersey, and afterward in the same capacity in Newark, New Jer- sey. He then took charge of the mission of Stanhope and Lake Hopatcong, where he remained eight years, coming from that charge to that of St. Mary's. St. Mary's Guild was organized in 1896. The Holy Name Society is also a new organization, at present in charge of Father Brady. ST. PATRICK'S PARISH, of Elizabeth, was the third formed, and ground was broken for the church edifice in 1858, and in that year, when the corner-stone of this church was laid, that portion of the city was almost a wilderness. Bishop Bayley, having been previously prevailed upon to allow the experiment of a new parish to be attempted, Rev. M. A. M. Wirtzfield came over from St. Michael's to take charge. Mr. Patrick Riel started the good work by donating his three lots for the site, and the corner- stone of the church was laid, in Wall street, September, 1858. Father Wirtzfield acted as pastor for seven years, when the learned Rev. Patrick Hennessy took his place. He was succeeded by Rev. Patrick Cody, and he, on January 27, 1873, by Rev. Martin Gessner, the present 282 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY pastor. Since Father Gessner took charge, almost the entire block in Court street, between First and Second streets, has been acquired and upon this the church, the school and various other buildings are in process of completion, which will cost from four hundred . thousand dollars to five hundred thousand dollars. The Church of the Holy Rosary was established in July, 1886, by Bishop Wigger. John Callaghan took charge and built up the parish. Rev. J. J. Sijiith is priest. The Church of the Sacred Heart, at the corner of Spring and Bond streets, is a more recent organization. Rev. Augustine Wirtlj, O. S. B. is priest. ST. MICHAE,L'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH was erected for the German Catholics, in the year 1852. The Redemp- tionist Fathers, of New York, attended thfe Catholics of Elizabeth from 1849 to 1851, when a congregation was organized. On August 8, 1852, theyreceivedtheir first resident priest. Rev. Augustus Daubner, O. S. F. Services were held during two years in Peters building, at Union Square, when in 1853, a new church was biiilt on Smith street. In 1855 the church was enlarged and a parochial school was built. In 1870 the present pastor Rev. Albert von Schilgeii was appointed, and in 1873 he built the new church, on the corner of East Jelrsey and Smith streets. The congregation has about two thousand members. The new parochial school was built in li CHAPTER XIX. THE CITY OF ELIZABETH, CONTINUED— NEWSPAPERS, HOSPITALS, ASYLUMS, ETC. T is an unmistakable fact that in any community a most potent influence upon development and consecutive progress is that wielded by the local press; and as at least repre- senting an enterprise 6f semi-public nature, it is eminently fitting that due recognition be accorded the leading factors in this line. In the succeeding paragraphs will be found reference to various beneficent and eleemosynary institutions which contribute to the prestige of Elizabeth as a center of advanced civilization and true humanitarianism. THE ELIZABETH DAILY JOURNAL. This is the leading newspaper in the city of Elizabeth and Union county, and no history of Union county would be reasonably complete that did not include a liberal sketch of the Journal, its origin, its history, its work and its success. The growth and prosperity of the city and county in which it circulates and exerts its influence, have been so intimately associated with the progress and development of the Journal for the past quarter of a century, that each may be said, with great propriety, to have had a reciprocally beneficial effect upon the other. On the i6th of February, 1779, the first number of the New Jersey Journal was issued, at Chatham, by Sheppard KoUock. It was a four- page sheet, three columns to a page; size of printed form, 9 x 13 inches; subscription two dollars a year. A well preserved copy of the original issue is on file in the New Jersey Historical Society's rooms, Newark, and many reprint copies were made from it early in the year 1880. There are yet extant many odd copies of the issues during the years 1783, 1797, 1799, 1800, etc., but there is no perfect file until a much later date. Shortly after the paper was started, the editorial and business offices were removed to Elizabeth Town, but its early history was full of strange and exciting experiences. The war of the Revolution was not yet ended, and this section of the country saw many engagements, and was traversed many times by the British and American troops in turn. The Journal was then, as ever since, heartily loyal to the interests of the country and of the locality in which it was printed, and it suffered 284 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 285 for its loyalty. It is related that time and again its presses were carted from place to place to prevent the enemy from capturing them, and that its ofSce was in a wagon more than once. When the war ended it became permanently established in Eliza- beth as a readable, reliable family newspaper, and it has never since changed its locality nor descended from the high character and purpose upon which it was established. On July 17, 1871, the Elizabeth Daily Journal came into existence, in answer to a public demand for a clean, bright, able, reliable paper. Republican in principle, that would address itself to the intelligent readers of the city and county and fearlessly advocate their best interests. At that time the people of Elizabeth had been wrought up to financial insanity by the wooden-pavement bond-issuing craze. There appeared CHARLES C. McBRIDE to be no end to the continuous invention of vast debt-creating schemes for carrying on alleged improvements. The Journal foresaw what the result must be, and at once opposed these schemes with all its strength. Tremendous excitement and bitter antagonisms were created, but the Journal kept the inevitable day of reckoning steadily in public view, and the city's collapse when it came, ultimately carried down with it all the other papers and left the Journal with an established reputation for honesty and with an undisputed field. Since then new papers have started and old ones have been revived, but none has rivaled the Journal in the esteem and confidence of the people. While the city was passing through the fiery financial trials which followed its bankruptcy, the Journal stood alone in resisting the confis- catory demands of belligerent creditors, and insisted upon such an adjustment of the crushing debt as would permit the city to recover its municipal existence, regain its prestige and secure an opportunity to 286 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY restore its normal prosperity. No paper ever worked with more vigor or more effectively than did the Journal to this end. It earned the approval of all the citizens and property-owners, and has retained their support and good will ever since. The magnificent system of stone roads in Union county is another monument to the Journal's effective work. For three years this paper stood alone in its advocacy of this system, nearly all the other papers aggressively opposing it. But the Journal's articles were vigorous and bristling with conclusive arguments and pertinent facts, and it virtually forced the people into an improvement which has since proved the best investment the county ever made, while the Journal's articles, copied in ever}' county in the state, have formed the basis of the literature AUGUSTUS S. CRANE which has greatly advanced the cause of good roads throughout the country. The crusade against the race-track gamblers was begun by the Journal at a time when, as leading politicians declared, it was folly to think of successfully fighting these gigantic institutions. But the Journal entered the fight with all its energ)', and the race-track gamblers were driven out of the state. In politics the Journal is Republican, but it has such a hold upon the people that members of all political parties read it and find in its columns the latest news at home and abroad. It has made a household word of its piquant motto, " If 3'ou don't read the Journal you don't get the news." From the small beginning already described, the Journal has grown into an eight-page daily paper, seven columns to a page, size 15^ x 22; with twelve-page issues when occasion requires. It recently abandoned the old system of hand typesetting and now uses the latest improved linotype machines. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 287 It enjoys a splendid advertising patronage and has a thoroughly equipped job-printing department. While its largest circulation is in the city of Elizabeth, it has many readers and regular representatives in Rahway, Westfield, Cranford, Roselle, Linden, I/yons Farms and the adjacent country sections. Mr. Charles C. McBride, the present editor of the Journal, is a New Jersey man by birth, and has found no place more attractive than his native state. He began as reporter and generally useful man about the office, on the date of the first issue of the daily, and ha^ advanced, by hard and conscientious work, upward through the various places of responsibility, reaching the editorial chair nearly ten years ago. One of the sincerest indications of an editor's success is the frequency with which his editorials are copied in other papers, and no paper in the state enjoys this distinction more frequently than the Journal. Mr. Augustus S. Crane, the Journal's business manager, is a descendant of one of the oldest families of New Jersey. He too began his work in a humble position in the Daily Journal office, a few years after it had been started. Through his untiring zeal, progressive ideas and a thorough study of the mechanical and business departments of the office he has eminently qualified himself for the successful work he is now carrying on, in one of the most arduous and responsible positions in the office of a daily newspaper. THE ELIZABETH DAILY LEADER was sprung into existence, July 29, 1889, by General J. Madison Drake, who for a number of years had successfully conducted the Sunday Leader, the publication of which, however, ceased in February, 1890. The Daily Leader flourished from the first day of its publication, at once attaining a large circulation and a profitable advertising patron- age. At this writing (1897) the Leader is an eight-page sheet, its types being set by linotype machines. General Drake is assisted in the management of the Leader by his sons, William M. Drake and J. Madison Drake, Jr., both of whom have been connected with the news- paper business since early boyhood. General Drake has been a newspaper publisher since 1854, when he started the Mercer Standard, in Trenton, New Jersey. Subsequently he published the Evening Express and Wide Awake in that city. Upon his return home, after a loyal service in the late war, General Drake started the Daily Monitor in Elizabeth, and thereby realized a fortune. For dis- tinguished gallantry during the four years of war he was presented with a medal of honor by congress. THE ELIZABETH GENERAL HOSPITAL AND DISPENSARY. The first successful movement toward establishing a hospital in Elizabeth was made in the early part of 1877 by Dr. James S. Green. 288 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Convinced of the necessity of such an institution, he desired to bring the general public to a recognition of the fact, and this he believed could best be done by the establishment of a free dispensary as a preliminary movement. To this end he sought and obtained the co-operation of Drs. Alonzo Pettit, J. Otis Pinneo and Thomas N. McL,ean, and these four physicians, at their own expense, secured rooms, and on April 17, 1877, opened a " Free Dispensary for the Treatment of Surgical Diseases of the Poor." In the early part of 1879 ^^^ time for further organization seemed to have arrived, and the gentlemen immediately interested in the enter- prise, executed, on the 9th of May, 1879, under the general laws of the state of New Jerse}', a certificate of the incorporation of the Elizabeth General Hospital and Dispensary, and filed it in the office of the secretary of state. The following names were attached to this certificate : James S. Green, J. O. Pinneo, N. C. J. English, R. W. Woodward, William T. Day, C. B. Place, I. E. Gates, W. W. Sterns, Thomas N. McDean, Lebbeus B. Miller, C. W. Van Home, Albert B. Hazard, Charles H. RoUinson, J. Augustus Dix, Alonzo Pettit. These gentlemen, by the terms of the certificate, became the first board of managers of the corporation. In October of the same year the organization of the board was com- pleted by the election of its officers as follows : President, Eebbeus B. Miller ; vice-president, Albert B. Hazard ; treasurer, Charles B. Place ; secretary, W. T. Day. At the same meeting a medical and surgical staff" was appointed as follows : Surgeons — Jas. S. Green, M. D., I^ewis W. Oakley, M. D., Victor Mravlag, M. D., Alonzo Pettit, M. D. ; physicians —J. Otis Pinneo, M. D., J. S. Crane, M. D., Robert Wescott, M. D., Thomas N. McLean, M. D. In February, 1880, the managers elected a dentist, Eouis S. Marsh, D. D. S. In January, 1880, Drs. Green and Pettit and Mr. C. B. Place were appointed a committee to select a location for the hospital, the result being the purchase of the Jaques propert}', on Jaques street, for three thousand two hundred dollars. This purchase was made on the i6th of April following, and subsequently the building was altered and additional lands purchased. In January 1880 the physicians in charge of the Free Dispensary for the Treatment of Surgical Diseases of the Poor, transferred the same to the managers of the hospital. On the 6th of February the Emergency Hospital, an enterprise that had been started a short time before, under the care of a number of ladies, was tendered, with all its appliances, to the board of managers of the hospital, and was accepted. On the 26th of May, 1880, the first annual meeting of the association was held, and fifteen managers were elected. The Jaques-street building was opened for patients October 11, 1880. Through the efforts of Mrs. Eliza G. Halsey, the " Daisy Bed " fund was inaugurated, which has been of much assistance in the work, as HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 289 many as ninety-one children having been cared for in one year in the Daisy Bed ward. In January, 1881, the Toadies' Aid Society of the Elizabeth General Hospital and Dispensary was organized, at once began co-operation with the board of managers, and has rendered most sub- stantial aid in many directions. Through its efforts the Training School for Nurses was organized, in 1892. Soon after the opening of the Jaques-street hospital it was found necessary to have more rooih for patients, and a surgical pavilion was added, which gave temporary relief Dater on, a further increase of room became an urgent necessity, and early in 1888 the board of managers, after careful investigation, decided to put up a new building, which should embody the most improved plans and arrangements for hospital purposes. In carrying out this decision a new site, on the northeast corner of East Jersey and Reid streets, was purchased and the present hospital buildings were erected thereon, the expenditure for grounds and buildings being about ninety thousand dollars, the larger part of which was secured through the active personal efforts of Mayor John C. Rankin. Three of these subscriptions aggregated eight thousand dollars and there were twenty-eight of one thousand dollars each. On May 2, 1894, the building on Jaques street was abandoned as a hospital, and the work inaugurated in the new quarters. * The Blake Memorial, for women, was a gift by Mrs. Frederick M. Blake, as a memorial of her father and mother, the late William and Augusta Zschwetzke. The building was completed and formally opened on the evening of April 28, 1894. The Cribside Association, inaugurated by Mrs. Blake for the purpose of furnishing supplies of garments, linen and bedding to the Blake Memorial, has not only succeeded in doing this, but has also contributed two thousand dollars toward its endowment. The total number of patients treated in the hospital in 1896 was : Surgical ward, 384 ; medical ward, 328 ; maternity ward, 55 ; emergency cases — surgical, 200 ; medical, 25. This renders a total of nine hundred and twenty-two cases treated in the hospital, while the same year records dispensary visits to the number of two thousand three hundred and twenty-eight. The present officers are : President, I^ebbeus B. Miller ; vice-president, Charles H. K. Halsey ; secretary, William T. Day; treasurer, Patrick J. Ryan. The present board of managers comprises : William W. Ackerman, James H. Alexander, Francis J. Blatz, Frank H. Davis, William T. Day, Charles H. K. Halsey, Lebbeus B. Miller, *The capacity of the present hospital is one hundred and five beds. In addition to the general wards, it has the Daisy Bed ward for children, an isolated pavilion for diphtheria cases, and the Blake Memorial pavilion for women. There are ten rooms for private patients in the main hospital and four in the Blake, the latter for gynecological and maternity patients. The charge for private rooms is fifteen dollars per week, which includes board, medicines, ordinary surgical appliances and the services of the house staff and the regular nurse. There are three surgical operating rooms, and the equipment for surgical work will compare favorably with the best hospitals. There is also a training school for nurses connected with the hospital, from which nurses for private families are supplied. 19 290 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Charles H. Moore, Jacob H. Olhausen, Calvin B. Orcutt, William H. Rankin, Patrick J. Ryan, Elias D. Smith, Charles Townsend, R. W. Woodward. The present staff are : Surgeons — Alonzo Pettit, M. D., Victor Mravlag, M. D., James S. Green, M. D., Edgar B. Grier, M. D.; physicians— Thomas N. Mclvcan, M. D., William A. M. Mack, M. D., Norton L,. Wilson, M. D. ; superintendent of the hospital, lyouis R. Curtis. Mr. Lebbeus B. Miller has been president of the hospital from its organization, with the exception of the years 1891 to 1894, inclusive, during which time J. Augustus Dix, one of the founders and liberal patrons of the hospital, occupied the position. The secretaryship has been in the hands of William T. Day from the. year 1879, with the exception of two or three 3'ears, when he served in the capacit}- of finan- cial secretary, during which time Mr. R. W. Woodward held the office of secretary. ALEXIAN brothers' HOSPITAL. The order of the Celite or Alexian Brothers was founded in the fourteenth centur)-, when the great plague brought desolation oxer all Europe, it being known in history as the "black death." The first order was founded at Mechlin, in Belgium, and there are now establish- ments of Alexians all over the world. The first house in America was erected in Chicago, in March, 1866. The corner-stone of the Elizabeth hospital was laid by Rt. Rev. W. M. Wigger, in May, 1893. The hospital was opened July i, 1894. Hospital cases during the past ;5'ear numbered seven hundred. There are fourteen brothers in attendance. ORPHAN ASYLUM. The Elizabeth Orphan Asylum occupies one of the finest buildings in the city. It is located on the corner of Murray and Cherry streets, and is a four-story brick structure, with ample accommodations for one hundred children. On the first floor are the dining room, school room, parlor and two sitting rooms. On the second floor are two large dormi- tories and four other rooms. On the third is a well appointed hospital, cut off completely from the rest of the house. On the fourth are large play rooms, as there are also in the basement. The institution is supported by the donations of the citizens. The Elizabeth Orphan Asylum Association was incorporated February 12, 1858, with the following as incorporators : Benjamin Williamson, Richard T. Haines, John J. Chetwood, Reuben Van Pelt, Garret Green, David Magie, Samuel A. Clark, Nicholas Murray and Alfred DeWitt. The first directress was Mrs. R. T. Haines ; the first treasurer, Mrs. J. G. Nuttman, and the first secretary, Mrs. Alfred DeWitt. On July 29, 1858, the institution began its work of charity in a rented house on Broad street, with eleven children from the alms HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 291 house. Of these first eleven the Scarlett brothers afterward improved the advantages of the asylum. One is a prosperous lawyer, and the other two are ministers, in charge of prosperous congregations. Many other of the former inmates now occupy honorable positions. In i860 the Thomas house, in Broad street, near the bridge, was purchased, and was occupied as the asylum until 1872. In 1871 Anson G. P. Dodge, then a resident of the city, offered twenty thousand dollars to buy land and build an asylum, on the condition that the citizens contributed fifteen thousand dollars more. On the 3d of May of that same year, at the anniversary exercises, it was announced that the money had been raised. The work of erecting the building began immediatel)', and in 1872 it was completed and occupied. Mrs. Samuel A. Clark became first directress in 1882 and has held the office ever since, Mrs. Franklin Brown is second directress ; Mrs. Jonas E. Marsh, treasurer ; Mrs. A. W. Dimock, secretary ; Miss G. G. Clanc}-, matron ; Dr. Norton L. Wilson, physician. THE HOME FOR AGED WOMEN. This is certainly a deserving and prominent charit)', and owes its foundation to Mrs. Jane J. Ogilvie, a resident of this city, who died in 1870, leaving the residuum of her estate, after the payment of certain legacies, in trust to her executors for the aid of indigent old women of Elizabeth. Through the fund thus started ready responses and assist- ance were at once given to an appeal sent out setting forth the desirability of such an institution. A home was immediately opened, on Elizabeth avenue, but since that time it has been moved to several different loca- tions, until now it occupies the Boxwood Hall, in East Jersey street, which was bought for fifteen thousand dollars, of which ten thousand dollars was contributed by the Ogilive fund. Admission is obtained on approval of board of managers and the payment of one hundred dollars, or a guarantee of its payment within six months. The pastors of the various churches of the city administer to their spiritual wants, and they are supplied with books to read and have every comfort it is possible to furnish. CHAPTER XX. BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL RECORDS. HE history of a state as well as that of a nation is chiefly a chronicle of the lives and deeds of those who have conferred honor and' dignity upon society. The world judges the character of a community by that of its represent! ve citizens, and a compilation of this nature exercises its legitimate function in incorporating a brief record of those whose works and actions have been such as to entitle them to the recognition and representation. JAMES MADISON WATSON, educationist and author, is of English and Dutch descent. His Ameri- can ancestors migrated to New England and New York in the early colonial days. His grandfather, John Watson, ^vas a soldier in the Con- tinental army during the Revolutionary war, and at its close settled in Washington county, New York, a few miles north of Albany. The father, Rev. Simeon Watson, a Baptist clergyman, removed to western New York in 1818. The subject of this memoir, the fifth in a family of seven children, was born in Onondaga Hill, the original shiretown of Onondaga county, February 8, 1827. Though Syracuse had become the county seat, his native village afforded the helpful and refining influences incident to a residential town of clergymen, judges, lawj^ers, and other cultured citi- zens of the county. It also possessed many peculiarities of a provincial and frontier town which, during the plastic period of childhood, tend permanently to affect the character. The Onondaga Indians, from the neighboring reservation, were frequenters of its streets and homes. It was on the state highway and United States mail route between Albany and Buffalo, and the daily arrivals of the stage coaches from the east and the west were regularly heralded by the ever welcome blasts of the bugle horn. The Watson homestead, formerly the chief hotel of the village, was situated on the public square, opposite the court house, which was then used in part as a Baptist church. The county clerk's ofBce, at the head of the square, had become the principal public school, and here the boy received the rudiments of an education, the open campus or ample village green serving as an admirable playground. Here, also, frorii the village library, containing a few select books of wholesome and stimula- ting literature, he first acquired his passionate love of reading and his admiration of classical style. JAMES MADISON WATSON, IN 1892 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 293 In his twelfth year ,the family removed to a sparsely settled and heavily timbered section of Oswego county, adjacent to Onondaga, in- volving the obstacles, limitations and unremitting labor incident to clearing lands and establishing a new home in the wilderness. The novel conditions of life and strange environment struck his boyish fancy, awakened his dormant faculties, and constantly called forth his best efforts. He worked in the woods and fields by days and spent his even- ings and the odds and ends of time in reading and study. At sixteen he stood high in the teachers' examination and conducted sxiccessfuUy, dur- ing the winter months, his first district school. Thenceforth he continued his studies in the academies of the county, with the view of a college course, alternated with teaching, as the ne- cessities of self-support demanded. He was principal of an Oswego city public school for three years, and later an academic instructor and stu- dent of law. In August of 1852 he entered, as clerk and law student, the office of General James R. Lawrence, of Syracuse, then a noted law- yer and the United States attorney for the northern district of New York, remaining only eight months ; but it was a period of closest study, faith- ful service and rapid progress. He arrived in Albany March 31, 1853, secured a position as clerk and student with the law firm of Hammond, King & Barnes, and also as copyist in the United States branch pension office. He worked well-nigh incessantly in offices, courts, and libraries, studying books, things and men, and was admitted to the bar Septem- ber 6th, the same year. Two days later he left Albany for New York city, to attend the Crystal Palace Exposition, but with no expectation of taking up his residence there. Before the close of the week, however, he accepted a business and literary connection with the publishing house of A. S. Barnes & Company, which was continued many years. Immediately afterward, in the interest of their publications, he commenced extended lecture tours, visiting Albany, Troy, Washington, District of Columbia ; Baltimore, Wilmington, Delaware ; Philadelphia, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Reading, Easton, Trenton, Newark, Jersey City, Brooklyn, New Haven, Hartford, Worcester, Boston and many other important cities and towns, returning at intervals to New York. His services during this period were especially valuable in the revision and popularization of their text-books. A practical elocutionist and well versed in English and American literature, he had also noticed the in- adequacy of the material, the illogical arrangements, and the mistaken methods of the school and family readers and spellers then in use, and had elaborated a scheme for a new series suited to all scholastic grades. The appearance, in 1855, of his " Word Builder, or National First Reader," inaugurated a new order of schoolbooks, practically presenting for the first time a systematic use of the synthetic and analytical meth- ods of teaching reading and spelling by combining the word and sent- ence systems with the alphabetic and phonetic ones. Encouraged by 294 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY the prompt and widespread welcome given this little book, and aided by Richard Green Parker, the then popnlar author of " Aids to English Composition," within three years he completed the " National Series of Readers," six books, the " National Elementary Speller," and the " National Pronouncing Speller " — works whose merits were of univer- sal recognition, and wdiose revised editions, after thirty-nine years [1897], are still in use. JAMES MADISON WATSON, IN 1871 For several years subsequent to 185S, much of his time was devoted to_, teaching elocution and athletics in New York cit)- ; to training professionals, teachers, and classes in schools ; and to lectures, public readings, and instruction in teachers' institutes in many states of the Union. At the close of the civil war, in conjunction with Dr. Charles Davies, the mathematician, and other experienced educators, he aided State Superintendent Parker in the establishment of a common free- school s}'stem in all the congressional districts of Missouri. Meanwhile he prepared his two works on phy.sical training, profuseh- illustrated and HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 295 complete to an extent not theretofore attempted. His " Hand Book of Gymnastics," and his " Manual of Calisthenics," published in 1864, which met an enthusiastic reception worthy of war times, were widely used by individuals, families, schools, and gymnasiums, and contributed not a little toward the creation of a national sentiment for physical culture. In 1868 he commenced the preparation of " Watson's Indepen- dent Readers," a new series of six books which was issued during the succeeding four years, accompanied by his " Independent Spelling Book." His " Independent Child's Speller," and " Independent Youth's Speller," both printed in script, appeared respectively in 1872 and 1874 ; his " Independent Primary Reader," in 1875 ; his " Complete Speller," in 1^78 ; and his " Graphic Speller," in 1884. These works are widely distinguished from the usual compilations of schoolbook makers. Original in design and largely so in matter, logical in arrangement, perfectly graded, and rich in annotations and illustrations, they are fully suited for permanent use by classes and individual learners. He also prepared, some years since, two distinct and entire series of schoolbooks which, though published anonymously, were extensively introduced, and their annual sales are still large. Beside revised editions, his separate works probably number not less than forty volumes. His principal publishers are the American Book Company, Washington Square, New York. Mr. Watson was married at Newark, New Jersey, in 1871, to E^lma Hopper, a daughter of Rev. Andrew Hopper, a Baptist clergyman. The same year he purchased a tract of land at Elizabeth, where he established a delightful home. He has one child, Mabel Madison Watson. Converted at an early age, he has since been closely identified with religious, ethical and reformatory measures. He is a member of the Baptist State Board of New Jersey, a deacon of the Central Baptist church of Elizabeth, and a ready Christian worker. A Republican in politics, though not a partisan, he is ever responsive to his civic duties. At the earnest and unanimous solicitation of its membership, January 5, 1885, he accepted the presidency of the Elizabeth Red Ribbon Club, a temperance and law and order organization, established by the churches of the city. A lifelong total abstainer, and believing alcoholics the greatest curse of mankind — the seat and source of lawlessness, violence, crime, disease and death — for five years he continued president, main- tained educational and religious temperance Sunday meetings, union services with similar societies, and occasional protracted reformative meetings. He was editor and publisher of the " Red Ribbon Record," the organ of the club. He also labored to lessen the number of drinking saloons, and waged incessant war before the city boards and the courts of the state with the violators of the excise laws, especially Sunday sellers. He has been an active worker in the Elizabeth Board of Ti'ade, a member of the board of education and its president. He became an 296 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY acti\'e member of the New Jersey Sanitary Association in 1879, its president in 1882, and thenceforth, for fifteen years, its corresponding- secretary. He was elected a member of the American Public Health Association in 1882, read a paper on " Physical Training," at its annual meeting, in Detroit, the following year, and subsequently he has continued an active member. He has also been an efficient and enthu- siastic member of the American Forestr}' Association for some years past. FRANCIS ENGEL. Francis Engel, of Elizabeth, superintendent of the gas company of that cit)^, is a prominent member of the city council and a faithful and conservative man in that body. He was elected in April, 1897, ^^ represent the ninth ward for the fourth successive time, and has made an enviable reputation as a public servant. He is chairman of the finance and the police committees, and a member of the committees on drainage and on law, and was the chairman of the special committee to devise a plan for the improvement of the Elizabeth river. He has served on the fire committee, and while there was active in securing new apparatus for five of the eight companies of the city. Mr. Engel was born in Elizabeth forty-four years ago and is a son of the late John Engel, who represented the old first ward in the cit}' council in 1865-8 and afterward served as receiver of taxes, with whom his son, Francis, served in his youth as deputy. Upon leaving his father's office, twenty-five years ago, he came to his present position, to which has since been added the duties of chief engineer. Mr. Engel was first married, in 1876, to Jennie McCall, who died, leaving a daughter, Josephine. His second marriage was to Mary, the daughter of ex-Freeholder Joseph Nolte, and by this marriage he is the father of five children. In politics Mr. Engle is a Democrat, and was re-elected to the council in April, 1897, by the largest majority yet received by him. GEORGE H. HORNING, ex-member of the common council of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was born in that city August 19, 1859. He is a son of George Horning, whose father, Andrew, a native German, was an oil-cloth manufacturer of Elizabeth. George Horning and his wife, Mary nee Weber, are resi- dents of Elizabeth and the parents of three children : L- P., George H. and Emma. George H. Horning received his education in a private German and English school, and in the public schools of his native city. He entered first the drug store of Bucholtz & Driver, and later that of Whitehead & Hooker. In 1877 he became a student in the College of Pharmacy in Mrs. EMILY E. WILLIAMSON HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 297 the city of New York. Having been graduated therefrom in 1879, ^^^ returned to Elizabeth and re-engaged with Mr. Hooker, with whom he remained till 1884, when he engaged in business for himself, in a building erected by him for that purpose in Elizabeth. Mr. Horning was married in October, 1883, to Ellen Shipman, and has two children, — Mabel and Lillian. He was elected to the city council, from the seventh ward, in November, 1891, and was re-elected in 1893, serving till July, 1895. He was a member of the committees on health, markets, laws, printing, sewers and drainage, public buildings and grounds, as well as poor and alms, and during the last term of his service was chairman of the health and poor and alms committees. He took an active part in the elevation of the railroad tracks and in the repavement of Elizabeth avenue. Mr. Horning was elected county coroner in November, 1892, for three years, and filled that ofl&ce with credit. He is a member of the New Jersey State Pharmaceutical Association, of the Alumni Association of the College of Pharmacy of the city of New York ; is a director of the Elizabeth Telephone Company, and also a director and one of the organizers of the Union County Mutual Insurance Company, and of the Citizens' Bank of Elizabeth. EMILY E. WILLIAMSON. One of the most prominent women in the state to-day is Mrs. Emily E. Williamson, wife of Mr. Benjamin Williamson, of Elizabeth, New Jersey. Mrs. Williamson was, before her marriage, Emily Hornblower. She is a direct descendant of Jonathan Hornblower, the well known English engineer, and on her mother's side is descended from Sir Christopher Newport, of Newport News fame ; her mother was also a cousin of Charles Reade, the novelist. Her husband is the eldest son of the late Chancellor Benjamin Williamson, and grandson of the late Governor Williamson of New Jersey. Mrs. Williamson has been for a number of years the general secretary of the State Charities, Aid and Prison Reform Association of New Jersey, and the siiccess of this association, along its unique lines of work, is largely due to the persistent, determined efforts put forth by her. Her chief aim is bettering the condition of inmates in the penal and charitable institutions throughout the state, and to this end she has frequently drawn, and had introduced into the legislature, bills which have remedied long-standing evils ; rarely has she been defeated in the carrying out of any project undertaken by her. The Intermediary Prison, now in course of erection at Rahway, is but one of the many needed reforms in the state which have been brought about by the influence, interest and hard work of Mrs. Williamson. She has visited and inspected every penitentiary, jail, alms house and station house in the state, and is thereby enabled to judge from personal observa- 298 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY tion just what is needed in these institutions. Mrs. Williamson is particularly interested in all that pertains to her own county, and has been connected with all of the charities therein, both public and private, for many years. Mrs. Williamson is a prominent member of the National Board of Charities and Corrections, and chairman of the committee on county and municipal charities. She is a member of the woman's advisory committee of the University of New York, and takes a very active inter- est in the work of the School of Pedagogy and in all other lines of edu- cational advancement. She is a member of " Sorosis " and is also well known through her magazine work. Mrs. Williamson is a fluent and inspiring speaker. That rarity among American women, a beautiful voice, the use of elegant, simple language, and a graceful, easy manner, make an address- by her an in- tellectual treat. Jerome Allen, Ph. D., late dean of the School of Peda- gogy, said that he considered Mrs. Williamson an orator, and that never, unless it was unavoidable, did he miss an opportunity of hearing her speak. She is an extempore speaker, never using notes. ' Her lines of work are broad and liberal, and so are her sympathies ; any plan that is for the uplifting and aiding of humanity, providing it is practical in its suggestions, has her hearty co-operation, and if she can not always give her personal attention to it she can and does help by her kindly, encouraging words. Contrary to the old adage that prophets have no honor in their own country, Mrs. Williamson is most beloved in her own town and state ; persons in trouble seek her aid and she is always willing to help bear others' burdens, giving to one encouragement, to another sympathy, to still another employment, — helping each according to his or her peculiar needs. Mrs. Williamson is not theoretical or a sentimentalist. She is a philanthropist in the broadest sense of the word. It is an axiom with her that " Practical charity means the requiring from each man and woman enough labor for self-support at least." COLONEI, JAMES MOORE, of Elizabeth, a distinguished civil engineer, and late general superin- tendent and, until his death, consulting engineer of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, was born in lyancaster county, Pennsylvania, on February 9, 1813. He was the son of Robert Moore, whose property, — Moore's Mills, together with a valuable farm on the Octorara river, — he had inherited, the family being among the oldest in the state of Pennsyl- vania. The mills consisted of flour and grist mill, carding mill, (for preparing wool for spinning) a saw mill, a cider mill, and a plaster mill, for pulverizing plaster of Paris for fertilizing purposes. The mills and ^/^^^^^Cy/ ^/^/^ -^y HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY 299 farm were located about sixteen tailes from the city of Ivancaster. James had a natural inclination for mechanics, being a grand-nephew of Robert Fulton, the inventor of the steamboat, and became interested in the old-fashioned machinery of the mills, while farming tools and agri- culture in general had little attraction for him. After the death of his father, he, with his mother and two young sisters, removed to a home prepared for them by his mother's brother, two miles west of the home- stead, near the Mine Hill Gap, so called, the summit on the Pennsylvania Railroad, between the Schuylkill and Susquehanna rivers. The boy was now about twelve years of age, and, being naturally industrious, obtained employment with a neighboring farmer, a friend of the family, to whom he engaged for three dollars a month. This relieved his mother, as he became self-supporting, and at the end of the year he received his accumulated earnings in seventy-two silver half dollars, — quite a little fortune to the boy's mind, and one over which he was justl}' proud. The mother left the homestead, it may be stated, because the heirs of her husband's father (James' grandfather) were compelled to resort to the courts for a settlement of the estate, which was brought about largely by the great change in the value of property after the war of 1812 ; but it should be added that James never received a cent from the estate, having assigned his share, whatever it might be, to his two sisters. After the end of his year with the neighbor, James assisted his uncle upon his farm until the spring of 1828, when an event occurred that changed the whole trend of his life and opened before him a successful and brilliant career. About this time the attention of American capitalists and engineers was called to John Stephenson's invention of the locomotive, which had become somewhat progressed in England, and railroads were beginning to be projected in this country, especially in the eastern section of the Union. Wonderful prophecies as to the new method of transportation had engaged the minds of the American people, and surveying parties began to qrganize for building prospective roads in all sections of the country east of the Mississippi river. In the year above named one of these surveying parties, under charge of Major John Wilson, of Philadelphia, came through Ivancaster county and proposed running their line through the uncle's farm. Major Wilson, the chief engineer, represented the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad, projected and owned by the state of Pennsylvania. As the engineers began operations, young James gave them his undivided attention and A^as glad to accompany them on all occasions, being especially delighted when allowed to carry the rear end of the surveyor's chain. He showed that natural aptitude which marks the handy assistant to a surveying party, and was soon engaged as chainman, being well adapted by nature for roughing it through the unbroken country, "running the line" of the new road. Thus began the future engineer in that school of self-education and self-effort which sou HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY constituted his only training and development, and through which he became one of the foremost men in his profession. The business of surveying attracted young Moore, and he made it his life ambition. To his duties in the field he added the study of his leisure hours, and soon gained rapid progress up the professional ladder of civil and mechanical engineering. At the advanced age of eighty-four years Colonel Moore had experienced every stage of American railroad building and had seen nearly every trunk line in the country gradually develop into the vast system and series of systems intersecting the continent. In the words of another, " He is one of those fortunate men who have seen the origin and growth of the American railroad; whose personal experience goes back to a period when the locomotive was looked upon as a doubtful substitute for the horse, and the iron track as inferior to the canal for most purposes of commercial intercourse." In praise of the profession of which he was such an ennobling representative, it can be said that Colonel Moore was blessed with perfect health and had the appearance of seventy years at the most, so erect and well preserved was he physically, in his stature of six feet one and one-half inches. His mind was as clear as ever and gave expression to one of the most intelligent and kindly gentlemen in the city of Elizabeth, where he resided con- tinuously, in the house which he built in the year 1846, at Number 125 Madison avenue, up to the date of his decease, August 14, 1897. It would be beyond the limits of these pages to give even a full outline of Colonel Moore's railroad history since he carried the chain as a boy, fully seventy-two years ago! His first experience as chainman with Major Wilson's party consisted in locating a road eighty-four miles long, until forty miles — twenty on the east and twenty on the west — were under contract for construction. He was then promoted to rodman — to carry the target — and continued in that capacity until the graduation, masonry and bridging were finished on the western end. The legislature failed of appropriation at the next session, and the enterprise was discontinued for a time. In June, 1829, ^^- John P. Bailey, one of the corps of engineers above mentioned, was appointed chief engineer of the Mine Hill & Schuylkill Haven Railroad, of which Dr. Kughler, of Philadelphia, was then president. Mr. Moore was appointed his chief assistant and re- mained until the line was opened for traffic, in the latter part of June, 1830, — the line being ten and a half miles long, and now forming a branch of the Philadelphia & Reading road. The state legislature of 1829-30 made a further appropriation for the completion of the Philadel- phia and Columbia line, and Mr. Moore returned to its emplo)-, this time as assistant engineer of a subdivision of the road, ten miles long, between the lyittle Brandywine river, at Coatsville, and the Octorara river, near the present village of Christiana, on the Moore homestead farm. He re- HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 301 mained in this work until 183 1-2, when he was appointed one of the chief assistants of H. R. Campbell, chief engineer of the Philadelphia, German- town & Norristown Railroad, of which Peter Wager, of Philadelphia, was president. This road was opened for traffic in the fall of 1832. Of the many interesting reminiscences of Colonel Moore's career, mention may be made of his experience with one of the pioneer locomotives, " Old Ironsides," which was built by M. W. Baldwin, of Philadelphia, and be- gan to run in November, 1832. Mr. Moore was the third person who " engineered " this famous engine, and had it in charge for sixty consecu- tive days ; " and," as he observed, " I ended that service in a snow storm." " This locomotive," he added, "is believed to have been the first one of any great commercial value built in the United States." It may be noted just here that Stephenson's engine, the " Rocket," was perfected in 1829, winning the five hundred pounds premium offered by the Liverpool & Manchester Railway for the most improved locomotive engine. In 1832 the " Old Ironsides " was working on the German town & Norristown road, — only three years following the English machine, with Watts and other steam experts on the other side of the ocean to further its develop- ment. This illustrates the quickness with which Americans took to rail- roading, and the remarkable genius displayed by this country in railroad extension ever since has fully kept pace with England's steamship supremacy on the seas. In thus dwelling upon Colonel Moore's early career, which is identical with the beginning of railroad construction in America, a vivid retrospect is obtained of the pioneer enterprises in this most important industry. In the winter of 1832-3 Mr. Moore received the appointment of assistant chief engineer of the Philadelphia & Trenton Railroad, which was opened for business in 1833-4. At this time he was but twenty years of age, and was considered one of the most able engineers that the demands of railroad construction had developed. He succeeded to one position after another of increasing extent and importance, the history of which would fill a large volume. A brief mention only of the most extensive and noted roads can be given herein, but full reference to the subject, however, can be found in a sketch of Colonel Moore in Volume VIII. of the Magazine of Western History, which also includes an exhaustive chapter on early railroading in England and America, from the pen of the well known writer, Mr. J. H. Kennedy. This volume also has the biographies of the Vanderbilts, J. Edgar Thomson, and other railroad magnates, whose life-histories are so grandly interwoven with the railroad development of the United States. Following his position on the Philadelphia & Trenton road, Mr. Moore was next appointed assistant chief engineer of the Rensselaer & Saratoga, under his old chief, H. R. Campbell, with Le Grand Cannon, of Troy, as president. He then became chief engineer of the Philadelphia & Baltimore road, then chief engineer of the Elizabethtown & Somerville road, — completing the 302 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY location of the line from Elizabetlitown to Sonierville, — ex-Governor Isaac H. Williamson, of Elizabetlitown, being president. The road was constructed to Elizabeth and was equipped with yellow-pine stringers and an iron strap-rail, two and a quarter inches wide by five-eighths of an inch thick. The surveys were continued to Phillipsburg, on the Delaware river, a distance of sixty miles, when the panic of 1837 caused the work to be discontinued. Following this. Chief Engineer Moore contracted to build a double-track through-bridge over the Brandywine river, at Wilmington, and completed it in sixty days : this structure was five hundred feet long. Mr. Moore then returned to his old post in New Jersey and completed the road, — now the New Jersey Central, — by sections, as far as Plainfield and Bound Brook, thence to Somerville, and finally to Phillipsburg in 1852. In the fall of 1844 Mr. Moore was appointed chief engineer of the eastern division of the Morris canal, — fifty miles. In 1846 he became locating engineer of the Vermont Central Railroad, subsequently taking full charge as chief engineer, and completing the line from Burlington, Vermont, to the Connecticut river, — one hund- red and twenty miles. Upon the final opening of the road he was made general superintendent ; he also completed the branch road from Essex Junction to Rouse's Point, — forty-seven miles, — which was operated under a lease by the Vermont Central. In the summer of 1854 Mr. Moore was called to a larger and still more difficult field for his matured powers and skill, — as general superin- tendent of the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana Railroad, of which John B. Jervis was president. In 1856 he resigned and returned to Elizabeth. In 1857 he contracted to build the East Pennsylvania road between Allentown and Reading, — thirty-six miles, — which was finally opened for traffic in 1859. In April, i860, Mr. Moore engaged for the second time with the Central Railroad of New Jersey as chief engineer, and in the service of this extensive company continued either as chief engineer, general superintendent or consulting engineer, until his death, — locating and constructing the main line and all its branches in New Jersey, a dozen in all, excepting only one, the Ogden Mine & New Jersey Southern. Of the many difficult engineering tasks which Colonel Moore was called upon to carry out was the location and construction of the Raritan river bridge, on the New York & Long Branch Railroad. There was no safe bottom within reach, and the best of skill and judg- ment were required in deciding upon the length and number of the piles to be driven, — over six hundred of which are under the pivot pier, and averaging between seventy-five and eighty feet in length. The draw is of iron, and has two openings of two hundred feet each at right angles to the channel, and weighs seven hundred and fifty tons; it is four hundred and seventy-five feet over all, and was the longest draw known at the time it was built. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 303 On August 19, 1874, under the administration of President Grant, he was appointed chairman of three commissioners, to examine the Union Pacific Railroad, to determine whether it had been completed as required by law, and to report to the department of the interior, — which duty was duly performed. From 1877 Colonel Moore was a member of the executive com- mittee of the Eastern Railroad Association, which represents special interests of about twenty thousand miles of railroad. He was also a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers for over a quarter of a century. As a resident of Elizabeth he always took an interest in the community, and its welfare — educationally, religiously and socially — was ever near to his heart. A self-made man in the most emphatic sense of the term, and famous in a profession noted for able and practical men, Colonel Moore is associated in railroad history with a number of illustrious Americans whose energy and labor penetrated the wilderness and sent the iron horse throbbing with civilization over the land; and he was one of the favored few of that galaxy of engineers and projectors who lived to see the full fruition of great enterprises, which have grown and expanded far beyond his most sanguine expectations. JOHN WILLIAMS CRANE was born on the old family homestead, on Morris avenue, near the corporation limits of Elizabeth, in Union township. Union county, December 23, 1834, and still resides at that place. He is descended from one of the old families of New Jersey, the ancestry being traced back to Stephen Crane, who was one of the pioneers of this state, having become a resident of Elizabeth Town, as shown by records extant, as early as 1665. His son, Nathaniel Crane, who was born in 1680, and died in 1755, was the father of Caleb Crane, who married Elizabeth Townly, daughter of Charles Townly. Their son, Nathaniel Crane, married Sarah Miller, daughter of Elder Moses Miller, and one of their children, Moses Miller Crane, was the father of our subject. He was born December 16, 1799, and married Phebe Stiles "Williams, a daughter of John Williams, of Morris county, who was born in Roselle, Union county. The Williams' farm took its name from this family. Mrs. Crane was born January 14, 1800, and by her marriage became the mother of five children, only two of whom are now living: Jane E., wife of J. N. Earl, who is living on Morris avenue. Union township; and John Williams Crane, of this review. Moses Miller Crane was born in the house where our subject now resides, and obtained his education in the district schools such as were common at that day. Having attained his majority, he turned his attention to farming as a life work. His worth and ability were 304 HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY recognized by his fellow citizens who frequently called hira to public position of honor and trust. In 1845 ^^ ^^^ chosen one of the free- holders of Essex county, and for five years acceptably filled that position. When the rapid growth of the county caused great complica- tion in its judicial service, he advocated its division and the erection of JOHN WILLIAMS CRANE a new county, to be called Union, and agitated the subject until the county was finally created by legislative action in February, 1857. He was elected the first county collector of Unioji county and served in that capacity from 1857 until 1861. In politics he was a stanch Democrat, and labored earnestly for the growth and success of his party. He was a recognized power in local affairs, a man of strong HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 305 individuality and unswerving integrity, and in his business interests met with a well deserved prosperity. His death occurred November 27, 1874. For generations the members of the Crane family have been attendants on the services of the First Presbyterian church, of Elizabeth. J. Williams Crane attended the public schools, pursuing his studies in the old "North End School House," and later continuing his education in the private schools conducted by F. W. Foote and James G. Nuttman. He early assisted in the work of the farm, and through- out his life has been identified with that industry. He has always lived upon the old homestead. In 1862 he was elected a member of the board of freeholders and served three terms. In November, 1862, when R. S. Green, afterward governor, was elected surrogate, Mr. Crane was chosen clerk and served in that capacity for about two years. In 1866 he embarked in the real-estate and insurance business in Elizabeth and has since continued operations along those lines. In May, 1886, he was appointed by Justice Van Syckle one of the commissioners to adjust the arrears of taxes and assessments of the city of Elizabeth, his associates on the board being ex-Governor George C. Ludlow, now a member of the supreme court, and F. L. Heidreitter. The work was successfully accomplished, and the result not only proved of great material benefit to the city, but also gained high public endorsement. In 1894 Mr. Crane was appointed, by Governor George T. Werts, judge of the court of common pleas for a term of five years, and creditably filled that position for two years, when a legislative enactment brought about a change in the judiciary system of the state. Judge Crane was married in Elizabeth, December 21, 1859, to Miss Anna E. Wilson, a daughter of John and Nancy (Lyon) Wilson, the former a native of England, and the latter a daughter of Amos Lyon, of Lyons Farm, Union county. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Crane are Moses M., clerk in the First National Bank, of Elizabeth, and Henry W., a plumber, of Elizabeth. In his political views Judge Crane has been a life- long Democrat, and for twenty years has been a member of the Union county Democratic executive committee, while for fifteen years he served as its treasurer. With his family he attends the First Presbyterian church. DR. WILLIAM D. HEYER, principal of school No. 3, of Elizabeth, was born in Norwalk, Connecti- cut, in 1836. He is the son of the late Rev. William G. Heyer, D. D., a clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal church. He was educated in New York state and is a graduate of the University of the city of New York. He began his school work in a country school in Essex county, in 1854, and within the past forty years has held the following positions: 20 306 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Assistant in Grammar School, No. 17, New York city; principal of Grammar School, No. 4 (now No. 61); principal of Boys' High School, in New Orleans, Louisiana; professor of physics and astronomy in Homer College, Louisiana; citysuperintendent of Kingston, New York; and principal of Grammar School, No. 3, Elizabeth, — which last position he obtained as the result of a competitive examination, in 1873. Dr. Heyer is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Microscopical Union, the Society of Pedagogic Research, the New Jersey Club of Scientific Review, and many other scientific and educational societies. He is a prominent Mason, being a Past Master of Orient Lodge, a member of the Grand Lodge, and also of Washington Chapter and St. John's Commandery. BARNABAS HOLMES, county superintendent of schools, has been identified with educational work in Union county continuously since January, 1866. At that time he was appointed to the principalship of public school No. i, of Eliza- beth, and has since been continued in that position. Mr. Holmes began his work as a teacher in his native county of Plymouth, Massachusetts. He was born in Marion, formerly a pai't of Rochester, in 1833, and was educated in the academy at that place. On leaving that school he took a supplementary course, — first in mathema- tics, as a special study preparatory to a career at civil engineering, and later in the sciences, and finally in the law, which he studied while teach- ing. His first work as a teacher was done in the district schools about Marion, at the age of eighteen, and before leaving Massachusetts he taught in-the schools at Marion, Randolph and Fair Haven. At Fair Haven he was admitted to the bar, and from there he c^ime to Elizabeth. Mr. Holmes was appointed county superintendent in June, 1889, ^" Rev. John Dace, 1862-8 ; Rev. Charles E. Young, 1869-70 ; Rev. S. R. Hewlett, 1871-6, when the church was dissolved. During its existence of nearly thirty-four years this church had seven pastors and nearly eight hundred members. THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH of Plainfield was organized July 10, 1825, with eighteen members, by a committee of the presbytery, and the L,ord's Supper was first administered to this little flock, under the shade of some large trees, by the Rev. Dr. McDowell. The Rev. Lewis Bond became their first pastor, in 1825, and remained until April, 1857. During his active ministry nearly five hundred were gathered as members, and during that time, also, over two hundred were dismissed to other churches, of whom eighty-six united in forming the Second Presbyterian church of Plainfield. Rev. J. H. Myers was pastor of the church from 1857 to 1859, when he left to form a college in Florida. In 1861 the Rev. Samuel M. Studdiford was called, and, in 1864, he was followed by the Rev. Daniel V. McClean, D. D., and a few months afterwards the Rev. Benjamin Cory, of Perth Amboy, succeeded him and remained from 1865 to 1868. Rev. Henry L,. Teller was pastor from 1868 to 1871, when Rev. K. P. Ketcham took charge of the flock until 1892, when he was succeeded by Rev. Charles E. Herring, the present pastor. THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. Methodism had recognition in Plainfield as early as the year 182 1. At that time Rev. Mr. Hancock was accustomed to hold services in the place. The Martins, Guions, Spibys and some others then constituted the Methodist fraternity. At first Plainfield belonged to a very large circuit. The services were held originally in the house of Mr. Guion, his dwelling being used as a church for Rev. Mr. Gearhart, from New Providence, who preached here from 1822 to 1825. Rev. Mr. Wiggins and Rev. Mr. Best also preached in Mr. Guion's dwelling house during this time. Plainfield was set off" as a station, in 1833, with James H. McFarland as pastor. The first church edifice was built in 1832 ; the second in 1848, and was burned down in 1869 ; the third in 1869, and subsequently mucli improved. The lot for the first church was bought in 1825. ^^ stood on Second street, then called Barn street, because the only building then on the street was a barn. Vincent chapel was erected in 1888, at a cost of sixteen thousand dollars. The Monroe avenue chapel was dedicated in 1891, having been erected at a cost of six thousand dollars. Park Place, now Grace church, was dedicated in 1892. It has a membership HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 409 of six hundred. The chiirch property is entirely free from debt. The pastoral charge has been in turn assigned to L. R. Dunn, J. O. Winner, J. Atkinson, A. M. Palmer and William Daj^ Still, members of the Newark conference. CHAPTER XXIV. THE TOWNSHIP AND CITY OF PLAINFIELD — CONTINUED. HE following historical review is reproduced from the handsome brochure, " Plainiield, Illustrated," issued by the Plainfield Daily Press, in 1895. The interesting sketch is a portion of the article contributed for said work by Rev. A. H. Lewis, D. D. The biographical sketches incorporated are not a portion of the original article. SEVENTH DAY BAPTIST CHURCH. The preliminary steps toward organizing this church were taken early in 1836. The first house for worship was erected in 1838, and the organization formed the same year with fifty-seven members, who had been dismissed from the church at New Market. The second church building was dedicated in March, 1867. The present house of worship, which, architecturally and otherwise, is equal in beauty and permanency to any in the city, was dedicated January 13, 1894. It is of stone and terra cotta with tiled roof It has seating capacity for eight hundred. This church has had eight pastors. A. H. Lewis, D. D., took charge in 1880. Present membership one hundred and ninety-five. ABRAM HERBERT LEWIS, A. M., D. D., only son of Datus Ensign and Tacy Maxson Lewis, was born at Scott, New York, November 17, 1836. His parents were of genuine New England stock. In 1846 the family emigrated to the territory of Wiscon- sin and settled on the border, at a place which became the present city of Berlin. Doctor Lewis studied at Ripon and Milton Colleges, in Wisconsin, and later at Alfred University and Union Theological Seminary, in New York. His first pastorate was at Westerly, Rhode Island, 1864-7. Between that time and 1880 he was pastor in New York city, Shiloh, New Jersey, and Alfred, New York. He was also professor of church history, resident and non-resident, at Alfred University for more than twenty years. In 1880 he became pastor of the Seventh-day Baptist church at Plainfield, and continued as such until October, 1896. From the time he left college Doctor Lewis was a prolific writer, especially on historic subjects. During his pastorate in Plainfield he visited Europe twice, — in 1889 especially for literary investigation in London, and in Germany. He is the author of several books, among HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 411 which are the following : " Biblical Teachings Concerning the Sabbath and the Sunday," " A Critical History of the Sabbath and the Sunday in the Christian Church," " Critical History of Sunday lyegislation," and " Paganism Surviving in Christianity." Doctor Lewis was chosen to present a paper on the Sabbath question before the World's Congress of Religions, at Chicago, in 1893. He has a national reputation as a representative of the Seventh-day Baptists, who believe that the decay of Sunday observance will compel the Christian world to return to the observance of the Seventh day, accord- ing to the Bible, the example of Christ and the earliest Christians. Doctor Lewis is a reformer by nature and training ; he is well known as a writer and speaker on social-purity reform. His resignation from the pastorate of the Plainfield church, in 1896, was that he might become the corresponding secretary of the American Sabbath Tract Society, thus giving his whole time to the work of Sabbath reform in the United States. In this relation he continues both literary and field work. His wife was Augusta Melissa Johnson, a native of Rhode Island. They have a family of five daughters and one son ; the latter, Bdwin Herbert Lewis, Ph. D., is a professor in the University of Chicago. During the pastorate of Dr. Lewis the Plainfield church erected its present house of worship, of stone and terra cotta, which is, in several respects, the finest church building in the state of New Jersey. On the paternal side Dr. Lewis comes from several generations of soldiers, — Lewises and Greenes, — his great-grandfather, for whom he is named, was Captain Abraham Lewis of the Revolution. On the maternal side he comes from a line of writers and theologians, — Maxsons and Blisses, of Newport, Rhode Island. CRESCENT AVENUE CHURCH. This church was organized March 21, 1844, by eighty-six persons, meeting in the house now numbered 229 East Front street. It was enrolled in the presbytery of Newark (new school). The first church was built in 1845, on the site now occupied by the City National Bank. The present edifice was dedicated September 26, 1872. The Sunday- school rooms were partly destroyed by fire November 23, 1888. The chapel was rebuilt and enlarged in 1890. Pastors : William Whittaker, 1844-1854 ; Theodore S. Brown, 1855-1867 ; John C. Bliss, 1867-1883 ; William R. Richards, 1884 to date. Chapels : Bethel, organized in 1884, present building dedicated in 1887, pastor since 1890, William A. Alexander ; Warren mission, organized thirty years ago as a Union Sunday school, adopted in 1893, at the request of the mission itself, present pastor J. O. McKilvey ; Hope chapel Sunday school, now the largest in the county, organized in 1888, pastor since 1890, S. Kennedy Newell. In June, 1894, the Sunday-school membership of the three chapels was eleven hundred and sixty-seven, while the number of 412 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY communicants was two hundred and seventy-five. At that date the total active membership of the church, including the three chapels, was ten hundred and sixty-nine. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. This church was organized in 1851. The present neat brick church was dedicated in 1886. Present membership ninety. Pastors: Revs. Oerter, Neef, Wolf, Tchabhorn, Switzer, Schnellendressler, Vait, Schmitzer, Schlider, and Koechli. G. Hanser, the present pastor, took charge in July, 1894. Mr. Hanser is a native of Germany and was educated in Germany and the United States. The services are conducted in German. ST. MARY'S CHURCH. Prior to 1851 a few scattered Catholics attended a little church in Stony Hill, about four miles from Plainfield. As the result of an appeal to Archbishop Hughes, of New York, to which see this portion of the state belonged. Rev. James McDonough took up his residence in Raritan and attended to the congregation in Plainfield every second Sunday. Mass was celebrated in a room of James Voorhis' house, on what is now Somerset street. As the congregation increased it moved to the barn, thence to a private school house on Church street, and later to a hall on Front street. A small frame church was finally built on Fourth street, to which three additions were made in the course of a few years. The parish then extended from Raritan to Westfield. In 1854 D. J. Fisher became resident pastor in Plainfield, and was succeeded, in 1856, by Terrence Kiernan, who died in 1869. During his pastorate the church was enlarged and a rectory built. P. I. Connelly, a very promising young priest, was his successor, but died in less than a year. In 1870 I. P. Morris was appointed pastor. He built the present handsome church and rectory. In 1881 North Plainfield and Dunellen were cut off from St. Mary's and made independent parishes. In 1883, H. De Bi;rgh became pastor and was succeeded in 1883 by P. E. Smyth, the present pastor. In 1888 St. Mary's parochial school was erected, and a little later the Catholic Young Men's Ivyceum and a convent for the Sisters of Charity. Present membership, two thousand. REV. PATRICK EDWARD SMYTH, pastor of St. Mary's Catholic church, was born in Ireland, in 1842. He received his education in the seminary at Cavan and in the Royal College at Maynooth, near Dublin. After his ordination he was appointed administrator of the bishop's parish at Cavan, where he remained six years. He came to America in 1873, and located at Washington, New Jersey. In 1883 he came to Plainfield where he has remained in charge of St. Mary's church since that time. HISTORY OF UXIOX COUNTY 413 When Rev. ISIr. Smyth came to Plainfield his church was in debt, but that burden was lifted, and, in addition, he built the parochial school, now attended by four hundred pupils. He also bought a home for sisters, — eight Sisters of Charity, whom he brought from the mother house, at Madison, Morris county, New Jersey, where he was in charge of St. Vincent's church several years ago. He has built the young men's lyceuni since he has been in Plainfield, and has also secured sites for churches, — one in East Plainfield and one at Fanwood, — both of which will be built soon. When Mr. Smyth came to Plainfield there were about twelve hundred members in the church ; there are now twenty-five hundred. The Rev. F. J. IMurphy, assistant priest, has been associated with the pastor during the past three years. CxRACE CHURCH, EPISCOPAL. This parish was organized June 9, 1852. The first church edifice was consecrated in March, 1870. In 1876 it was removed from Front street to Sixth street. The present commodious stone building, on Seventh street, was completed at Easter, 1892. It has seven hundred and fift^- sittings. Present membership, eight hundred, with three hundred and fortj'-five communicants. Archdeacon E. M. Rodman has had charge of the church since October, 1870. CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS. This is an Episcopal church. The building was erected by the Rev. Edmund Embury at his personal expense, and cost nineteen thousand dollars. He gave it to the parish free of incumbrance, except the provision that the seats were to be always free. The church was dedicated June 13, 1869. The parish building was added to the property in 1876. Rectors: Edmund Embury, Alfred Goldsborough, Charles W. Ward, C. W. Camp, Henry E. Duncan, Charies C. Fisk, and the present incumbent. Rev. T. Logan Murphy. PARK AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH. This church was organized March 15, 1S76, under the name of the Central Baptist church, with one hundred and twenty-one members. Services were held in the Seventh-day Baptist church until 1879, when the present church edifice was erected, and the name changed to Park Avenue Baptist church. Pastors: Robert Lowry, until February, 1885; AsaR. Dilts, Jr., September, 1885, to April, 1892; J. W. Richardson, November, 1892, to date. REV. ROBERT LOWRY, D. D. The Rev. Robert Lowry, D. D., was born in Philadelphia, March 12, 1826. After receiving a common-school education, he was set at work while yet quite young. His religious life began in 1843, ^^ 414 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY which year he was baptized, on profession of faith, by the Rev. George B. Ide, D. D., and received into the First Baptist church. He became at once active in Sunday-school work, especially in connection with missions, gradually developing a gift for conducting religious meetings, and becoming prominent in leading the service of sacred song. Event- ually he attracted the attention of his pastor, who invited him to spend an evening in his study. The pastor expressed the conviction that he REV. ROBERT LOWRY, D. D. ought to study for the ministry. The young man confessed that for years this had been his most cherished desire, but that he had never had the courage to express it, nor allow himself to hope that it could be realized. This interview gave shape to his subsequent life. In 1848 he entered the university at L,ewisburg (now Bucknell University), where he pursued his studies for six years. He became identified with all the forms of activity pertaining to college life. He organized the church choir, and led the singing in the social meetings. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 415 He taught a private class in the rudiments of music and conducted a Bible class in the Sunday school. He met occasionally with others to hold meetings in the school house, or to sing, or talk, as the spirit moved. On one occasion he held a meeting at McEwensville, Penn- sylvania, which resulted in several conversions and the organization of a church. During the last two years of his student life he preached every Sunday, dividing his time between two churches. In 1854 he was graduated, receiving the highest honors. In quick succession followed his ordination and his acceptance of a call to the First Baptist church, Westchester, Pennsylvania. Here he found the church with no meeting house, but making arrangements to build. In two years an edifice was completed and filled with worshipers. He took personal charge of the Sunday school and conducted its musical services. He also identified himself with the Teachers' Institute of Chester county, and delivered several lectures. For a time he also edited one of the local journals. In 1858 he was called to the Bloomingdale (now Central) Baptist church. New York city, and entered on this broader field of work with great enthusiasm. Lots were purchased for a large and commanding church edifice, and the foundation was laid with flattering prospects. The outbreak of the Rebellion brought the enterprise to a sudden stop. In the spring of 1861 some members of the Hanson Place Baptist church, Brooklyn, in search of a pastor, attended the Bloomingdale church one Sunday, and concluded that its pastor wag the man for their congregation if they could get him. Negotiations were opened quietly, but as the pastor was committed to the project of a new church edifice, he would not receive overtures from any source while there was any hope for the new building. When it became evident that the con- templated movement must be abandoned or indefinitely postponed, the Hanson Place people extended a call, and it was accepted. Here he remained for more than eight years. The congregation was small when he went there, and the debt was heavy; the former grew to fill the house, and the latter shrank into insignificance. Hundreds were received into membership, and a colony sent in for missionary purposes developed into the Sixth avenue church. Sunday school interests, public meetings, the Sons of Temperance and denominational boards received a large share of his time and sympathy. The lyong Island Baptist Association, now so strong and vigorous, was brought into being chiefly through his instrumentality. In 1869 the president of his alma mater came to see him, bearing a proposition to enter the university as professor of belles-lettres. It required several months to determine what was the right thing to do. Love for his church and devotion to his alma mater made the question a painful and perplexing one. Finally alma mater triumphed. He accepted the appointment of the trustees, and removed with his family 416 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. At the same time he accepted a call as pastor of the Baptist church there. He thus became a college preacher. Doing this double service, which taxed his powers to the utmost, he remained six years. Before the expiration of this term it became evident to him that this strain was too much for even his ^dgorous constitution. In 1875 he retired from this exacting work, the facult}- and corporation conferring upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. In the same year he took up his abode in Plainfield, New Jersey, intending, after a season of recuperation and private study, to resume the pastoral work. He had not been there long before a movement was made to organize a church in a new and growing part of the city. This movement was made contingent on Dr. Lowry's accepting the leadership. This he was reluctant to do, but ultimately he }'ielded his preferences, and threw himself into the enterprise with all his energy. It was successful from the start. From a weak and impecunious body, it gradually became strong and prosperous, finding favor with the people, and building for itself a beautiful and commodious structure known as the Park Avenue Baptist church. After nine years of service Dr. lyowry retired from the pastorate. A strong effort was made to retain him, but he deemed it wise to abide by his decision. Dr. Lowry has alway felt a certain discomfort in being better known as a hymn- writer and musical composer than a preacher. From earliest boyhood he was a singer, with a natural gift for composing music. Many years before he knew anything of the science of music he constructed musical scores which publishers were glad to put into print. Discovering that music was an art as well as an instinct, he gave himself to a thorough study of harmony. By a mere accident his name became associated with sacred song, and he has never been able to break away from the association. But he regards the preaching of the gospel as his highest work, and everything else is subordinated to that. He has edited books for churches, choirs and Sunday schools, the sale of one of them exceeding more than a million copies. His compositions are to be found in most of the popular hymnals, and some of his songs have been translated into several languages. For many years he has issued cantatas for Christmas and Easter. Sometimes he has arranged an entire musical service for his choir to use on special occasions. The musical flow in him is perennial. It is as easy for him to clothe his thoughts in music as in speech. The embarrassment of defective hearing, which limits him in conversation, has no effect upon hiiu in creating musical form. Dr. Lowry has been honored among his brethren in New Jersey. Twice he was elected moderator of the East New Jersey Baptist Association, an unusual proceeding at the time. For several years he was president of the New Jersey Baptist Sunday-school Convention. He was also for a time connected with the New Jersey Baptist HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 417 Education Society. He has preached frequently, by invitation, in churches of different denominations. He is a member of the Ministers' Association of Plainfield. Dr. Lowry has traveled through Canada, the New England states, the western states and the Colorado Canyon, the southern states and Mexico. Twice he has made the tour of Europe. At the Robert Raikes centennial, in 1880, he attended the meeting of delegates in London, in which speeches were made by representative men from all parts of the world. Near the close of the meeting the chairman, a member of parliament, rose and said : " I am told that Dr. Lowry, the author of ' Shall We Gather at the River? ' is present ; we should be glad to hear from him." The effect was startling. As Dr. Lowry came forward and stood on the platform, the whole audience broke forth in applause. Persons rose to their feet and waved their handker- chiefs. For some minutes it was impossible to say a word. Not more than a dozen Americans in the room had ever seen the man, but they gave spontaneous tribute to the song- writer whose name had been a household word to them for many years. . Dr. Lowry is a distinguished member of the Phi Kappa Psi frater- nity. For over forty years he has had a place in its councils. For two years he was its president. On several occasions he has read the poem or made an address before his fellow Greeks. He always attends the symposium of his chapter, and he is a member of the New York Phi Kappa Psi Club of alumni. He has recently compiled a Phi Kappa Psi song book, in male score, and this is used in all the chapters. He receives from all parts of the country poems, whose authors ask for criticism and correction, and the autograph collector frequently puts in an appearance by mail. Dr. Lowry resides quietly in his own house in Plainfield, enjoying his library, which is crowded and overcrowded with the accumulations of a lifetime. Works on harmony and hymnology abound. Thousands of volumes cover the shelves, — some of them rare and precious. In the midst of his books stands his organ; piles of musical manuscripts are around him. He maintains his vigor even while passing through the seventies. His latest achievement is the conquest of the bicycle. TRINITY REFORMED CHURCH was organized March 29, 1880, with fifty-five members. The church edifice was erected in 1861, by the Union Baptist Society, greatly improved and enlarged in 1872, by the Central Reformed (Dutch) church, whose property it had become, and thoroughly refurnished and refitted in 1882, by the congregation of Trinity Reformed church, whose consistory had purchased it in June, 1880. Present membership : number of families, two hundred and forty ; total in communion, five hundred and twenty-one ; enrollments in Sunday school, four hundred ; 27 418 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Y. P. S. C. E., one hundred and forty-five ; Junior Y. P. S. C. E., sixty- five. Pastors : A. V. V. Raymond, now president of Union College, Schenectady, until February, 1887 ; Cornelius Schenck, June, 1887, to date. CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. This society was organized September 30, 1879. It held services in the Seventh-day Baptist church for two years. An attractive building was erected on Seventh street in 1883. Present membership, two hundred and fifty. William Manchee was the first pastor. C. L,. Goodrich, the present pastor, took charge of the church in May, 1884. CHURCH OF HEAVENLY REST. This Episcopal church parish was organized in February, 1879, by Charles S. I^ewis. Services were at first held at his house. The present building was consecrated April 12, 1883. The dedication services were conducted by Bishop Scarboro, and he stated that this was the second church in his bishopric started free of incumbrance. Rectors : N. H. Burnham, J. P. Taylor, D. D., and W. W. Page, D. D. It is at present without a rector, but is in charge of Charles N. LeWis, lay reader. ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH. » About thirteen years ago the late Bishop O'Farrell directed Father Bogard, of Bound Brook, to gather together the Catholics of North Plainfield, and, if possible, to establish a mission. Mass was at first celebrated in a hall on Somerset street, then in the old public school, until the present church edifice was dedicated, March, 1883. Pastors : Father O'Hanlon, five years, from April, 1882 ; Nicholas Freeman, two years, being succeeded by Father McKeman ; William H. Miller, April, 1894, to date. CHURCH OF OUR SAVIOUR. Under the leadership of Henry E. Bowen union services were established at Netherwood, in March, 1880. A neat chapel was built and dedicated July 3, 1881. In 1886 the chapel and services were passed over to Grace Church, and the work was organized as a parish mission in June of that year. August 13, 1887, this mission was organized as the Church of Our Saviour. Pastor since September, 1888, S. P. Simpson. Present membership, ninety. ALL SOULS' CHURCH. The first Unitarian service in Plainfield was held in the Seventh- day Baptist church, in May, 1889, the sermon being preached by Robert Collyer, of New York. The society was organized about the same time, and held services at 17 East Front street, and at a house of Job Male, on Scond Place, until the present edifice was built, in 1892. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 419 The dedication sermon was preached by M. J. Savage, of Boston. Previous to December, 1889, the services were conducted by D. W. Warehouse, of New York, and other clergymen of the vicinity. William P. Wilder took charge of the work for twenty-five Sundays, until his retirement, March, 1890, which was soon followed by his death at the age of eighty-two. Hobart Clarke, the present pastor, was installed June 13, 1890, the sermon being preached by Edward Everett Hale, of Boston. The land upon which the church stands was the gift of Job Male. About fifty families are represented in the present membership. ST. PETER'S LUTHERAN CHURCH was organized January 4, 1892. Its house of worhip is a neat structure, with a seating capacity for three hundred. It was dedicated November 5, 1893. Present membership, fifty-three. The services are conducted in German. Edward Kiouka has been pastor from the organization of the church. A Danish lyUtheran Mission has been established, which holds services in this building once each month. GRACE CHURCH, METHODIST EPISCOPAL. This church, which is located in North Plainfield, was organized in March, 1893. The house of worship had been erected the previous year, and was dedicated February 12, 1892. H. K. Carroll, D. D. , of the New York Independent, was pastor for one year. Present membership, one hundred and sixty-two. Pastor, since April, 1893, Herbert F. Randolph. CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER. This is a new parish of Episcopalians, organized March 12, 1894, with a membership of sixty. The society was incorporated June 27, 1894 . The rector is Rev. Jocelyn Johnstone. They expect to build soon. THE YOUNG men's CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. The Plainfield association was organized in 1867. The present finely equipped and commodious building was erected in 1894. It contains, for the use of the association, a large assembly hall, rivaling in beauty any in this section of the country, a reception room, secretary's office, coat room, reading room, library, members' parlor, three class rooms, two rooms for the boys' department, committee room, amusement room, and, in a wing of the main building, a gymnasium, with locker room, plunge and other baths, bowling alleys, etc., while in the basement is a wheel room. The work of the association is carried on through the following departments : social, physical, educational, spiritual and junior, each of which is thoroughly equipped, 420 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY and doing effective work for the elevation of the young men and boys of Plainfield. EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES. Plainfield has the honor of being the home of the free public-school system of New Jersey. Dr. Charles H. Stillman was the efficient pioneer of this work. In the face of much opposition he secured initiatory legislation and an appropriation of four hundred dollars, and founded a free public school in the town of Plainfield, August i6, 1847. The school system of Plainfield receives the pupil in the kindergarten and graduates him from the high school, fitted for any college. Under the supervision of Henry M. Maxson, A. M. , an able corps of teachers furnish unsurpassed opportunities for well rounded and thorough school culture. While the standard is kept high, examinations hold a place of subordinate importance, and every effort is made to remove all cause for nervousness and worry on the part of the pupil. The schools occupy fine buildings, which are kept in excellent order, and the sanitary conditions, within and without, receive constant and careful attention. The high school has the reputation of being one of the best in the state and is widely known beyond its borders, its graduates being admitted on certificate by such colleges as accept certificates, and passing with credit at others. By a law of the state, books and supplies are furnished free to pupils. Independent of the public-school system of Plainfield is that of North Plainfield, but, under the direction of Professor C. E. Boss, it is equally efficient. The building on Somerset street is modern and fully equipped. MR. LEAL'S SCHOOL. This is a private school, which has for a dozen successive years been sending boys to college. Its teaching force, in proportion to the number of pupils, is large, its policy generous, and its atmosphere stimulating. It has aided much in building up a college sentiment in our city. The fact that such a school has flourished in Plainfield, where the public-school system has reached so high a degree of efficiency, is a sufficient evidence of the quality of its work. THE PLAINFIELD SEMINARY. Miss Kenyon's school for girls was established in 1855, and is the oldest private school in the town. For more than twenty-five years it has been under the direction of its present principal. The seminary stands in the centre of large grounds, and is shaded by fine old trees. The building, with its dignified proportions and solid brick walls, is an interesting example of the architecture of the Italian Renaissance. The study hall is large and airy, affording abundant room for daily gymnastic exercise and marching. The school consists of a primary HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 421 and academic department. The teachers are earnest, and especially prepared to give instruction in the several branches under their charge. In addition to mathematics, history, science, literature, philosophy, Latin, French and German, the curriculum includes drawing, music, dancing, sewing and vocal and physical culture. A practical and critical knowledge of the English language is emphasized. French is taught daily by a resident native instructor. A well equipped labora- tory furnishes opportunity for individual experimental work in natural science. The seminary is not a boarding school, but each year two or three girls find a pleasant home in the family of the principal. The aim of the school is to give girls, without injury to their health, an education which shall make them intelligent women. A delicate girl working in small classes under careful supervision may here succeed in obtaining such an education, an impossibility under less favorable circumstances. A college-preparatory department has recently been added. Last year the school sent one pupil to Bryn Mawr and one to Cornell University, and has, at present, students preparing for Vassar, Smith, Bryn Mawr and Radcliffe. MISS SCRIBNER AND MISS NEWTON' S SCHOOL FOR GIRLS. Upon La Grande avenue, at the corner of Washington street, is the very desirably situated school for girls conducted by Miss Scribner and Miss Newton. The building, which was erefcted for the purpose, is commodious and well equipped. The class rooms are sunny and well ventilated. The school is divided into four departments: Kin- dergarten, primary, intermediate and academic. The curriculum is as complete as could.be desired. Diplomas are granted graduates of the Latin, scientific or literary courses. Students are admitted to the scientific department of Wellesley College on the certificate of this school, without further examination. PLAINFIELD MANUAL TRAINING AND GRAMMAR SCHOOL. This school was opened in 1893 in the school rooms of the Friends' meeting house, on East Front street. It is conducted by John Dalziel, for many years a well known engraver. The mornings are devoted to grammar-school work; the afternoons to manual training. The indus- trial-art department is a valuable feature of the school. It is open to both boys and young ladies. A specialty is made of individual work rather than c-lass instruction. The value of manual training is too well appreciated to need emphasis here. A boy taking the full course in this school is sure of a liberal education, and one that will fit him for a useful life. PLAINFIELD LATIN SCHOOL. For a number of years this was a flourishing school for boys, con- ducted by the late E. N. Harned, and known as the Harned Academy. 422 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Shortly before his death Mr. Harued built large additions to the build- ing, making it in every way a model boarding school. An effort is now being made to get a military detail for the school, and it is hoped that the result of this effort will be a military academy for Plainfield. p. LUDWIG CONDE, CONCERT VIOLINIST AND TEACHER. The violin studio of Mr. Conde is located at 117 West Fifth street. Mr. Conde is a native of Reipoldskirchen, near Bingen on the Rhine, Germany. He began the study of the violin at the age of eight years, under the instruction of Bernhard Yung, a well known pupil of Louis Spohr. At his violin studio the principal methods taught at the leading conservatories of Europe are in use. Mr. Conde also accepts engagements for concerts and receptions. In addition to the foregoing there are a number of kindergartens and small private schools. PLAINFIELD PUBLIC LIBRARY. This library made a modest start in 1881, but it was not until 1886 that the present building was erected, at the instance of A. C. Baldwin. Job Male offered the land and building if the citizens of Plainfield would raise twenty thousand dollars for books and pictures. This was done, and to-day the library contains upward of thirteen thousand volumes, circulates yearly about twenty-six thousand books, and is consulted daily by students and readers from all parts of the city. The Babcock Scientific Library is a recent bequest, the sum of ten thou- sand dollars having been Jeft for this purpose by the late George H. Babcock, besides a handsome annuity for its maintenance, which will give Plainfield one of the finest scientific libraries in the state. The art gallery does credit to the artistic tastes and demands of the citizens of this really cultured city. Miss E. L. Adams is the popular librarian. MUHLENBERG HOSPITAL. This hospital was suggested by the late Dr. Charles H. Hart, and was incorporated in 1877. The land was the gift of the late Job Male, and the building was erected in 1880. The hospital is wholly unsecta- rian, and a woman's auxiliary board assists in the management, which is very efficient. A new operating room has just been built, which greatly increases the institution's power for good. It is assisted by an annual collection from the churches. OPERA HOUSE. Stillman Music Hall was built by a joint stock company of leading citizens upon land donated by Dr. Charles H. Stillman. The house was opened by Theodore Thomas, and the occasion was a brilliant society event. The board of directors endeavor to secure a high grade of HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 423 entertainments from the metropolis and elsewhere. This is especially necessary, as the proximity of New York and the natural culture of the people make Plainfield audiences particularly critical. HOTELS. Surmounting the heights of Netherwood rises the massive brick hostelry known to pleasure-seekers far and wide as the Netherwood Hotel. It is the most imposing structure between New York and Philadelphia. It is built entirely of brick with tiled floors, is surrounded by broad piazzas, and furnished with elevator and all modern improve- ments, including private baths, electric lights and the purest of artesian water. In connection with the house is a commodious stable and livery. From the hotel office there is direct telegraph and telephone connection with New York. The hotel is three minutes' walk from Netherwood station, and but forty-five minutes from the foot of Liberty street. New York, over the Central Railroad of New Jersey, noted for its granite road- bed, its freedom from dust, the absence of any tunnels, and the fact that more than half the trip to Netherwood is over water, or skirting the shores of New York bay. The spacious parlors, with daily concerts and dancing, the cool verandas and delightful drives, account in part for the popularity of this summer home, but, after all, much is due to the owner and proprietor, Frank E. Miller. His care for the comfort and pleasure of the children, as well as the older guests, is especially noticeable. The Hotel Grenada is the home of the traveling men, and the genial landlords, George and Wallace V. Miller, have made it justly popular. It is situated on North avenue, close by the station, and is the most conveniently located hotel in Plainfield. The Hotel Albion is a comfortable, all-the-year-'round family hotel, and is situated in one of the best residence portions of the city. The City Hotel is conveniently located at the corner of Park avenue and Second street, and, under the management of John E. Beefbower, is very popular. This house not only caters to transient trade but is well patronized as a family hotel. STREET railway; The Plainfield Street Railway Company operate handsome electric cars in Plainfield and North Plainfield, and are constantly extending their lines so as to give full accommodation in the matter of rapid transit. By means of them all points can be easily reached from the stations, even back to the mountains. It is perhaps well to add that this company conducts it business in such a way as not to be a menace to the lives of the citizens. ELECTRICITY AND GAS. The Plainfield Gas and Electric Light Company provides abundant light, heat and power. The plant for gas has capacity for furnishing a 424 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY city of fifty thousand people with light and fuel. The use of gas for fuel for domestic purposes is increasing rapidly in Plainfield, and investiga- tions are being made touching its use in much larger fields, where coal has remained supreme hitherto. The electric plant has a capacity for eight thousand incandescent lamps. It furnishes power for the local trolley road, and for many forms of light machinery. It has the capacity to increase the supply for power indefinitely. Plainfield has well demon- strated what Mr. Edison said to the writer, in 1882, "Electricity is the coming light and the coming motor." RAILROAD FACILITIRS. Plainfield being the third city in size included in the Central Railroad of New Jersey's suburban district, is duly recognized by a passenger-train service adequate to the demands of its citizens. As the city has grown, so also has the number of trains in both directions, one keeping pace with the other. Plainfield now has four stations, about equal distances apart: Netherwood, the North avenue, the Grant avenue, and the Clinton avenue stations. The cities of Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washing- ton, as well as other points south and west, are reached direct from Plainfield by fast trains, in the Royal Blue Eine service, that make stops, thereby adding greatly to the advantages of the city as a place of residence. The week-day service from Plainfield to New York includes thirty-six trains, ten of which are Royal Blue Eine expresses. On Sundays there are twenty trains, eight of which are Royal Blue Eine expresses. From New York to Plainfield there are thirty-eight week- day trains, five of them Royal Blue Eine expresses, and on Sundays sixteen trains, four of them Royal Blue [Eine ^expresses. The single fare. New York to Plainfield, is sixty cents, excursion, or round-trip fare, one dollar, fifty-trip ticket, eighteen dollars, and commutation rate, eighty-five dollars per year, while school children can ride for less than fifty dollars for the school year. WATER SUPPLY. The Plainfield Water Company draws the water which it furnishes from a subterranean river. It is pumped through twenty wells, sunk fifty feet apart, for a distance of one thousand feet along the northerly side of the Central Railroad, just east of the Netherwood station, and varying from forty-five to fifty feet in depth. In boring these wells shale and clay were found for a depth of about twenty-five feet, and then a stratum of gravel was reached, which contained but little sand. Much of this gravel, of the size of walnuts and larger, had been worn round and smooth by currents of water moving through it. Investiga- tions made indicate that the current at this point descends at least nine feet in a mile. Its progress through the coarse gravel must, therefore, HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 425 be qiiite rapid. This water undoubtedly comes from the mountains, but its exact source still remains a matter of conjecture. The fact is certain, however, that the reservoir left by the glaciers of long ago is now filled with a pratically inexhaustible supply of pure water which is safe from the possibility of pollution from sewerage or refuse, and which is unaffected either by drought or freshet. The water tower is twenty-five feet in diameter, one hundred and forty feet high, and stands on ground twenty-seven feet higher than the business portion of Plainfield. By means of this tower a uniform pressure is maintained throughout the city at all times, no matter how heavy the draft of water may be. The ordinary pressure is sufficient to throw water over any building in the city, and water can be drawn from half a dozen hydrants at a time without materially affecting this pressure. Very severe tests have been used to establish the fact of the practically inex- haustible supply of this water, which is now being used by neighboring towns and may eventually be carried as far as New York city. CHAPTER XXV. BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL RECORDS. HE pages immediately following are devoted to a consider- ation of the lives of those who have been or are identified in a specific and representative way with the material and social interests of the township and city of Plainfield. The data is assuredly a consistent supplement to the general historical sketch preceding. GEORGE HERMAN BABCOCK, the distinguished inventor, engineer, and philanthropist, was born at Unadilla Forks, a hamlet near Otsego, Ne^ York, June 17, 1832. He was the second child of Asher M. and Mary E. (Stillman) Babcock, of the old Puritanic stock of Rhode Island. The father was a well known inventor and mechanic of his time, the pin-wheel motion in plaid looms being among the number of his many ingenious and successful mechan- isms. The mother also was descended from a family of mechanics, her father, Ethan Stillman, having been distinguished as constructor of ordnance for the government inthe war of 1812, and his brother, William Stillman, as a lock-maker and clock-manufacturer, and the inventor of a pioneer unpickable bank-lock, long before the days of Chubb and Hobbs. George H. Babcock spent most of his boyhood in the villages of Homer and Scott, both in Cortland county, New York. When he was twelve years old the family moved to Westerly, Rhode Island,where George received a fair education, subsequently spending a year in the Institute at Deruyter, New York. In Westerly he met Stephen Wilcox, afterward a famous inventor, but at that time a capable mechanic of the village. About this time young Babcock, being in feeble health and threatened with consumption, took up the new art of daguerreotyping. Through the healing influence of the fumes of iodine, used in developing the plates, he recovered his health, as he believed, and enjoyed a remarkable amount of physical vigor during the remainder of his long and active career. Photography never lost its fascination with him, and he continued to practice the art as an amateur, and was a successful and distinguished amateur photographer to the time of his death. In 1851, when but nineteen years of age, he established the first printing office in that section of the country, and began the publication of the Iviterary Echo. The paper continued its existence as the Westerly Weekly, but, in 1854, he sold his interest in it to resume the art of „- ', -^-^/-./T^ HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 427 daguerreo typing. In that year he, in conjunction with his father, invented the polychromatic printing-press. By this invention a sheet could be printed in three colors at once. This machine was placed in the hands of C. Potter, Jr., of Westerly, Rhode Island, to manufacture and sell, and after all expenses were paid the profits were to be divided equally. This contract, which was entered into on the ist day of January, 1855, was what started Mr. Potter in the printing-press business. He exhibited this press at the fair of the American Institute, in October, 1855, and obtained a silver medal for it. After about one year's trial with this machine Mr. Potter found that the press, while it did mechanically all that was promised of it, was so far ahead of the times that it did not prove a financial success, and Mr. Potter, by mutual agreement, gave the invention back into the hands of the inventors, who pursued the business for several years longer, losing heavily in the end. A year or two later Mr. Babcock invented and patented a very unique and useful foot-power job press, which he placed in the hands of Mr. Potter, on the same terms as the former. This press in his hands became a success from the start, and many of them were sold, but after several years its success was arrested by a competing builder, who claimed that in some of its features it was an infringement of his, and threatened Mr. Potter and all his customers with suits for infringement. As Mr. Potter had not the money to carry on expensive patent suits, and the other man had, the business became badly embarrassed, and, finally, sales nearly ceased. The contract was therefore terminated. This ended the printing-press business with Mr. Babcock. The father and son next resumed temporary control of the Echo, issuing it as the Narragansett Weekly, but about one year afterward they sold their interests in the paper, and in i860 Mr. Babcock removed to Brooklyn, New York, and spent three years in the office of Thomas D. Stetson, who was a prominent patent solicitor, with a large practice. He was so proficient in mechanical matters that the authorities of Cooper Union engaged him to instruct a class in mechanical drawing, and his evenings were accordingly devoted to Cooper Union, greatly to the advantage of himself as well as of his pupils. In i860 his reputation as a draughtsman and inventor led to his employment by the Mystic Iron Works, at Mystic, Connecticut, whose shops were taking part in the construction of war vessels for the United States government. Soon afterward his services as chief draughtsman were secured by the Hope Iron Works, of Providence, Rhode Island. For these two establishments he designed the machinery for a number of steam vessels belonging to the merchant marine and the federal navy. During this period he improved the Shrapnel shell, employed during the war in engagements at close quarters. In this field of work Mr. Babcock gradually drew near the inventions which were destined to bring him fame and fortune. In 1867 he and his friend Wilcox formed the firm of Babcock & Wilcox, 428 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY and took out a patent for a steam boiler. Their boiler was so designed that nothing like a real explosion could occur. They also produced a steam engine, and, in 1868, moved to New York city to push this branch of their business to better advantage. Arrangements were made by them for the building of their engines by the Hope Iron Works, of Providence ; Morton, Poole & Company, of Wilmington, Delaware ; Poole & Hunt, of Baltimore ; and the C. & G. Cooper & Company, of Mount Vernon, Ohio. This engine possessed some singulary interesting and ingenious elements of novelty and utility. Babcock & Wilcox incorporated the New York Safety Steam Power Company in 1868, to build their engines and boilers, and the industry was conducted successfully until the expiration of the Corliss patents, when their engine was withdrawn from the market. Their most famous invention was the Babcock & Wilcox safety or sectional tubular steam-boiler, based on an earlier invention of Mr. Wilcox, in 1856, and so constructed that explosion would not be dangerous. Mr. Babcock so designed the boiler, however, that anything like a real explosion would not occur at all. Establishments of great magnitude were erected at Elizabeth, New Jersey, and at Glasgow, Scotland, for the extensive introduction of this boiler. For over a quarter of a century the firm successfully extended its market in the face of competition, and the introduction of this boiler and others of its class have thus saved to the world lives and propertj^ of inestimable value. Through the operations of this commercial and business arrangement the parties acquired both wealth and fame. Of his wealth Mr. Babcock made a worthy use; for many years he gave time and thought and money to the promotion of the interest of the Seventh-day Baptists, the religious body with which he identified himself, and the advancement of the cause of education, especially on its practical and technical side. He made magnificent gifts for educational, missionary and religious purposes, and was the correspond- ing secretary for the American Sabbath Tract Society, which position he held for nearly twelve years. During the years of 1874-85, he was a superintendent of a Sabbath school in Plainfield, and made his work famous. His love of Bible study, his blackboard illustrations, and the growth and prosperity of the school in consequence during the time of his incumbency, were often and favorably commented upon by the keen observers of the press. He was president of the board of trustees of Alfred University, to which he gave large sums, both during his life- time and by bequests, and was a non-resident lecturer of Cornell University from 1885 to 1893, in the Sibley college courses in mechanical engineering. His most important papers — mainly on the scientific principles involved in the generation and use of steam power, and on the best methods of boiler construction — were prepared for the last named courses. His last engagement, abrogated by his death, was JOSEPH W. YATES HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 429 for a lecture in the spring of 1894. His papers were always well planned, thorougli, full of facts and useful knowledge, and polished in expression. His delivery was quiet but impressive, and he held an audience, whether of college students or business men, interested to the end, however long the address. Mr. Babcock was a charter member, and at one time president, of the American Society _ of Mechanical Engineers, and was made a life member early in the history of the society. In 1870 Mr. Babcock located in Plainfield, New Jersey. He was president of the board of education of Plainfield, and was also president of the public library of that city and of the trustees of Alfred University, and by persistent efforts promoted the growth of both. He did much to improve the city by the erection of fine buildings and through other enterprises. One block of buildings constructed by him is considered the finest architecturally between New York and Philadelphia. His activity and influence in the church in which he was a lifelong member were equally marked and efiective, and it owes much to his energy, his ever lively interest and his personal liberality. Mr. Babcock was a man of culture, and of broad and varied reading. He was devout and honor- able, kindly, afiectionate and thoughtful for others, was a loving husband and a kind father. In every relation in life he manifested admirable qualities. Mr. Babcock was married September 38, 1852, to lyucy Adelia Stillman, of Westerly, Rhode Island, who died May 20, 1861 ; September 25, 1862, he was married to Harriet Mandane Clark, of Plainfield, New Jersey. She died March 5, 1881. His third marriage took place February 14, 1883, when he was united to Eliza I/Ua Clark, of Scott, New York, who died. March 31, 1893, he was married to Eugenia lyouise I^ewis, of Ashaway, Rhode Island. His children were George I^uason Babcock, born January 7, 1885, and Herman Edgar Babcock, who was bom July 9, 1886, and who died August 6, 1886. His wife and the one son survive him. HON. JOSEPH WASHBURN YATES. Early in the eighteenth century three brothers bearing the name of Yates came to America from Yorkshire, England, Thomas settling in Rhode Island, George in North or South Carolina, and James in Bristol, Maine. The last mentioned served during the siege and cap- ture of Louisburg by the British colonial troops in 1745, and in the war of the American Revolution. Samuel Yates, a grandson of this James, was' born in Bristol, Maine, August 4, 1788. He carried on a mercantile business in that locality, and held- the position of justice of the peace. After service in the war of 1812, under a lieutenant's commission conferred upon him 430 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY by President Madison, he returned to Bristol, in 1816, and married Catherine Young, by whom he had seven children, — Gideon M., Henry, Lorenzo D., Joseph W., Alfred C, James and Clementine. Joseph Washburn was born in Bristol, Maine, January 30, 1826. He received, with the other children, such an education as could be obtained in the public and private schools in that vicinity. When he reached the age of ten years he lost his mother, and four years later his father. Thus left alone, he came under the care of an aunt, the wife of Dr. Joseph Washburn, a prominent physician of his day, and after whom Joseph had been named. The doctor purposed that his name- sake should follow his own profession, and commenced to educate him with that end in view. Joseph, however, became restless, and finally, with the consent of his'benefactors, was allowed to carry out a desire to try and earn his own livelihood. The favorite employment in that locality at that time was " to follow the sea," and this he undertook. He soon developed considerable ability in this work, and was early placed in command of a vessel, which position he continued to fill until about 1854. His last voyages were around Cape Horn to San Francisco, thence to China with Chinese passengers, returning to San Francisco. Soon afterward he went to Panama for passengers, at the time when the rush to the gold fields of California was at its height. The closing of this enterprise ended Mr. Yates' sea life. In 1854 he settled in New York city, and formed a partnership with Mr. Robert Porterfield, thereby establishing the house of Yates & Porterfield, — a company which has ever since carried on an exporting and importing business with the west coast of Africa, and a general freighting business to most parts of the world. The founders of the house retired from active business in 1884, the business still being continued by their successors under the same firm name. In 1855 Mr. Yates married Susan Gray Jackson, a daughter of Samuel R. and Jane F. Jackson, natives of New Hampshire and Maine. Her mother was a Winchell, of the family of that name distinguished in colonial history. The fruit of this marriage was five children, — Clementine R., Sam J., Frederick W., Katharyn Y., and Margaret G. Sam J., a graduate of Amherst College, is now engaged in the lumber business on the Pacific coast ; and Frederick W., a graduate of Yale College, is practicing law in New York city. In 1865 Mr. Yates moved to Plainfield, Union county. New Jersey, and has since resided in that city. He at once took an active part in public affairs, serving the city as councilman, and the state as legislator. He was among the first to help organize the city government, and secured for it much favorable legislation. He was one of the original trustees of the Plainfield Public Library, and still acts in that capacity. For many years he was a trustee in the New York State Colonization HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 431 Society. In 1876 Governor McClellan appointed him a visitor of the State Agricultural College of New Jersey (an annex to Rutgers). He has been consul for the Iviberian Republic in this country since 1881, and still holds that position. Mr. Yates has always been, and is to-day, a conservative and consis- tent Democrat, — not one who believes in voting "regular" at all costs. He cast his vote for Abraham I/incoln, in i860. He was a delegate to the national convention which nominated Samuel J. Tilden for president, in 1876 ; and again in, 1892, to the national convention, at Chicago, which nominated Grover Cleveland for the same of&ce. In 1884 he was one of the presidential electors from his state (filling vacancy), casting a vote for Grover Cleveland. He has served on the Democratic state and county committees, and as president of the Democratic Association in the city in which he lives. Although urged by his party several times to accept the nomination for mayor of his city, congressman from his district and for other offices in the state, he never felt that the time had come when he would be able, if elected, to do full justice to the public and, at the same time, to those dependent upon him in private life. Mr. Yates, while always actively interested in the public affairs of his city, state and nation, has, at the same time, been a close student, keeping fully abreast of the times, and is considered one of the conserva- tive, deep thinking, well read men of his time. ROSWELL G. HORR. Roswell G. Horr was born in Waitsfield, Vermont, November 26, 1830. He was a son of Roswell and Caroline (Turner) Horr. His grandfather, John Horr, changed his name from Hoar to Horr. His great-grandfather, Elijah Hoar, retained the old spelling. This branch of the family settled in and about Waitsfield, and Pomfort, Vermont, and can be traced directly to the Mayflower pilgrims. On the mother's side Mr. Horr was directly descended from a sister of Ethan Allen. Senator Matt Carpenter was a second cousin. The father of Mr. Horr was a blacksmith by trade. He was a man of influence in the community, and, having served as captain of militia, he came to be generally known as Captain Horr. Roswell G. and Rollin A. , twins, were the eldest of eight boys. In their fourth year the family removed to Avon, Ohio, where the father had previously purchased a farm, and whither he traveled all the way by team, there being no railroads at that time. When Roswell was ten years old the father died, leaving the mother to support her family with the products of the farm . Roswell worked on the farm, also for the farmers near his home, attending the country schools and ultimately fitting himself as a teacher. He managed to save enough money to enable him to 432 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY enter Oberlin College, in 1851, supporting himself by manual labor and teaching school, while pursuing a course of study in that institu- tion. Just at this time Horace Mann (who was prevented from being inaugurated as president of Girard College, although he had been elected) went to Antioch College, in Ohio. Many students left ROSWELL G. HORR Oberlin, to study under him. Among them was Mr. Horr, who was graduated in 1857, in the first class of that institution to receive the diplomas from the hands of Horace Mann. Of Mr. Horr, Mr. Mann always said he was destined to prove an "early man." During the canvass for Fremont, in 1856, Salmon P. Chase, afterwards chief justice, visited Yellow Springs, as the guest of President HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 433 Mann, and so impressed Mr. Horr that tlie young college student threw himself zealously into the close contest against Judge Paine. With the help of the comic vocalist, Ossian E. Dodge, he drew such crowds to his meetings in northern Ohio that he may fairly be said to have turned the scale in favor of his friend, Mr. Chase, for governor, and to have started that illustrious statesman and jurist on his upward career. Mr. Chase remained his steady friend ever afterwards. Before Mr. Horr had been out of college three years he had paid his college debts and had bought himself a home. In 1858 he was elected clerk of the district court in Lorain county, Ohio. In 1859 Mr. Horr married Miss Carrie M. Pinney, of Elyria, Ohio. In 1864 he was admitted to the bar. One year later he moved to Missouri, near St. I/Ouis, where he engaged in the mining business. In 1871 Mr. Horr moved to East Saginaw, Michigan. Here he became cashier, and afterwards president, of the Second National Bank, of that city. He also engaged in the lumber business. He was elected to congress in 1878, and served three terms, but was defeated for a fourth term. The work in congress which gave him his great reputation was his speeches on the river and harbor bill, on the Fitz-John Porter case, and his encounter with S. S. Cox. He was an untiring worker for his district and for his part}'. After leaving congress Mr. Horr, at the request of many of the business men of Michigan, wrote his " Labor Lecture " and delivered it before the working men all over the state. This lecture won for him an easy entrance into the lecture bureaus of the country. He delivered it between four hundred and five hundred times. He wrote and delivered several other lectures, but the " Labor Problem " was always the most popular. Mr. Horr spoke in every presidential campaign from Fremont's time down to McKinley's. He campaigned in twenty-six states of the Union, — from Maine to Oregon. In November of 1890 Mr. Horr joined the staff of the New York Tribune. His articles were written for the weekly and semi-weekly Tribune, although many of them were published in the daily. He always wrote over his signature, and much of his work was in reply to letters asking for explanations of the different political problems. His articles were mainly on questions of the tariff and currency. Mr. Horr continued his lecture work after joining the Tribune staff. He also debated the tariff with many of the ablest advocates of free trade. He had several debates on the question of free silver. One debate with Senator Stewart, of Nevada, was published in the weekly Tribune, and republished in pamphlet form. In the summer of 1895 Mr. Horr held a long debate with " Coin" Harvey, in Chicago. This debate has been published in book form. In 1894 Mr. Horr went to Plainfield, New Jersey, to make his home, and was living there at the 28 434 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY time of his death, which occurred December i8, 1896. Mrs. Horr is still living; also two sons, Frank H. Horr, of Ithaca, Michigan, and RoUin A., of Saginaw, Michigan. The two daughters are Mrs. F. W. Hebard and Mrs. M. H. Ewart, both of Plainfield, New Jersey. CHARLES J. BAXTER was born at Glenwood, Sussex county, New Jerse}-, on November 8, 1841. He attended the district school there until he was twelve years of age, after which he went to work on his father's farm, continuing his studies by himself and with the help of an uncle who had graduated from Lafayette College and who then lived on the next farm. On his eighteenth birthday he started his educational work as a teacher in the district school at Frankfort Plains, New Jersey. After twelve years of teaching in several district schools, Mr. Baxter was appointed principal of the Franklin Furnace district school. He gradually improved the condition of the school until it was converted into a high school, remaining in that position for thirteen years. After leaving Franklin Furnace, about eight years ago, he moved to Plainfield, where he became connected with the Provident Life and Trust Company, of Philadelphia. In 1875 Mr. Baxter was nominated as county school superintendent of Sussex county, by the state board of education, but was rejected by the Democratic board of freeholders, because of his party affiliations. This started the agitation which resulted in that power being taken from the board of freeholders and given to the board of education. He was appointed to his present position, superintendent of public instruction, by Governor Griggs, on March 24, 1896, as a successor to Addison B. Poland, who had resigned. Two days later Mr. Baxter was confirmed by the senate for a full term of three years. WILLIAM MCDOWELL CORIELL. In the year 1663 David Coriell and his two brothers, Elias and Emanuel, emigrated from the island of Corsica to America. They were of French-Huguenot stock. One branch of the family settled at Lambertville, New Jersey, and the place made famous by Washington crossing the Delaware at that point was called Coryell's Ferry. David Coriell, a descendant of David, Sr., was born December 19, 1735. He married Elizabeth Whitehead, born June 19, 1737. Their children were Elisha; Rachel; David; Alice, grandmother of Chan- cellor Runyon, of Newark; Samuel; Elizabeth; Susannah, grandmother of Judge Runyon, of Plainfield ; Isaac, father of Dr. Coriell, of New Market ; and Abraham. Elisha, son of Elisha, first mentioned, was grandfather of William McDowell Coriell. He first resided at New Market and subsequently moved to his farm of two hundred acres, WILLIAM McD. CORIELL HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 435 which is a part of the present site of the village of Dunellen. He was in the Revolutionary war, and received a pension for his faithful services in that contest. For many years, and at the time of his death, he was a ruling elder in the Presbyterian church at Bound Brook. Elisha Coriell was twice married. His first wife, Mary, the daughter of L,uke Covert, bore him eight children. They were Ephraim, the father of the subject of our sketch ; Elizabeth, wife of Zachariah Pond, of Dunellen ; Anne, wife of David I^aforge, Newton, New Jersey ; Sally, unmarried; Harriet, wife of David Van Kirk, Somer- ville. New Jersey ; and David, who inherited the homestead property. Mr. Coriell's second wife was Nancy Dunn. The fruit of this union was three children, namely : Eunice Maria, wife of Isaac Van Nostrand; Caroline, wife of Ralph Conover; and Elisha, now a resident of North Plainfield. Ephraim Coriell was a representative man in his township. He owned part of the homestead at Dunellen, by purchase and by inheritance, and here he spent his life as a farmer. His church relations were prominent both at Bound Brook and at Plainfield. He was one of the founders of the First Presbyterian church at Plainfield, and was one of its ruling elders until his death. He married Sally, daughter of Levi and Sarah Lenox, of Plainfield, December 26, 1811. She was born August 11, 1797, and died April 2, 1873. Her father was a Revolutionary soldier also. He died December 24, 1828, aged about eighty years. The children of Ephraim and Sally Coriell are Levi L. , born April 5, 1812, died October 15, 1813 ; William McDowell, born December 19, 1815 ; Abraham C, born June 27, 1819, died in the spring of 1895. The latter was a resident of Dunellen, Somerset county, and was a representative in the state legislature at one time. William McDowell, the subject of our sketch, is one of the oldest ruling elders of the Presbyterian church in Plainfield. He received his education at the district school, being permitted those advantages only until seventeen years of age, when the necessities of life required that he should enter upon some business career. He chose the hatters' trade, and engaged with Van Nostrand & Conover, hat manufacturers, at the place now known as Evona, in Plainfield townshjp, and remained with them until he reached his majority. Subsequently he spent a few years at home, but without pecuniary assistance, and then, being moved to do something for himself, he worked for a few years as a journeyman at his trade. In 1844, with but a small capital, he entered into a partnership with five others and began the hat-manufacturing "at the factory formerly occupied by Van Nostrand & Conover, but this enter- prise lasted only one year. In 1846 he bought the same factory, and there manufactured hats until 1849, 'when he built his present manu- factory, near the railroad, where he has carried on a flourishing business to the present time. From a small beginning the business 436 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY has increased annually, until now the product of the factory, in the manufacture of fine soft fur hats amounts daily to as much, or more, than was accomplished weekly in former years. In 1842 Mr. Coriell settled on the homestead formerly owned by his grandfather Lenox. In 1856 he built his present substantial residence near his manufactory. Mr. Coriell has been prominently connected with the financial and religious interests of Plainfield during his active business life. For- merly he was a director and stockholder in the old Union County Bank, of Plainfield; was one of the founders of the First National Bank, in which he has been a director since its organization; is one of the directors of the Washington Insurance Company, of Plainfield; was a member of the common council for several years after the incorporation of Plainfield as a city; and he was one of the founders of the Crescent Avenue Presbyterian church, succeeding his father as one of its ruling elders, in 1858. Mr. Coriell was married October 20, 1840, to Eliza C, daughter of Benjamin Runyon, of Plainfield. She was born March 8, 1819, and died January 2, 1881. The children born of this union are William Henry, Ephraim, Benjamin Franklin, Levi and David. Levi and David are dead. Mr. Coriell has been an active and useful man, and his name will long be remembered as an honored one of Plainfield. LEVI HETFIELD was born at Westfield, New Jersey, September 19, 181 7. He came to Plainfield when a boy, and began to learn the trade of carpenter with his brother-in-law, John Cook, in a shop where the First Presbyterian church now stands. He was energetic and attentive to business, as well as frugal in habits, and was soo:i able to commence business for himself, as contractor and builder. Mr. Hetfield was from the outset prosperous in all his undertakings. His first work of importance was the erection of a flour and feed mill, on Madison avenue, which in after years was burned down. For a number of years he was the owner of and carried on the lumber and coal business, in Plainfield, New Jersey. Mr. Hetfield led an industrious life, and was zealous in all his efforts to promote the growth and prosperity of Plainfield. In 1870 he retired from active business, but continued to give his personal attention to the various interests in which his capital was invested. He was a director in the Dime Savings Bank to the time of his death, and chairman of its committee on making loans, being considered an expert in property valuations in Plainfield. He was director of the Plainfield Street Railroad, the Bound Brook Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and the American Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of Plainfield. For three years he served as a member of the common council, and his executive ability was frequently recognized by the court of chancery in appointing HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 437 him as administrator of various estates, among which were the Job Male and the Alfred Berry estates, which were equitably and ably settled. Mr. Hetfield was married in 1838 to Miss Sarah A. Hand, who died in 1868, leaving four children, all of whom still survive her. They are Mrs. Mi. LEVI HETFIELD Harold Serrell, Mrs. Dr. Andrew Manning, Walter L., and John M., who is the present postmaster of Plainfield. Mr. Hetfield married again in 1874, being then united to Miss Maggie Freeman, who died in 1889. His children all reside in Plainfield, where their father, for more than half a century, led a useful life and established a character of which 438 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY they and their fellow townsmen may be justly proud. Mr. Hetfield died February 27, 1895, at the of seventy-seven years. REV. LEWIS BOND. The subject of this memoir was born at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, October 9, 1795. He was a lineal descendant of Robert Bond, who came from England and settled at Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1639, removing to I/ong Island in 1643, and thence to Elizabethtown in 1664. While yet young, his father, Elihu Bond, removed to the homestead farm, midway between Elizabeth and Newark, which was in the possession of the family for more than two hundred years, and there the son remained until he became of age. In June, 1817, he was received into the First Presbyterian church of Elizabethtown, and in the same year commenced his preparatory studies in the local Academy, of which Moses Smith was principal. In 1820 he entered the junior class of Union College, at Schenectady, New York, graduating in 1822. The same year he entered Princeton Theological Seminary, took the three-years course, and was licensed to preach, by the presbytery of Elizabethtown, October 7, 1825. On June 8, 1826, Mr. Bond was married to Catherine, third daughter of Cornelius Van Derveer, of Rocky Hill, New Jersey, a direct descendant of Cornells Jansse Van Derveer, who emigrated from Holland, in 1659, and settled in Flatbush, Ivong Island. Upon her mother's side Mrs. Bond traced her ancestry through the Van Dyke and Bergen families to Hans Hansen Bergen, who came to this country in 1633 and married Sara Rapalie, the first white female child born in the New Netherlands. Mr. Bond was ordained on June 6, 1826, and preached for the newly organized Presbyterian church at Plainfield, New Jersey, by appointment of presbytery, until April, 1829, when he was installed as pastor, and continued as such until 1857. Then, a new church edifice having been completed and paid for, largely through his efforts, and believing that a younger man could better perform the increasing duties of the pastorate, at his earnest request the pastoral relation was dissolved. During his later years he was frequently called upon to preach, and to perform marriage and funeral services, but the love for outdoor life that he had acquired in boyhood was still strong within him, and much of his time was devoted to the cultivation of the soil. What was his farm is now one of the fine residential districts of the city. Mr. Bond's father was a soldier of the Revolution, and was an ardent patriot. His house was used as a guardhouse, and his recital of the anxieties, alarms and dangers of that trying period served to imbue the son with a like spirit. While yet a youth he was connected with a company of mounted militia, and May 29, 1829, was appointed " Chaplain to the First Regiment, in the Brigade of the Cavalry of New Jersey," JOHN M. HETFIELD HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 439 receiving his commission from Governor Williamson. Until past middle life Mr. Bond rode with Colonel William Brown and staif upon public occasions. He wore no military insignia, except the sash, yet his fine mount and sitperb horsemanship rendered him a most conspicuous figure. Mr. Bond was an enterprising and public-spirited citizen, ever ready to do what he could to advance the interests of the town. He was active in the promotion of education, an ardent friend of temperance, and, while taking no leading part in politics, did not fail to use his influence and cast his vote for that which he believed to be right.- During the early years of his ministry he conducted a school, teaching therein, in addition to his pastoral work, and being ably assisted for a time by the late Dr. Abraham Coles, the eminent classical scholar and poet, who, although himself a student and but seventeen years of age, gave instruction to the class in Latin and mathematics. Mr. Bond died January 23, 1885, having survived his wife for nearly thirteen years. They left four children : Theophilus, who married Emma A. Price, of Newark ; Isaac Van Derveer, who married Dezier A. Ayers, of Plainfield ; Catherine Louisa ; and Lewis, who married Fanny Russell, of New York, and who has been, for nearly thirty years, a missionary of the American Board in European Turkey. His portrait hangs above the altar in the chapel, and a beautiful memorial tablet has been erected in the church of which he was the first pastor, and which was his first and only charge. JOHN M. HETFIELD. John M. Hetfield, son of the late Levi Hetfield, of Plainfield, New Jersey, was born January 21, 1859, in the old homestead, where his father lived until his death, in 1895. Mr. Hetfield attended the public schools until fifteen years of age, when he began to learn the trade of carpenter, under his father. After working three years, he helped his father build what is known as the " Hetfield Model Coal Yard," at the corner of Madison avenue and West Third street. This was the first and only coal yard having pockets to hold coal, from which a wagon could be loaded by being drawn under a screen. Mr. Hetfield' s father secured a patent on this device, which is now used extensively throughout the country. He continued in the coal trade with his father until 1885, when they sold the business to Don A. Gaylord. In 1887 the firm of Hetfield Brothers was established in Plainfield, with John as manager, a new yard having been opened in the western part of the city. This firm carried on the coal business for three years, after which John, who had bought out his brother's interest, continued at the old stand for four years, event- ually selling his business, to accept the appointment of postmaster of Plainfield, New Jersey. This appointment was made June i, 1894, 440 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY and, under his personal supervision, this post office has become one of the best second-class post offices in the state. Since taking charge of it Mr. Hetfield, having lost his father, has had his entire estate to manage, and has been appointed by the Middlesex county courts as guardian of an imbecile, who is possessed of much real estate in Plain- field. Mr. Hetfield is president and one of the appraisers of the Plainfield branch of the New Home Building Loan and Savings Association of New Jersey. He is regarded as a man of excellent judgment in manag- ing estates, and has met with success in every business enterprise. Mr. Hetfield was married January 25, 1888, to Miss Isabella Muir, of Morristown, New Jersey, daughter of Josiah Muir. They have one child, Clarence. THADDEUS OSBORN DOANE, who is a representative of the building interests of Plainfield, was born in Nova Scotia, May 3, 1844, ^^^ is a son of Samuel Osborn and Sarah (Bagot) Doane. His parents were married on Long Island in 1836, and the father was a builder by occupation. In 1846 he removed with his family to Brooklyn, and ten years later took up his residence in Union county. New Jersey. He was a descendant of Deacon John Doane, one of the Pilgrim Fathers, who came to New England in the "Relief" Thaddeus O. Doane was a child of only two years when he accompanied his parents to Brooklyn. He obtained his education in the schools of that place and in Union county, whither he came with the family in 1856. A location was made two mile§ east of Plainfield, and he lived on the farm, assisting in its cultivation and development, until after the inauguration of the civil war, when, prompted by a spirit of patriotism, he responded to his country's call for troops and joined the Union army. The date of his enlistment was August 16, 1862. He became a private in the Eleventh New Jersey Infantry, and went to the front, where he at once entered into active service. He was wounded at the battle of Chancellorsville and again at the hotly contested engagement at Gettysburg. He was afterward transferred to the Twentieth Veteran Reserve Corps, with which he served until the close of the war, when he was discharged, as sergeant, in July, 1865. On returning to the north Mr. Doane found that his family had taken up their residence in the city of Plainfield, and there he has since made his home. For twenty years past he has been identified with the building interests and his efficient workmanship, his straightforward business methods and his determination have brought to him signal success. In October, 1868, in the old Scotch Plains church, was celebrated the marriage which made Mr. Doane and Miss Abby E. C. F. Randolph man and wife. They now have two sons, Thaddeus J. F. and Hervey CHARLES POTTER HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 441 Kincli. Mrs. Doane and her sons are members of the Park Avenue Baptist church, and with them Mr. Doane attends the services and contributes to the support of the church. He holds a membership in Jerusalem Lodge, F. & A. M., and in Post No. 73, G. A. R. His political support is given the Republican party, and he stanchly advocates its principles. Mr. Doane has never held public office, save in connection with the fire department. From his earliest boyhood, fires have had a great attraction for him. In his youth he would run away from home to every fire in the locality, although he knew full well that punishment awaited him on his return. After attaining his majority he became connected with the fire depai'tment, in November, 1865, finding an interesting excitement battling with the destructive element. In 1870 he became second assistant engineer, the following, year was made first assistant engineer, and in 1876, 1877 and 1879 "^^^ chief engineer. He was appointed chief engineer by Mayor Male in 1888 and has held the office continuously since. In February, 1896, he was appointed inspector of buildings, and has since occupied that position. He is deeply inter- ested in the welfare of the city which has so long been his home, and lends an active co-operation in all movements tending to its growth and advancement. CHARLES POTTER, the founder of the Potter Printing Press Company, and the originator of the printing presses that bear his name, was born in Brookfield, Madison county. New York, in 1824^ ^^^^ "was the eldest child of Charles and Eliza (Burdick) Potter. His father, Charles Potter, was the youngest child of George and IVIary (Stillman) Potter, of Potter Hill, Rhode Island. His mother, a daughter of Samuel P. and Mary (Stillman) Burdick, was born in Brookfield, Madison county, New York. The ancestors on both sides were from Rhode Island, and among those who fought for American independence. His father was apprenticed, at the age of fourteen years, to the carpenter's trade, for the term of seven years, on the expiration of which he went to Brookfield, Madison county, New York, where he worked at his trade until 1826. At that time he moved to the adjoining town of West Edmeston, Ostego county, and engaged in the business of carriage- building, in which business he continued until 1837, when, on account of ill health, his physician advised him to go on a farm, which he did, in Adams, Jefferson county. New York, a few miles from the city of Watertown. Up to this time the subject of this sketch, who was then in his thirteenth year, had attended district school, summer and winter, but from this time until 1846 his summers were spent upon the farm, and his winters, with the exception of two, in which he taught school, were 442 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY spent at school, including two years under a private tutor and two years of academic instruction in an academy in that county. He taught three terms with excellent success. In the autumn of 1846 he visited Rhode Island, where most of his relatives lived, both on his father's and mother's side, and whom he had never seen. This visit resulted in his engaging in business in Westerly in that state, whence he never returned to his old home in Jefferson county, except as a visitor. It had been his intention, and also the desire of his father, to take a course in agricultural chemistry at Yale and fit himself for scientific farming, but circumstances compelled him to do otherwise. From the spring of 1847 to September of 1849, he was engaged as a clerk in a lumber and building business in Westerly, Rhode Island. Here he displayed so much business ability that when a stock company was formed to take up a defunct iron-foundry business Mr. Potter was engaged to have entire charge of the financial, as well as the mechanical part of it. In this he was engaged until January, 1855. During this time he made all the drawings for patterns that the company had occasion to use, which were many, as well as quite a large number of the patterns; and brought the business up from nothing to a financial success. He then left the foundry business, greatly to the regret of the company, who offered to double his salary if he would remain. His reasons for leaving were as follows : In 1854 the late George H. Babcock, of the firm of Babcock & Wilcox Company, the most famous boiler-makers in the world, had, with his father, invented a printing press for printing in three colors at once. This was of small size, only 8x12 inches, and run by foot power. Mr. Potter believed he saw a fortune in that press, and made an arrangement with the Babcocks, father and son, to take this invention, have the presses built at his own expense, and put them on the market, or sell the patent and, after all expenses were paid, divide the profits equally. He therefore left the foundry business, with a cash capital in his pocket of two hundred and fifty dollars, and early in the year 1855 took the press to New York, and opened an office at 29 Beek- man street, second floor, over Connor's type foundry. While endeavoring to sell these presses, another of decidedly original character, invented by Merwin Davis, of Brooklyn, was offered him on the same conditions as that of Mr. Babcock's, and as it was for another purpose and did not conflict with the Babcock invention, he took that also to manufacture and sell. He exhibited one of each at the fair of the American Institute, the following October, and obtained a silver medal on the Babcock and a gold medal on the Davis. In 1856 the Davis press was exhibited at the Mechanics' Fair, in Boston, and obtained a silver medal, and was sold to William H. Rand, now of the firm of Rand & McNally, Chicago, who in that same autumn opened a job-printing office in that city. In 1857, at the fair of the Maryland Institute, it took another silver medal. Mr. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 443 Babcock obtained a patent for a very unique and excellent job press in 1857, and Mr. Potter took hold of that on the same plan as the former, to make and sell, and, after deducting all expenses, to divide the net profits equally. This became a popular press, and many ■were sold, but after it had been in the market about two years, and had gained great favor, a competing builder obtained a patent and threatened infringement proceedings in the courts. In view of these conditions, Mr. Potter sold out the presses he had in stock, and retired from that part of the business, rather than risk his capital in patent litigation. In the meantime it was found that the color press, which first engaged Mr. Potter's attention in 1855, was about forty years ahead of the times, those then built printing sheets 12x19 inches, and selling for about one thousand dollars, and printing in three colors; and yet, in 1895, forty years from that time, he built and sold a press of his own invention, that would print a seven-column newspaper of from four to sixteen pages, in four colors, at the rate of twenty-four thousand copies per hour, folded and delivered in packages of fifty. Mr. Potter built his first cylinder press in 1857, making the draw- ings and a large part of the patterns for the same himself, and he continued to design his own presses until the rapidly increasing demands for his machinery compelled him to devote his time to the financial and general mechanical operations of the business, to which he has ever since given personal direction. After making his first cylinder press, with his illustrated circulars in his pocket, he canvassed for its sale, and, on getting orders, came back and built his presses, and then went out and erected and set them in motion. This he did for many years, and in doing it he became acquainted with probably more proprietors of newspaper and job-printing ofiices, than any other in- dividual of his time. Thus he not only sold his machines, but he also gained great experience in the needs of the presses, and in those characteristics which go to help the printer in the use of the press. In this way, gaining his information and embodying it in his machines, he built a press that had the reputation of standing at the head of that class of machinery. In his canvassing for orders his competitors gave him the credit of being the best salesman in the field, successful for the reason that he never promised anything for his presses that they would not do, and therefore gained the confidence of everybody with whom he dealt. While retaining his ofiice over Connor's type foundry, in New York, he had for an office companion, John F. Cleveland, a brother-in- law of Horace Greeley, and became also quite intimately acquainted with Mr. Greeley, for whom he had great admiration. Mr. Potter's presses were built mainly in Westerly, Rhode Island, until 1865 ; thereafter, until 1879, they were built at Norwich, Connecti- cut. In 1865, the business having grown too great to be managed by himself alone, he took as a partner, Mr. J. F. Hubbard, and the firm 444 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY name was changed to C. Potter, Jr., & Company. In 1879, afte^ a very pleasant partnership of fourteen years, Mr. Hubbard's health failed, and he retired from the firm. Mr. Potter then built his shops in Plainfield, New Jersey, the main shop being two hundred and fifty feet in length, by sixty feet in breadth. Subsequently it was enlarged to 700 x 100 feet, and is still too small for the business. After the retirement of Mr. Hubbard from the firm Mr. Potter admitted to a share in the business Mr. H. W. Fish and Mr. J. M. Titsworth, and a little later Mr. D. E. Titsworth, all of whom had been long in his employ. Mr. Potter added to the class of presses that he had built the varieties of two-revolution, lithograph, drum-cylinder, and web-presses, and in each of these classes his machinery was unexcelled. He has been actively engaged in building printing machinery for a longer time than any man in this country, and to him is largely due its wonderful evolution. In 1893 the company changed from a private company to a corporation, with the same owners as before, and with a paid-up capital of five hundred thousand dollars, with Mr. Potter as president, H. W. Fish as vice-president, J. M. Titsworth as treasurer, and D. E. Titsworth as secretary. Mr. Potter has never allowed himself to be tempted from his one special business of manufacturing printing presses, however strong the temptation might be. His aim has ever been to do well whatever he undertook, and for this reason, and because of his business ability, he has had a successful career. His generosity and his devotion to church and every charitable cause have kept pace with his progress in the financial world. Mr. Potter was married in 1850 to Miss Sarah P., daughter of Martin and Mehitabel (Wells) Wilcox, of Ostego county, New York. Both families are proud of their colonial and Revolutionary antecedents. Four children were born of this union, — Eva P., the wife of J. M. Titsworth, is now deceased; Emergene, wife of D. E. Titsworth; Sarah Florence, widow of Alexander M. Ross, Jr.; and Mabel L,., wife of William C. Hubbard, of Plainfield. The family are members of the Seventh-day Baptist church. Mr. Potter is president of the Seventh- day Baptist Memorial Fund, and also of the American Sabbath Tract Society. He has been president of the board of trustees of the Seventh- day Baptist church in Plainfield for many years, also a director in the First National Bank, of Plainfield, and, for several years, its president. He has been a resident of Plainfield since 1870, and was a member of its common council for two terms, but is in no sense of the word a politician. RUDOLPH MITCHELL TITSWORTH. The Titsworth family, which has been quite largely represented for several generations in New Jersey, is of English origin. A century RUDOLPH M. TITSWORTH HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 445 or more ago two brothers, Lewis and Isaac Titsworth, settled in the southern part of this state. To the latter and his wife, Margaret Mitchell, were born thirteen children, seven sons and six daughters. Rudolph Mitchell being the seventh son. He was born at Bridgeton, Cumberland county, New Jersey, September 26, 1820. Boys in his day were brought up to work, and at eight years of age he began to earn his livelihood. In 1831, being eleven years old, he came to Plainfield, then Essex county, now Union county. New Jersey, and was apprenticed to the tailoring trade, one of the leading industries of this section at that time. After learning his trade he, with his brothers, John D. and Abram D. , manufactured clothing in Plainfield until the trade demanded a more important centre for operations, when the general offices were removed to New York city, the firm name being J. D. Titsworth & Brothers. This firm was the first to establish a wholesale clothing house in Chicago, Illinois, the goods being manufactured in New York. The same parties, under the firm name of A. D. Titsworth & Company, were among the leading clothiers of Chicago until 1871, when every vestige of the large and profitable business was wiped out in the great confla- gration. During the war of tJie Rebellion they filled many large government contracts, and for several years branches were also con- ducted at Montgomery and Selma, Alabama. These were continued until 1875, when all partnerships were dissolved, Rudolph M. contin- ing the business in New York until his death, in 1892. For forty-six years he traveled daily between his home in Plainfield and his business in New York, and at the time of his death had been a commuter for a longer time than any one from Plainfield. Mr. Titsworth was a man of marked business ability, and of very genial and bouyant disposition, and his business friends became his personal friends. Mr. Titsworth was a resident of Plainfield for sixty-one years, and was prominently connected with the advancement of the place from the hamlet of 1830 to the city of to-day. He worked laboriously with Dr. Charles H. Stillman to secure the present school system of New Jersey. These two, with Randolph Runyon, composed, in 1867, the first board of education of Plainfield, Mr. Titsworth continuing a member of the board for eleven years, or until 1878. He was treasurer of the Plainfield College for Young Ladies, on Seventh street, during the time it was incorporated. He was one of the organizers of the Dime Savings Institution, in 1868, and a director from that time until his death. In religious belief Mr. Titsworth was a Seventh-day Baptist, and for many years was a member of the board of trustees of the Seventh- day Baptist Memorial Fund, and a director of the American Sabbath Tract Society. He was a constituent member of the Seventh-day Baptist church of Plainfield in 1838, and was prominent in its support all his life. 446 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY In 1845 Mr. Titsworth was married to Ann Eliza Randolph, a descendant of that well known family of the state from colonial times. To this union were born seven children, four of whom reached maturity. Mrs. Titsworth died in 1883, and a daughter, Anna E., died in 1891, leaving the three sons, Joseph M., Arthur L., and George B., all of whom reside in Plainfield, and are associated with the Potter Printing Press Company,— Joseph M. being treasurer of the company, and George B. assistant superintendent of the works. Mr. Rudolph Titsworth died October 10, 1892, at the age of seventy- two years, and his remains rest in the family plot in Hillside cemetery. He was greatly beloved and respected by all who knew him. Although a progressive man, Mr. Titsworth was very unassuming, and to the needy and deserving a good friend and adviser, being a man of few words, but of large sympathies. An epitome of his biography can be stated in one sentence : He was a wise counselor and a peacemaker. HON. JAMES E. MARTINE, Democratic candidate for mayor of Plainfield in 1896, was born in New York in 1847. ^t the age of nine years Mr. Martine came with his father to Plainfield, where he has spent forty years of his life, and is probably known personally and by reputation better than any other man in either city or borough. Mr. Martine attended the public schools of New York and Plain- field and in them received his elementary education. When Mr. Martine had attained the age of thirteen years his father died, when he left school to look after the interests of Cedar Brook Farm. From the Daily Press, Plainfield, New Jersey, November 24, 1896, when advocating Mr. Martine's fitness for the office of mayor of that city we abstract the following : From the time Mr. Martine was old enough to read the newspapers he took great interest in matters of a public nature. He had a natural gift of eloquence, and before he was twenty years of age had become a factor in politics and has continued so. He is both aggressive and positive, but maintains his hold upon his friends, even though not of the same political faith. At the age of eighteen years he was prevailed upon by Governor Theodore Randolph, United States senator, to make a stump speech, and since that time every campaign, national or state, has found him on the rostrum advocating the cause of Democracy. Mr. Martine first entered the political field as a candidate in 1877, when he was nominated for assemblyman in the old Union county, third district. He served one term as member of the common council, and was largely influential in helping to secure the elevation of the railroad tracks. He was a member of the street committee. In 1893 he was nominated for senator against Foster M. Voorhees. In private life Mr. Martine's JAMES E. MARTINE HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 447 vocation is that of a farmer, and the sobriquet of " Farmer Jim," is not at all disagreeable to his ideas of courtesy. He is widely known as the " Farmer Orator." With his agricultural pursuits he has opened and developed as much residential property in Plainfield as any other man, and is now largely interested in improved property in the eastern end of the city. Martine avenue was named for him. He resides in an old- fashioned house on Cedar Brook Farm, near Watchung avenue, when an air of hospitality is always about it. Mr. Martine has never married. RALPH I. TOLLES, who is identified with one of the leading industrial enterprises of Plainfield, is a native of Bethany, Connecticut, where he was born on the I ith of April, 1852, the son of Isaac B. ToUes and Maria Buckingham ToUes. He received a common-school education, and, in 1870, effectively supplemented this discipline by a course of study in the Wesleyan Academy, at Wilbraham, Massachusetts, where he remained for one year, after which he was engaged for a time in teaching school in Bethany and Watertown, in his native state. In 1876 he engaged in the grocery and provision business at Naugatuck, Connecticut, where he remained for nine years, conducting a successful enterprise and developing a distinctive business and executive ability. In the year 1884 Mr. Tolles removed to Hoboken, New Jersey, where he accepted the position as manager of the Hoboken Beef Company. He retained this incumbency for five years, after which he became concerned in the wholesale commission business, at 518 West street. New York city, conducting operations, with a due measure of success, until 1892, when he removed to Plainfield, to engage in the wholesale beef and provision business with the great packing establishment of Armour & Company, of Chicago. He is recognized as one of the representative business men of the city, and his success has not been an accident, but the normal result of consecutive effort and well applied ability. He traces his lineage to English origin. In 1882 Mr. Tolles was united in marriage to Miss Frances E. Bouton, a daughter of George C. and Eleanor (Perry) Bouton, of Bridgeport, Connecticut. HARRY GODLEY RUNKLE. Daniel and Elizabeth (Richey) Runkle, the parents of Harry Godley, were natives of Warren county, New Jersey. They are of German origin, their ancestors having emigrated to the United States at an early period in its history. The ancestors of Mr. Runkle's mother were among the early settlers of Warren county, where they remained for several generations. Daniel Runkle, the father, was a prominent business man. He was president of the Warren Foundry, at Phillipsburg, was president of the 448 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY People's Gas Light Company of Paterson, New Jersey ; also a director in the Hackensack Water Company and a director in the Phillipsburg National Bank. His home was in Asbury until his death, in 1890. Mr. Runkle's mother is still living. He has one brother, living in Orange, New Jersey. Mr. Runkle was born in 1858 and was reared in his native place, Asbury, Warren county, New Jersey, where in early youth he attended school, and subsequently was graduated from Charlier Institute, New York city. In 1877 he entered the office of the Gas Company in Jersey City, where he remained two years. He then went to Paterson, New Jersey, as treasurer of the People's Gas I/ight Company. Garret A. Hobart, recently elected vice-president of the United States, is the- president of this company. Mr. Runkle subsequently removed to Paterson, where he lived ftiree years. In 1883 he removed to Plainfield, where he has since resided. He was made treasurer of the Plainfield Gas Light Company, and, sometime later, Mr. E. R. Pope and Mr. Runkle formed another corporation, called the Plainfield Gas and Electric Company, which purchased the electric-light plant and leased the gas company's works. He is now president of this company. Mr. Runkle is a director in the City National Bank and Dime Savings Bank, and also a director in the Water Company. He is treasurer of the Union County Club, of which he was one of the organizers and the first president. Mr. Runkle was married, in 1880, to Miss Jeannie F. Randolph, of Easton, Pennsylvania, a neice of the late Governor Randolph. They have two children, Daniel and Mary Gray. In politics Mr. Runkle is a Republican; he is a member of the Crescent Avenue Presbyterian church. LEMUEL WRIGHT SERRELL. The Serrell family trace their ancestors to Jean De Seres, a French Huguenot who escaped to England, about 1572, and entered the navy of Queen Elizabeth as John Serrell. One of the family was in the navy at the breaking out of the war of the Revolution, and resigned because he would not fight against the colonies. On the maternal side, the grand- mother was a daughter of William Footner, who was born in Lymington, England, in 1730 and who died in 1827. Lemuel Wright Serrell, the son of William and Ann (Boorn) Serrell, was born August 21, 1829. In the year 1831 his parents came to America and located in New York city, where they continued to live until the father's death, April 11, 1852. His mother died February 10, 1876, in her ninety-first year. Eleven children lived to mature age. Lemuel followed the occupation of his father, that of a civil and mechanical engineer, the education and training for which he received LEMUEL W. SERRELL CHARLES W. MoCUTCHEN HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 449 in New York, where lie has since been engaged, ahnost exclusivel}-, as a solicitor of patents. He has had the care of a great number of important patents, connected with telegraphs, telephones, electric lights, sanitary appliances, etc., as well as attending to the patent business of many large manufacturing concerns. He is believed to have been in the patent-agency business in this country longer than any other person now living. Mr. Serrell has for many years been a member of the Academy of Sciences and other societies in New York, and is a vice-president of the American Association of Inventors and Manufacturers, at Washington. Mr. Serrell moved to Brooklyn in 1852, and in 1867 he became a resident of Plainfield and bought property on Plainfield avenue and East Front street, where he now has five houses besides his own residence and surrounding grounds. He is active in home municipal affairs, and has served for a number of years on the board of health. In religious matters he has not been idle. While living in Brooklyn, New York, he assisted in establishing and conducting a mission, which eventually became the Sixth Avenue Baptist church. In Plainfield he is a deacon of the First Baptist church, and a teacher in its Sunday school. Mr. Serrell was married November 28, 1850, to Eliza Jane Harold, of Hempstead, Long Island, a daughter of John Harold. Of this union five children are now living: Harold, who is associated with his father in business; George; Ella; Lemuel William; and Wallace Lincoln. Mrs. Serrell died January 15, 1889. CHARLES WALTER MCCUTCHEN was born in Williamsburg (now a part of Brooklyn), New York, January 5, 1845. He is of Scotch-Irish ancestry on his father's side, his grandfather,. Thomas McCutchen, having been born at Newton Ards, near Belfast. William Moore McCutchen, his father, was , a native of New York city, where he was born January 5, 1803. His mother, Eliza St. John, was a native of Connecticut. Mr. McCutchen received his education at the Polytechnic Institute, Brooklyn. At the age of seventeen he entered upon a business life, becoming a clerk with Sawyer, Wallace & Company, at that time one of the foremost commission houses of New York city. Here he received a thorough business training, which proved invaluable to him in after ^ years. In 1867 his family moved to Plainfield, New Jersfey, where they have always since resided and where his father died August I, 1889. Since 1879 Mr. McCutchen has been a member of the firm of Holt & Company, commission and flour merchants of New York city; a house which, established in the early part of the century, has always maintained a leading position in its particular branch of commerce, 29 450 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY having been an important factor in the development of the export trade in flour and breadstuffs with the West Indies and South America. ALEXANDER GILBERT. Alexander Gilbert was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1839. He is the son of the late Thomas and Phebe E. (Mathews) Gilbert. His father, a native of Ireland, came, in infancy, to America, with his parents, who settled in New York city, where he grew up and was educated. In early manhood he came to New Jersey, where he married, and became a resident of Newark. Mr. Gilbert, the father, was an iron founder and inventor, doing business in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and at the same time was associated with Mr. Barnett, the well known iron founder of Newark, New Jersey, where he continued until 1848, when he-returned to Elizabeth, whence he subsequently removed to New Haven, Connecticut, where he was in business with Pierrepont & Mallary. While there his son Alexander, the subject of this sketch, had the advantage of a preparatory school, intending to enter Yale College while his father was doing business in New Haven; but after two years they removed to Brooklyn, New York, his father going into business with Tuttle & Baily, with whom he remained until his death, in 1859. Mr. Gilbert's mother remarried, and her death occurred in 1886. There were eleven children, nine of whom are living. Of these Mrs. Ellis R. Meeker, of Elizabeth; Mrs. Dr. William H. White, of Bloomfield; Mrs. Willis D. Hager, of Orange; and a brother, Nor- man L. , of Caldwell, are all that remain in New Jersey. While the family lived in Brooklyn Mr. Gilbert enjoyed the advantages of a liberal education. His first business experience was in the office of Tuttle & Baily, where he was employed three years. He entered the hardware house of W. N. Seymorn & Company, of New York, as cashier. After remaining three years iii this position, he went, in 1859, into the Market Bank, of New York, as second assistant receiving teller. In 1863, when twenty-four years of age, Mr. Gilbert became cashier of the Market Bank, enjoying the distinction of being the youngest cashier in the city, and continuing to be such for a number of years. In 1890 he was appointed cashier and vice-president. In 1887 he was offered the presidency of the old Fulton Bank, but having declined this position, the two banks consolidated, under the name of Market and Fulton National Bank of New York, since which time he has been offered the presidency of several banks, — all of which overtures he declined, preferring to remain where he is. The last offer made to him was by the Southern National Bank, in 1896; this he also declined, when the business of that bank was also consolidated with that of the Market and Fulton Bank. These consolidations, r iO i^i^A^^s <5. j3j-^ jvy^ Z'4a'^^S-fc-^^3SLjJYlsfzTL,> HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 451 which were brought about by Mr. Gilbert, were the means of making his bank one of the leading banks of the city. He was elected to the presidency of the Market and Fulton Bank in the latter part of 1896. Since 1866 he has been a resident of Plainfield, New Jersey. He is treasurer of the Hillside Cemetery Association, of Plainfield, which he organized. In 1870 he was elected to the common council, serving a number of years as councilman, and being one of the commissioners for the revision of the charter of Plainfield. Mr. Gilbert was also influential in procuring the elevation of the tracks of the Central Railroad of New Jersey. He has been prominently connected with all the early improvements, which have made the city what it now is. In 1890 he was elected mayor of Plainfield, in which office he served until 1896, having no opponent in the last two elections. He declined renomination on account of pressure of business. In politics he has always been a Republican. In .1888 he was a delegate to the Minneapolis convention, and a member of the committee to notify President Harrison of his renomination. He is a member of the Union County Club, and vice-president of the Fulton Club, of New York. Mr. Gilbert was a prime mover in the organization of the Y. M. C. A. of Plainfield, and was its first president. He has been a trustee of the First Baptist. church, of Plainfield, for twenty years. Mr. Gilbert was married in 1865 to Miss L,ouise F. Randolph, of Middlesex county. New Jersey, daughter of Isaac F. and Isabella F. (Randolph) Randolph, an old and noted family of New Jersey. Mrs. Gilbert is a cultured lady; she is a Daughter of the Revolution and a Colonial Dame.. , WILLIAM TITUS KIRK, the efficient and popular sheriff, of Union county, in whose fidelity to duty the law-abiding citizens place the utmost confidence, while the same quality awakens the fear of the law-breakers, is a native of Cornwall, Orange county. New York. He was born in 1864, being the son of John N. and Elizabeth Townsend (Titus) Kirk, the former of Scotch nativity, while.the latter belonged to the Society of Friends and was a representative of one of the old families of Orange county. William T. Kirk, the only child of the family, was reared on his grandfather's farm in Orange county. New York, and attended the Friends' Seminary in New York city, for some years. He then went to Cornwall and spent the three succeeding years on a farm, hoping in the outdoor life to benefit his health, which had become impaired. Subsequently he resumed his education as a student in the Friends' Academy, Glen Cove, Long Island, where he remained for two years, when he entered upon the study of law in the office and under the direction of Luke A. Lockwood, in New York city, with whom he remained for three years. 452 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY On the expiration of that period Mr. Kirk formed a connection with the German American Fire Insnrance Company, on Produce Exchange, New York, with which he remained for two and a half years, and then entered tlie employ of Milliken Brothers, extensive iron contractors, in whose service he remained for nearly three years. He then embarked in business on his own account, in Plainfield, and has WILLIAM T. KIRK since been engae-ed in contractins; and iron-buildino-. He has constructed nearly all the iron bridges and done nearly all of the iron work in Union county, and has done general contracting in iron all over the state. His high reputation in this line has won him a prestige that extends over a large section of the east, and his honor- able business dealing, trustworthiness and promptness have secured him a very liberal patronage. The excellence of the work which he supervises is such as to commend him to the public confidence, and his JAMES F. HUBBARD HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 453 success is the unfailing reward of capable management as combined with superior business ability. Mr. Kirk has never been an office-seeker and has never had political prefemient until November, 1896, when he was elected to the office of sheriff, by a majority of forty-three hundred, a voJ;e which at once indicates his personal popularity and the trust reposed in him by his fellow citizens. Out of the three thousand votes cast in Plainfield, he received two thousand and three hundred. He is a member of the Union County Country Club, the League of American Wheelmen, and a valued representative of the Matano Club, of Elizabeth. He has made his home in Plainfield since 1883, his mother living with him, until her death, on May 4, 1897. In the cit}- he is greatly respected for his sterling worth, his manly bearing and his many excellencies of character. JAMES FRANKLIN HUBBARD. James Franklin, son of James and Amy Carpenter Hubbard, sprang from the best of New England Puritan stock. He was born in Berlin, Rensselaer county. New York, in June, 1837. His father was a carpenter and joiner. Soon after the birth of James the family removed to Scott, Cortland county, New York, where he was taught the trade of his father, with that care and painstaking which laid the foundation for future fidelity and success. Two other children came to the Hubbard home, — Joseph A., who resides in Plainfield, New Jersey, and Mrs. Mary A. Pratt, of -Scott. The father died in 1855. The mother remained until 1886, reaching the ripe age of eighty-three years. James F. was educated in the common and academic schools of central New York. At the age of twenty-two he removed to Allegany county, and opened business as carpenter and builder. In 1849 ^^ married Miss Elizabeth Grace Green, whose ancestors were among the oldest settlers of Rhode Island. Seeking a larger field of activity, Mr. Hubbard came to Plainfield in 1854, since which time he has been a resident of that beautiful city. He carried on business as carpenter and builder until 1862. Born to be a patriot, Mr. Hubbard enlisted in the Thirtieth New Jersey Infantry, and was elected captain of Company H at the organization of the regiment. He commanded his company at the second battle of Fredericksburg, and at Chancellorsville. He was mustered out at the close of his term of enlistment, and for a time thereafter was engaged in raising troops. In 1865 Captain Hubbard went into the printing-press business with Charles Potter, under the firm name of C. Potter, Jr., & Company. He continued in this relation until 1879. Since that time he has been fully occupied in public business and places of trust. He was mad^ a director of the City National Bank, of Plainfield, at its organization, in 1875, whicH place he still retains. He has also been a director in the Dime 454 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Saving Institution since 1884, and he is now vice-president of both these institutions. He has been a freeholder of Union county for twenty-nine years, and director of the board for ten years. Captain Hubbard began political life as a Whig, passing to the Republican party ^t its organization. He still honors the Republican name. The Captain is a member of Major Anderson Post, G. A. R., and of lyoyal Legion Commandery, of New York. He has served Union county for many years, and no man is better known or has a more unblemished record. His practical business methods and his devotion to every trust confided to him have saved the people many thousand dollars. His name is the guaranty for eflEiciency, integrity and trust- worthiness. Captain Hubbard's first wife died in 1864. His present wife was Mrs. Isabell (Randolph) Titsworth, a member of one of the old and honored families of Union county. They are both members of the Seventh-day Baptist church, of Plainfield. RANDOLPH MANNING STELLE. The Stelle family trace their ancestry to Poncet Stelle, a French Huguenot, who came to America at an early period in colonial times. Six sons were born to him in the state of New York, but after reaching manhood they all settled in Monmouth county, New Jersey, with the exception of Benjamin, who moved to Middlesex county. New Jersey, and from whom Manning Stelle, the father of our subject, was, a descendant. Manning Stelle, son of Isaac Stelle, was the youngest of a family of five sons, all of whom grew up and became large landowners and business men in this part of the state. Benjamin, Samuel, and John owned and operated a general store on First street, in the earlier days of Plainfield. Manning Stelle began his business career in Plainfield, but in 1826 he purchased a farm of one hundred and fifty acres, and followed farming until his death, which took place in 1890, at which time he had attained the age of eighty-nine years, his wife having died in 1887. He was a director of the old Union County Bank when organized, and continued in oifice for many years after it was incorporated as the First National Bank of Plain- field. He was a member of the First Baptist church, of which he was a deacon all his life. Mr. Stelle first married Rachel Runyon, who bore him two children, Almira and Julia. By his last marriage he became the father of two children, the subject of this -sketch being the only one living. Randolph Manning Stelle was born in Plainfield, in the house in which he now resides. He is the son of Manning and Jane (Molleson) MANNING STELLE HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 455 Stelle, and was reared in the city of his birth. He attended the public schools of Plainfield, supplementing this course of instruction with one at an institution of learning at Flushing, Long Island. Upon leaving school Mr. Stelle entered upon the commission business in a house in New York, but afterward returned to Plainfield, and for a period of twenty years, commencing in 1871, carried on the drug trade. In 1891 he began developing the real estate belonging to the family, largely handling his own property, along Stelle avenue, the finest part of the town. Mr. Stelle has been a Republican all his life, but no office-seeker. In 1896 he was married to Miss Clara Mathey, of Hoboken, New Jersey, daughter of August Mathey, an old settler in the state. Mr. Stelle is a warm-hearted gentleman, is fond of field sports, and is a member of the Union County Club, of the Crescent Club, of Brooklyn, and the Magantic Fish and Game Club, of Maine and Canada. He is also a member of the Baptist church of Plainfield. JOHN BAYARD BROWN, one of Plainfield's well known citizens, was born at Somerville, New Jersey, nearly opposite Washington headquarters, May 19, 1823. His father was a resident of New Brunswick from 1828 to 1836, where he attended school with Drs. Cannon and Newall, and subsequently attended school at the district school house, two miles north of Somer- ville, New Jersey, with DeWitt Talmage and his brothers and sisters, the father of the Doctor being the teacher. In 1836 Mr. Brown's father removed to his farm, one mile north of Somerville, where he remained till 1839.. Twice a week for two years the subject of this sketch carried the mail, on horseback, from Somerville to Pluckemin, Kline's Mills and New Germantown, after which he learned the trade of carriage-making and followed that occu- pation in New Brunswick for four years, at tweaty-five dollars a year. In 1845 ^^ 'Wa^s. married to Miss Maria Homan, of Somerville, New Jersey, and in 1846 he caipe to Plainfield and located on the same lot where he still resides. Upon coming to this city he began work for Heath & Dunning, but in 1848 started in business for himself, carrying on carriage-making and general blacksmithing until 1875, when his health failed, and he retired to a quiet life. Four children were born to him, but two of them died young, and in 1885 the mother died. Whitfield N. Brown, member of the Consolidated Exchange, New York city, and Mary E. Brown, both of whom are single, reside with their father in Plainfield. Mr. Brown joined the Methodist Episcopal church in 1841, and has been an officer in the church for many years, serving as steward, class- leader and trustee. 456 HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY In politics he affiliates with the Democratic party, and while he has never sought office, yet positions of prominence have been offered him by both the old parties. In 1861 he was appointed a member of a committee to raise a compan}' of volunteers for the war, Abraham Runyoii being chairman of that committee. In 1869 he was elected to the common council, and served in that capacit}' until 1880, refusing to JOHN B. BROWN. accept the office thereafter ; but he was elected city collector in 1882. In 1887 he was nominated for mayor, and although waited upon b}' Democrats, Republicans and temperance committees, he declined the nomination. Mr. Brown is a member of the League of American Wheelmen and although seventy-four years of age still enjoys riding his wheel. ^•r, i'^.^c-T5-d:'^^iT, \ >- -^^^^^■z^ ^^ HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 457 James Brown, the ancestor of this family in America, was a resident of Albany, New York. John Brown, the grandfather of John Bayard Brown, was a sea captain. He sailed from New York city in 1798, and was captured by a French privateer and taken to St. Bartholomew. He was a Mason, and affiliated with Royal Arch Lodge, No. 2, of Free and Accepted Masons of the state of New York. He died at his home in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. His wife, Nancy Brown, was of French lineage, and she died in 1876, aged ninety-seven years ; her son, John Francis Brown, died in 1872. He was the father of the subject of this sketch, and his wife died at the age of eighty years. Her maiden name was Phebe Van Dike. She was a daughter of Cornelius Van Dike, Sr. He was a farmer who lived near Somerville, New Jersej', and was a pensioner of the Revolutionary war. He was one of the guides to General Washington on his march by night from Somerville to New Brunswick, New Jersey. His son, Cornelius Van Dike, Jr., was a pensioner of the war of 1812. The wife of Cornelius Van Dike, Sr., died in 1833, aged eighty -one years. He died in 1840, aged ninety -two years. His wife's maiden name was Mary Brokaw. Her ancestor came to this country from Holland, in the latter part of the sixteenth century, and settled two miles north of Somerville, New Jersey. He brought with him farming utensils, pictures, bricks for fireplace, and also some furniture, now in the possession of Mr. Brown. He had three children, — Richard, Isaac and Mary. Richard was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Isaac was a clock-maker and lived at what was then known as Bridge Town, New Jersey-. JAMES CLARK. A noted citizen of the county is James Clark, whose business career has been a proud one, showing the possibilities and results of diligence and honesty. He was born in Westfield, Union county, in 182 1. His parents, Ephraim and Phoebe (Clark) Clark, both natives of New Jersey, were of Scotch and English descent. He is a descendant of Abraham Clark, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, who is buried in the old cemetery at Rahwaj-. Ephraim Clark, father of the subject of this review, was strictly attentive to his business, and was a highly respected and well known resident of Westfield until his death, which occurred in 1875, at the ripe age of eighty-three years. James Clark learned the currier's trade, at Newark, New Jersey, and soon after went to St. Louis, where he joined an older brother, who had preceded him. In 1824, when the subject of our sketch was but twenty- one years of age, he entered into partnership with his elder brother, E. D. Clark, forming the firm of E. D. Clark, manufacturers of leather and dealers in leather and shoe-findings. This was the commencement of a 458 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY business which was destined to become one of the most important of its kind in that section of the countn^. E. D. Clark died in 1846 and James Clark continued the business alone until i860. In that year he admitted as a partner a brother, D. B. Clark, changing the name of the firm to James Clark & Company. This firm established a flourishing business, which expanded from year to year until it became one of the most important in the city of St. Louis. Frank L,- Clark, a son of James Clark, together with Cyrus E. Clark, a son of D. B. Clark, were subsequently admitted to the firm, which continued business until December, 1895, when the firm sold out to a corporation which was organized to continue the business, as the James Clark lycather Company. D. B. Clark, who had been associated with James Clark in the firm for so many j'ears, died September 23, 1895. Mr. Clark assisted many employes to establish themselves in business. In 1853 A. P. Thoinas, who had been in the St. Louis house, was joined by Mr. Clark in establishing the house of A. P. Thomas & Company, of Keokuk, Iowa. This was the start of a flourishing house, dealing in leather, shoe-findings and saddlery hardware. Mr. Thomas died in 1856, and W. H. Van Nostrand, also an empl6ye of the St. Louis house, took Mr. Thomas' interest, and the firm became Clark & Van Nostrand. At the expiration of two years Mr. Van Nostrand retired from the firm and H. H. Clark, another employe of the St. Louis house, became a partner, and the firm of J. & H. H. Clark did a prosperous business until about 1868, when H. H. Clark retired from the firm, and Newton E., a brother, and James E. Clark, a son of James Clark, became members of the firm of Clark Brothers & Company. This business continued until about 1885, when the Keokuk house sold out and closed up their business interests there. It will thus be seen that Mr. Clark has aided man}- persons to establish themselves in life, and the business established by him in St. Louis, was so well known, by its long and honorable record, that the corporation succeeding him retains his name, as it had been for years a synonym for commercial probity and honor. Mr. Clark still owns valuable real-estate interests in that city, and has a wide acquaintance among its leading men. He joined the frater- nity of the I. O. O. F., in St. Louis, in 1844, and in 1894 the lodge of which he was a member united in celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of that occasion, by giving him a " Golden Jubilee." This was the first one held in that state and was an affair of great interest. On this occasion Mr. Clark was presented with an engrossed and illustrated album, containing an .account of the function, with many autograph letters from his old fraternal friends. This is superbly illustrated and ornamented, and is highly prized by him. Mr. Clark has made his home in Plainfield since i860, and is one of the best known citizens of the section in which he resides. He has an elegant home on Seventh street. I'.ng'ayH D Halls Sons.Mc..--rbtk ")E KHE ;:;T R. ACISjE lft_M.&Jiro HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 459 Mr. Clark is a man possessed of a vigorous and sturdy constitu- tion, and his years sit lightly upon him. He is of a genial nature, and one who commands the respect and esteem of all who know him. Coming from a line of long-lived ancestry, he has doubtless many years yet to enjoy the wealth that he has accumulated by years of hon- orable business life. Mr. Clark has two sons, Frank L,., a resident of St. Louis, and James E. , a business man of Boston. Mrs. Clark, whose maiden name was Mary A. Ferguson, is a native of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Clark are members of the Crescent Avenue church, and enjoy high social position in Plainfield. ERNEST R. ACKERMAN. The subject of this review stands as a representative of one of the 'old families of the state of New Jersey. A native of the city of New York, Ernest R. Ackerman was bom on the 17th of June, 1863, the son of J. Hervey Ackerman and Ellen (Robinson) Ackerman, a memoir of the former of whom appears on another page of this volume. His father became one of the prominent and influential men of Union county, having been called upon to serve in positions of public trust and confidence. His parents removed to Plainfield when Ernest R. was five years of age, and here he secured his preliminary educational discipline, completing the high-school course and graduating with honor as a member of the class of 1880. It was his privilege, during the same year, to enjoy the broadening influences of foreign travel, for, in company with Bishop John H. Vincent, of the Methodist Episcopal church, and his son George, he made a tour through England, Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. Mr. Ackerman is an enthusiastic traveler, and during the decade from 1887 to 1897 he traveled extensively in the United States, Europe and Asia, Africa, South and Central America. As a citizen of Plainfield, Mr. Ackerman has naturally been looked to as an eligible candidate for offices of honor and trust. In 1888 and 1889 he was repeatedly solicited to serve his ward in the common council of the city, but he declined all overtures in this direction, as his private affairs placed imperative demands upon his time and attention. In 1890, however, he consented to accept the nomination of the Republican party for the office mentioned and, being elected, faithfully served his constituents, not absenting himself once from the council meetings during the many sessions that were held within the year. In the council he served as chairman of the finance committee, and was active and uncompromising in opposing the attempt of the " Big Six" to fasten upon the city an unnecessary water and sewerage system. His arguinents, which were timely, well directed and clearly defined, had much to do with defeating the ill advised proposition. Pressure of business interests impelled him to tender his resignation at 460 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY the expiration of one year's service. He has maintained a lively interest in political affairs, and is in close touch with the important questions and issues of the hour. He has appeared before both the Democratic and Republican committees charged with the consideration of the tariff, and the facts and arguments presented by him had much weight with the members of the congressional committee on ways and means. Mr. Ackerman has been a delegate to many conventions of the political party in whose support he is arrayed; has frequently been called upon to serve as chairman of such assemblies, and, in 1894, was prominently mentioned as the Republican candidate for congress. He would unmistakably have been the nominee of the Republicans of his congressional district had he not withdrawn his name early in the contest on account of pressing business exigencies. In the campaign of 1896 he was heard from on the stump, as advocating the principles of the Republican party, and being well • fortified with facts obtained during his travels in China, Japan and India, he was in a position to effectively combat the statements made by the free-silver orators. Numerous articles showing the fallacy of the princi- ples involved in the free-silver movement constantly appeared in the press over his signature, and many thousands of his pamphlets, explain- ing the inevitable sequelae of the adoption of a free-silver standard, were distributed throughout the Union. His prominence and influence in the councils of his party are again shown in the fact that he represented the eighth congressional district in the electoral college which gave its vote for McKinley & Hobart for the respective offices of president and vice- president of the United States, and he served as secretary of the electoral college in New Jersey. In 1896 he was tendered the nomination as the Republican candidate for mayor of Plainfield, but again business reasons led him to decline the honor. Mr. Ackerman controls large financial and business interests and is distinctively a man of broad capacity and marked executive ability. In 189 1 he was elected president of the lyawrence Cement Company, of New York. Mr. Ackerman is a member of the New Jersey Historical Society ; the Hillside Tennis and Golf Club ; the Union County Country Club and the Park Club, of Plainfield ; the lyincoln Association, of Elizabeth ; the Lawyers' Club, of New York, and the Building Material Exchange, of New York. For fifteen years he has served, as a representative from the Crescent Avenue Presbyterian church, on the board of directors of the Young Men's Christian Association of Plainfield, and his interest in all that concerns the material and moral advancement of the city of his home is unflagging. Despite his activity as a business man, Mr. Ackerman is a well known philatelist, being a member of the London Philatelic Society and the Dresden Society, as well as the Collectors' Club, the National Philatelic Society and the Philatelic Club, — all of New York city, — and the American Philatelic Association. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 461 JARED KIRTLAND MYERS. J. K. Myers, assistant treasurer and one of the trustees of tlie American Bank Note Company, New York city, was born in Platts- burg. New York, in 1843. The Von Moyers, his great-grandparents, came from the Hague, Holland, in colonial times, and, landing at Perth Amboy, New Jersey, located in Herkimer, New York. The Kirtlands, the mother's family, came to America from England, in colonial times, and settled near Saybrook, Connecticut. Their descendants were patriots in the Revolutionary struggle. Mr. Lawrence Myers, the father of our subject, was a merchant, for half a century, in Plattsburg, New York, where he resided until his death, in 1871. The mother died in 1864. Six sons were born of this union, three of whom are now living. William W. Myers, a broker of New York, also resides in Plainfield, and Michael P. Myers, a merchant, resides in Plattsburg, New York. Jared K. Myers received his education in the public schools of his native city, and subsequently spent several years in his father's store and office in Plattsburg. In 1864 he came to New York city and entered the office of I. B. Kirtland, banker, on Pine street, where he remained until 1S69, when he commenced the bank-note business. In 1867 Mr. Myers removed to Plainfield, where he has resided since 462 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY that time, and where he is recognized as a prominent and useful citizen. In 1871 Mr. Myers was married to Miss Mary A. Stillman, of Plainfield, daughter of Dr. Charles H. Stillman, a sketch of whose life is published in another part of this work. Mr. Myers is a member of the Sons of the Revolution, is a member also of the Masonic Order, belongs to the Union County Country Club and has been a trustee of the Crescent Avenue Presbyterian church for many years. HON. BENJAMIN A. HEGEMAN, JR., ex-mayor of North Plainfield, is a descendant of one of the oldest settlers in the state of New Jersey. The old Hegeman homestead, in Somerset county, has been in possession of the family about two hundred and fifty years. Benjamin A. Hegeman, Jr., is a son of Benjamin A. and Jane (Roome) Hegeman, of New York city, the father being a member of the board of managers of the Traffic Association, and traffic manager of the Delaware, lyackawanna & Western Railroad Company; and Mr. Hegeman, the^'subject of this sketch, is the general manager of the lyackawanna L/ive Stock Transportation Company. Mr. Hegeman, Sr., was born in the city of New York, June 26, 1820. His wife was a daughter of the late Judge Roome, of New York. Of the five children born of this union only two are now living, — W. J. R. Hegeman, agent for the Lackawanna and Great Eastern Fast Freight lyines, and the subject of this sketch. Benjamin A. Hegeman, Jr., was born in New York city, July 14, i860. He was educated in the public and private schools of New York city, and at the Mount Washington Collegiate Institute, of that city. For several years he was connected, in various capacities, with the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, until 1886, when he accepted a position as assistant secretary and cashier of the Citizens' Mutual Life Insurance Association, of New York city. In 1888 he severed his connec- tion with that association, and took the position of general manager of the Lackawanna Live Stock Express Company, which has since been reorganized as the Lackawanna Live Stock Transportation Company, he still retaining the position of general manager. Mr. Hegeman is a strong Republican, and has always been active in the councils of that party. In 1888 he was elected by the council of the borough of North Plainfield to fill a vacancy in that body, and was re-elected in March, 1890, by the people, as councilman for the full term of three years. In 1895 he was, without opposition, elected mayor of the borough of North Plainfield, for the term of two years. Mr. Hegeman is a strong partisan, and has served efficiently as a member of the Republican executive committee of Somerset county for a number of HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 463 years, treating with the greatest respect the views of his political opponents. In April, 1879, he moved to Plainfield, and on October 23, 1883, married Miss Kate Greenottgh Matthews, daughter of Charles Matthews, £2ae^s»7K^*;: >; k'iss-^afssifiysi-^^^jv^^iiHssassaiES BENJAMIN A. HEGEMAN, JR. a retired lawyer of New York city, but at the time living in Plainfield. Two children, Virginia, born in 1884, and Harold, born in 1887, are the fruit of this union. Mr. Hegeman is a member of the Collegiate Reformed church, of New York city. He takes a deep interest in the Railroad Branch of the Young Men's Christian Association, of Hoboken, New Jersey, of which 464 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY he is a member. He is also an active member of the Alumni Association of the Mount Washington Collegiate Institute, and is prominently connected with other clubs and societies of New York and Plainfield. FRANK L. C. MARTIN. No work of art, no production of science, no invention, ornamental or useful, so rapidly won its way to public favor as the bicycle. Its use is almost universal. It has found its way into the palaces of the nobility and the humble cottages of the poor; the residents of the orient and the Occident find in it a subject of mutual interest; for the bright-eyed little people of Japan, as well as those who reside in our own Califor- nia, have enjoyed the pleasure of a " run " on the " wheel. ' ' Hamlets, towns and cities all number their enthusiastic wheelmen, and it is almost impossible to journey along the country roads in any part of America without meeting a wheelman. Almost miraculous seems this reception of the bicycle throughout the civilized world, and so extensively is it used that the manufacture and sale of wheels has become one of the most important industries of the world. Mr. Martin, whose name introduces this article, is the pioneer bicycle dealer of New Jersey. A veteran member of the League of American Wheelmen, he is so popular and widely known in wheeling circles that he needs no introduction to the readers of this volume. He stands among the most prominent and valued business men of Union county, and it would be difficult to find an individual in all New Jersey who has more true friends. Nor within the bounds of this state are numbered those who entertain for him this kindly regard. The prominent part which he has taken in wheeling affairs has made him known throughout the country, and all with whom he comes in contact recognize the power of his genial, social disposition. Mr. Martin was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1865, being the son of J. Marc and Marie Martin. His father was for twenty-four years an insurance broker, and died in 1890, his wife having passed away in 1870. Their son Frank obtained his education in the public schools of Plainfield, and on laying aside his text books, in 1881, entered upon his business career as an employe of N. F. Monjo, an extensive fur dealer of New York, with whom he remained for six months, when he joined his father in the insurance business. A year later he entered the employ of Taintor & Holt, bankers and brokers on Wall street, New York, with whom he remained for nine years, during which time his fidelity and ability won him steady advancement, and he rose from office boy to assistant cashier. Upon his father's death he resigned his position with the banking firm, in order to assume the management of the insurance-brokerage business. From 1892 until 1893 he success- fully carried on operations along that line, and his well directed efforts FRANK L. C. MARTIN HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 465 brought to him good financial returns, but in the meantime he had become interested in the bicycle business, which enterprise grew to such extensive proportions that he was obliged to dispose of his insurance interests in 1893. Mr. Martin is at the head of one of the oldest established bicycle trades in the country. He began business in 1889, conducting his operations on a small scale, but being possessed of great energy, indus- try and keen discrimination, and by reason of the rapidly growing popularity of the wheel, he secured a trade that has marvellously increased. Disposing of his insurance business, in order to devote all of his time to the other enterprise, he has been forced to continually enlarge his stock and facilities, until he has now one of the largest and most complete bicycle establishments in the state. He extended his field of operations in 1892, by establishing a branch store in New Brunswick, but during Mr. Martin's absence at the World's Columbian Exposition his manager absconded, taking with him thirty-three hun- dred dollars. He then closed the branch in New Brunswick, but continued the business in Plainfield. In 1896 he formed a partnership with Frederick Keer, and incorporated the business under the name of the Keer & Martin Cycle Company, which conducts a large establish- ment at No. 876 Broad street, Newark, and in 1897 established a branch at No. 593 Main street, East Orange. The business in Plainfield is con- ducted under the name of the F. L. C. Martin Cycle Company, also incorporated. This is a separate and distinct organization from the Keer & Martin Cycle Company, and the former has a branch in West- field. The business in Plainfield has pleasant and commodious quarters, having a large room filled with wheels for sale and renting. A very extensive repair department is under the charge of an efficient mechanic and an able corps of assistants. The establishments in Newark, Westfield and East Orange are alike complete in their appointments and equip- ments, and the volume of business done in these four establishments places Mr. Martin at the head of the trade in New Jersey. He is now agent for the Cleveland and Crescent wheels and also handles the Dayton and the Barnes' White Flyer. Mr. Martin is regarded as authority on -all cycling subjects, and has a wide reputation as a pace-maker on century runs. So continuous are the demands made by his business, that Mr. Martin has not found the time to make a "record" as a rider since the early days when he rode the old "ordinary," or high wheel. In 1886 he rode two hundred and two miles in twenty-four hours, on an ordinary, making a state record which has never been broken on an ordinary. In 1888 he inaugurated the great century run from New York to Philadelphia, and he has been the pace-maker on like runs each succeeding year. He has done more to advance the interests of cycling in this part of the state than any other one man. He was an active member of the Plain- 30 466 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY field Bicycle Club from 1885 to 1896, and served as captain for seven years. Mr. Martin also belongs to the Crescent Wheelmen, of Plain- field, the Vim Bicycle Club, of Newark, the Atalanta Wheelmen, of Newark, and the Essex Bicycle Club, also of that city; but while he is an enthusiastic wheelman, his interests are by no means confined to this one line. In fact he is a broad-minded gentleman, well informed on all matters of general interest, a pleasing conversationalist, and very popular in all circles. He is an active member of Anchor Lodge, A. F. & A. M., in which he took the degrees in 1896, became a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen in 1894, and of the Alert Hose Company in 1891 . Since 1886 he has been a member of the Crescent Avenue Presbyterian church, and in the social functions of Plainfield is a familiar figure. His uniform courtesy, genial manner and true worth make him a social favorite, and his friends are legion. JAMES T. CLOSSON. A cultured and esteemed citizen of Plainfield is Mr. James T. Closson, who has made this city his home since 1867. Mr. Closson is a native of New England, where his ancestors, in both the paternal and maternal lines were descendants of old, and notable English families, who trace their lineage to the colonial, and Revolutionary days of America. His parents, N. Holden Closson and L,ouisa A. (Garman) Closson, were residents of New Hampshire at the time of his birth. They subsequently removed to Middletown, Connecticut, and finall}' to Brooklyn, New York, where the homestead was retained until the death of his father, which occurred in 1861. The mother found a home with her son, in Plainfield, and resided there until her death, in 1891. Three children were born to them, the subject of this sketch, and two daughters, — one of whom is dead, and the other of whom resides with her brother, in Plainfield. Mr. Closson received superior educational advantages in his 3'outh, and at an early age entered the mercantile house of his father, in New York, where he began his business career. He subsequently engaged in the banking business in New York city, in which he was very successful, and to the promotion of which he devoted his entire attention until 1890, when he retired from active business. Mr. Closson served as director in the Bank of the State of New York for twenty years ; was president of the Richmond & Allegheny Railroad for a number of years, and in the financial and commercial world established a reputation of the highest order for honor and probity. Mr. Closson's residence in PJainfield has been distinguished by a quiet and unostentatious support of all measures tending to the develop- ment of the moral and educational interests of the communit}'. He was one of the organizers of the City National Bank, of Plainfield, and has been connected with that institution as a director since. He has always JAMES T. CLOSSON HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 467 been a Republican in his political affiliations, is in no sense an office- seeker, but is a liberal contributor to the cause, and observes at the polls a quiet exercise of his duties as a good citizen. Mr. Closson has also been a generous donor to all charitable and religious institutions, and is connected with the Grace Episcopal church. He is a member of the Union Ivcague Club, of New York city, and of the Union County Country Club, of Plainfield. Plainfield is noted for its beautiful homes, and among them the residence and grounds of Mr. Closson are especially noticeable. Ivocated on East Front street, the grounds have a frontage of five hundred feet, and a depth of about one thousand feet. They are admirably laid out, and embellished with natural shade trees and ornamental trees and shrubs, with large and well appointed conservatories, in the supervision and culture of which Mr. Closson takes a special pleasure. His home is an ideal one, and in the quiet enjoyment of its treasures Mr. Closson enjoys a well earned respite from business life. JOHN B. DUMONT. John B. Dumont is a descendant of Peter Dumont, member of the eleventh colonial assembly of New Jersey, and one of the first settlers in Somerset county. New Jersey, in which county John B. was born, in 1842. Peter Dumont was the youngest son of Walleram Dumont, a Huguenot who came to America in 1657, as an officer in the corps sent by the Dutch West India Company to Governor Stuyvesant, and he afterward settled at Kingston, New York. Mr. Dumont became a resident of Plainfield in 1869, before it was incorporated as a city, and has always taken an active interest in its affairs. He is a member of its common council, and has been president of that body at different periods since 1874, covering in all ten years. He has been treasurer of the Plainfield Public Library from the time of its organization, in 1881. , For twenty-five years he has been a member of the vestry of Grace church, Protestant Episcopal, and for twenty-three years a delegate from said church to the convention of the diocese of New Jersey. Mr. Dumont is engaged in business in New York, as a member of its Stock Exchange, in which he has served on the governing committee for ten years. HALSTED COE COMPTON is of English extraction. His great-grandfather, James Compton, emigrated to America about the year 1660. James Compton (the 2d) grandfather of Halsted C, was born in New Jersey and reared a family of children, among whom was James (the 3d) father of the subject of 468 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY this sketch. He was born September 4, 1780, and died in July, 1866. His wife, ncc Margaret K. Fountain, was born October 20, 1794, and died October 15, 1865. To this union were born four children, viz: James W., who died at the age of seven years; Catherine H. , wife of Jeremiah Manning; Sarah A., wife of Abel Manning; and HALSTED C. COMPTON Halsted Coe Compton, who was born February 25, 1833, on the old homestead, on a part of which he now resides. The business of farm- ing has been Mr. Compton's chief occupation in life, and he is one of the largest owners of real estate in the city. His fitness for the realities of a business career, which has made his life a successful one, was acquired in the common schools of his native town, and he has J. FRED MacDONALD HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 469 lived to the present time in the enjoyment of the respect and confidence of all who know him. In politics Mr. Compton is a stanch Republican, a strong supporter of the church and all its kindred interests. He is a member of the First Baptist church and was one of the trustees at the time the new church was built. He married Miss Emma Durbrow, daughter of Joseph and Mary Durbrow, of New York. To this union were born the following named children: Mary Durbrow; Sophia Dall, wife of Dr. J. H. Reed, of New York; Alfred Halsted; and Emma Josephine, wife of J. W. Johnson, of Spuyten Duyvil. J. FRED MAC DONALD. Among those prominently identified with the growth of Plainfield during these latter years should be mentioned J. Fred MacDonald. Although a young man, Mr. MacDonald has demonstrated, by his business tact and ability, his place among financiers of this part of the state. He is of Scotch descent, and belongs to one of the old families of New Jersey. His grandfather, Thomas MacDonald, resided at Fairview, this state. Here Rudolphus MacDonald was born, on the 24th of April, 1826 ; and thirty years from that date, to a day, he was married to Miss Sarah A. Gardner, daughter of James J. Gardner, of New York. In due time Mr. MacDonald removed to Chicago, in search of a location for business, but subsequently turned his steps eastward, and settled for a time in New York. In October, 1856, he came to Plainfield, where he established, in fact, the first grocery store in this city. James M. Dunn and Ira Pruden each owned and operated a store at that time, but their trade was general, including dry goods as well as groceries, while that of Mr. MacDonald was special. Mr. MacDonald had a keen foresight for business. Had he remained in Chicago immense wealth would have come to him. As it was, he accumulated a competency before his death, which occurred very unexpectedly, while he was sitting in his easy chair, June 25, 1889. His widow survives him and resides with her only son, the subject of this sketch. J. Fred MacDonald was born in Plainfield, April 12, 1858, in the house in which he now resides. He received his education in the private and public schools of Plainfield, leaving the high school with the class of 1877. Within the year of his graduation he entered the store of his father in the capacity of clerk. Having mastered the details of the grocery trade, Mr. MacDonald was given an equal partnership in the business in 1880. In 1888 he purchased all interests and has remained sole proprietor since that time. This store is one of the landmarks of the place, and when we take into account the immense trade which has accumulated— in consequence of the popularity of this favored old 470 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY stand — during these past nian^- years, we form a better conception of the attitude its proprietor sustains towards the people of this place. Besides the store Mr. MacDonald deals largely in real estate. He is interested in several properties in Bergen county, New Jersey, and also in Plainfield. In addition, he has become the adjuster of a number of large estates for other people. He is one of the executors of the Latimer estate and has constantly in hand large trusts, which bespeaks for him the confidence of his fellow townsmen. He is a director in the City National Bank, and is treasurer of the city and coimty Republican organization, which last position he has held for many years. As a business man Mr. MacDonald stands among the representative financiers of Plainfield. Mr. MacDonald was married October 13, 1880, to Miss Maria Rockwell, daughter of Dr. Jacob A'an Deveer, of New York, and grand- daughter of Dr. William Rockwell, at one time a member of the board of health of the city of New York. Mrs. MacDonald comes from a family of physicians, in both her paternal and maternal lines of descent. Mr. and Mrs. MacDonald are members of the Cresent Avenue Presbyterian church, and they have hosts of friends and are in e\'ery way identified with the interests of their cit^■. CHARLES J. FISK. Charles Joel Fisk, a native of Jersey City, New Jersey, was born in 1858. His father was a native of \'ermont, of English extraction, and tracing his ancestry back to 1399. William Fisk, the original American ancestor, settled in Wenham, Massachusetts, in 1637, where he and a brother named John were prominent residents. Mr. Fisk's father was, in 1848, a clerk in a dry-goods store in Trenton, New Jersey. In 1852 he was employed as assistant teller in the Mechanics Bank, of New York city, and, ten years later, in 1862, began business for himself, and soon afterward, as the head of the firm of Fisk & Hatch, became a noted financier, and was very prominent in Wall street for many years. Fisk & Hatch were very active during the war of the Rebellion as agents for the government, in floating its bonds, thus rendering the greatest aid to the country. The firm continued as Fisk & Hatch until 1885. It was then dissolved, and Mr. Fisk associated his sons with him in business, under the firm name of Harvey Fisk & Sons. The father died in 1889. The present members of the firm are Harvey E., Charles J., Pliu)- and Alexander G. Fisk, Theodore H. Banks and Herbert W. Denny. This firm is among the largest in New York handling government bonds and general investment securities. Mr. Fisk's mother's family, the Greens, were of New Jersey, and were prominent in colonial and Revolutionary history. Mr. Fisk's maternal grandfather, A. B. Green, was an active business man, connected .~~ha 3-i.- ,^ ,lj: !:^U£OL^.-^s ^ j^^^ j^^ y HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 471 with the old Camden & x\mboy Railroad, and was member of the legislature two terms during the war. His mother is still living at the old homestead, on the Delaware river, near Trenton, New Jersey. The subject of this sketch, Mr. Charles J. Fisk, was brought up in New York, and on the old homestead, securing his educational discipline in the schools of the metropolis. He went into his father's office when seventeen years of age, and has been consecutively connected with the business since, and is now one of the best posted men on finances on "the street." In 1891 Mr. Fisk became a member of the city council of Plain- field, Newjersey, in which capacity he has taken a very public-spirited position. He was one of the leaders in securing the sewer system for the city. Mr. Fisk has been a delegate to different county conventions, and was alternate to the St. Louis convention which nominated Major McKinley for president. He served as chairman of the campaign committee, and did heroic work for his party. Mr. Fisk is a leader of men, is very energetic, and one who labors assiduously for whatever he believes to be right and best. He is a member of the Lawyers Club, the Republican Club, and the Wool Club, all of New York; and of the Union County Country Club, of Plainfield. Mr. Fi.sk was married, in 1879, to Miss Lillie R. Richey, of Trenton, New Jersey, daughter of the late Augustus G. Richey, one of the most prominent lawyers of the state. They have five children: Louisa G., Augustus R., Charles W. , Harvey and Annie G. The family are members of the Crescent Avenue Presbyterian church, of which church Mr. Fisk is one of the trustees. He is one of the most popular men in Union county. In recognition of his sterling character and peculiar eligibility, (upon the refusal of Mayor Gilbert to accept renomination) Mr. Fisk was unanimously chosen by his party for the office of mayor of Plainfield, and was elected at the last municipal election. PHINEAS il. FRENCH. Phineas M. French was born near Union village, Somerset county, Newjersey, August 10, 1812, and passed his boyhood days on his father's farm. His parents were David French and Margaret (Noe) French, and his grandfathers, David French and Lewis Noe, served in the Revolutionary war, as the record at Trenton shows. His ancestors came here from Northamptonshire, England, in 1688, and settled in Newjersey, and his great-grandfather, Robert French, was the first white settler west of Rahway road in this state. On January 25, 1837, Phineas M. French was married to Mary E. Oswald, whose parents were English, and she died January 11, 1861. In 1836 he built the house now standing at 106 Somerset street. North 472 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Plainfield, New Jersey, at which time there were only seven houses in that place. This was his home for twenty years, after which he built the handsome colonial dwelling which he now occupies with his second wife, who was formerly Sarah J. Lees, of Montclair, New Jersey, and PHINEAS M. FRENCH whom he married in 1862. When Mr. French first moved to Plainfield the town boasted of one hundred inhabitants. In 1837 he received a contract for building a portion of what is now the Central Railroad of New Jersey, from Elizabeth to Plainfield, the line being then called the Elizabethtown & Somerville Railroad. HUGH M. ESTIL HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 473 In 1839 Mr. French purchased the Plainfield flour and saw mills, and, after operating them for twelve years, built thepresent City Mills, on the site formerly occupied by the old buildings. Mr. French was one of the first directors of the first bank in Plainfield, called Beach Bank, the same having been established in 1847, by his friend, Moses Y. Beach, founder of the New York Sun. A few years later Mr. French assisted in founding the Union County Bank, which took the place of the Beach Bank, and he was a director until it was merged into the present First National Bank. Since that time he has served almost continuously as a member of the board of directors of the latter bank, and is the oldest director. In 1840 he was elected a trustee of the First Methodist Episcopal church, and has served continuously in that capacity up to the present time, a period of fifty- seven years. Mr. French at one time owned the Plainfield Gas Works and the New Brooklyn (now South Plainfield) Mills, and has for many years been a large property-holder. He has been prominently identified with the many improvements made in Plainfield, and is a valued citizen. The children resulting from his first marriage are as follows : Frances Morrill, Theodore Franklin, Mary Louise, John H., Sarah Margaret, Henrietta, and Louis Mundy; and from his second marriage : Harriett Anna, William Albert, Harrington Robley, Elston Marsh, and David Herbert French. HUGH MULFORD ESTIL. Hugh Mulford Estil's paternal ancestors were of French origin. They came to America in the early colonial days and settled, in 1666-7, on the " Monmouth Grant," in Middletown township. Just before the breaking out of the American Revolution descendants of this Daniel Estill, the original founder of this family in New Jersey, moved into Middlesex county. Here they settled down to the duties of agricultural pursuits, and, when call to arms was made, there were representatives of this family who took an active part in the struggle for independence. William Estill served his country as private soldier in the state militia. His son Samuel, grandfather of our subject, was born at the little hamlet of Samptown, near what is now Plainfield, New Jersey, and pursued the vocation of a farmer. Among his children was William Estil, the father of Mr. Hugh M. Estil. He was a hatter by trade, this line of enterprise having been a leading occupation of the first half of this century in this locality. He married Miss Mary Thorn Webster, daughter of Samuel and Martha (Thorn) Webster, also of Plainfield, where they lived for fifty-six years. Mrs. Estil, mother of Hugh, died April 25, 1888 ; his father died March i, 1892. In their family of nine children only three lived to mature years. The two still living in North Plainfield are 474 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Hugh M. Estil, the subject of this sketch, and his sister, Mary A., wife of Samuel A. Wallace. Mr. Estil's maternal ancestors were Scotch Quakers, who were among the pioneer settlers of East Jersey. William Webster was the progenitor of the family in this province, and settled a few miles east of Plainfield, about 1685. His grandson, Hugh Webster, was always a devout worshiper in the meetings of the Friends' society, and was prominently instrumental in advancing their religious interests. The granddaughter of Hugh Webster was the mother of Mr. Estil, who received his Christian name from him. Hugh M. Estil was born in 1842, in Plainfield, in whose public schools he was educated. After leaving school he learned the harness- making and saddlery trade, which he followed for a few years. In 1876 he established, in Plainfield, a book and stationery business, which he has conducted very successfully. Mr. Estil has traveled extensively both in Europe and America, and has been a careful observer of everything worthy of attention in the various countries which he has visited. In the community he is an active and enterprising man. He has been a director of the First National Bank for the past seven years, and was elected vice-president in September, 1896. He is one of the managers of the Dime Savings Bank. Since 1889 he has been a resident of North Plainfield, New Jersey, where he has an elegant home, in which he is surrounded with books, paintings, and other indications of taste and refinement. He has been a member of the First Baptist church for many 5'ears. Mr. Estil is a Son of the American Revolution, and in politics he is a Republican. JOHN WESLEY JOHNSON. Among the citizens of Plainfield most prominent in its business and social life is John W. Johnson, president of the First National Bank. There are probably none more deserving of mention' than he. Mr. Johnson was born in Middlesex county in 1844, and is a sou of John S. and Eliza (Clarkson) Johnson. His father was born on Staten Island, where his ancestors had resided for several generations. John S. Johnson was a farmer by occupation, and followed the business of farming in Middlesex county for many years. He subse- quently came with his family to Plainfield, where he resided until his death, in 1896. His wife died in 1892. Three children born of this union are now living. Alfred C. and Peter C. Johnson reside in Middlesex county, New Jersey. John W. Johnson attended, at first, the public schools of his native county, and was subsequently sent to Staten Island, where he attended a private school. He then began his business career, as a clerk in the silverware store of J. A. Babcock, with whom he remained HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 475 nine years. In 1869, having thoroughly mastered the details of the business, he established a trading house for himself, and therein has achieved a marked success. His business is the sale of all kinds of household plate-ware, and his trade has been extended not only throughout America, but into many foreign countries, and is one of the most prominent in the line. His office is at 22 John street, New York city. Mr. Johnson has resided in Plainfield since 1866. He has been a director in the First National Bank for a number of years, and upon the death of Mr. E. R. Pope, in 1896, he was elected president. He is also president of the Plainfield board of trade, and is in other ways recognized as a successful business man of the city. Mr. Johnson has always been a lover of fine stock. He owns, near Plainfield, a model farm of two hundred acres, where he is now raising thorough-bred trotting horses. He is president of the New Jersey Association of Trotting Horse Breeders, and is treasurer of the Driving Park Association. Mr. Johnson was married June 2, 1869, to Miss Sarah Coriell, a daughter of Richard and Margaret (Elliott) Coriell. The Coriell family is of the French Huguenot extraction and is also connected with the colonial and Revolutionary history of our own country. Richard Coriell was a hatter and an honored citizen of this section. He died in Novem- ber, 1893. His wife was of English descent. Mr. Johnson is the father of two sons, both of whom are associated with him in business. The famil}' are members of the Park Avenue Baptist church, of whose board of trustees Mr. Johnson is president. Mr. Johnson and family generally spend their summers in their beautiful homes on Lake Champlain, New York, and Alexandria bay, on the St. Lawrence river. They have hosts of friends, and are prominent in all the affairs of Plainfield. WILLIAM PALMER SMITH was born in N,ew York city, August 19, 1852, being the sou of James Wood Smith, also born in New York city, and a descendant of the Smiths, of Smithtown, Long Island. His mother, whose maiden name was Ann Palmer, descended from an old English family of that name, and her mother was a Paulding, a grandniece of John Paulding, of Revolutionary fame, and a direct descendant of one Joost Paulding, a Hollander, who settled in New Amsterdam (New York) in 1688, and was a freeholder and voter of that period. The subject of this sketch became a resident of Plainfield, New Jersey, in 1861, and has since resided there almost continuously. His early years were spent in New York city, Long Island, and Westchester county. New York. He was educated at military and private schools 476 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY in White Plains, New York, and at private and public schools in Plainfield, New Jersey. Mr. Smith is a banker and stock broker, a member of the firm of Breese & Smith, in New York city, where he began business in Feb- WIULIAM P. SMITH ruary, 1868, becoming a member of the New York Stock Exchange in April, 1875, and a governor in May, 1897. Mr. Smith is a member of the Union Club, Players' Club, and the St. Nicholas Society, of New York city, and the Baltus rol Golf Club, of New Jersey. THEODORE F. FRENCH HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 477 His wife's maiden name was Georgianna Hoadley, she being a daughter of George E. Hoadley, of the New Haven family of that name; her mother's name was Anna B. Howell. He has four children, — Georgianna Hoadley, William Palmer, Jr., Lawrence Breese, and Alice Hoadley; also Bradford Hoadley Smalley and Edith Hoadley Smalley, adult children of his wife by a former marriage. His residence is " Fridhem ", on Belvidere avenue, Netherwood, New Jersey, a suburb of Plainfield. THEODORE FRANKLIN FRENCH was bom in North Plainfield, New Jersey, in 1840. He is the son of Phineas M. and Mary E. (Oswald) French, the father being a native of New Jersey, the mother of New York. The grandfather of Mr. French was a native of Somerset county, where he carried on the business of a farmer. His son, Phineas M. French, became a mill- owner, and is now living, hale and hearty, at the advanced age of eighty-five years. This property is in the city of Plainfield, the mill still being in the possession of the French family. The mother died at the age of forty- two. Her ancestors were of English descent, and were prominent in the cities of New York and Brooklyn. Six children, now living, were the fruit of their marriage, and of these Theodore F. is is the eldest. Mr. Theodore F. French received his education in the public schools of Plainfield, and in the Newark Methodist Seminary, after which he entered into business with his father, under the firm name of P. M. French & Sons. He continued with his father until 1886, when he had to abandon business on account of his health. He then went south for a^ time. In 1891 he entered the water office as the general manager of the Plainfield Water Supply Company, in which connection he is still engaged. Mr. French is a Republican, but has never sought office or prefer- ment, though he has been foremost in promoting the public interests. He has been many years in an active business life, and, being enterpris- ing, affable and genial, has become a well known citizen of Plainfield, oflBciating in various public capacities from time to time. He was a member of the school board of North Plainfield for a number of jears, was secretary of the old board of fire commissioners for a term of years, and was connected with the volunteer fire department for the period of thirteen years. Mr. French has been twice married. In 1864 he was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary C. Burnett, of Chatham, New Jersey, and two children were born of this union, — Nettie L., wife of Edward Howell, of Morristown, New Jersej', and Charles G., who is connected with Rogers, Peet & Company, New York. His wife died in 1884. In 1886 he was married to Miss Melisse Colthar, of Somerset county, New Jersey. 47.^ HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY J. AUGUSTUS SMITH, an enterprising purveyor of pure food products to the citizens of Plain- field, was born at Weston, Somerset county. New Jersey, on September 21, i860. At fifteen years of age he entered the employ of the late James E. Gillem, the leading grocer of Bound Brook, New Jersey, where he remained a few years and then accepted a position as a traveling salesman for a wholesale provision house in New York. In 1882 Mr. Smith came to Plainfield as a clerk for one of the leading grocers. December i, 1886, Mr. Smith and George S. Rockwell formed a partnership under the firm name of Smith & Rockwell, and purchased the interests of T. J. Pruden, whose business as a grocer had been in the famih* for nearly a century, HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 479 at 125 West Front street. After a three-years successful venture in this enterprise. Mr. Smith bought out his partner and branched out into the wholesale trade, as well as continuing the retail business. The large and increasing trade compelled more room, and additions were made to the store. Finally Mr. Smith leased the entire building and then two upper stories, besides the basements of 123-125 West Front street, now exclusively used by the wholesale department. In 1895 Mr. Smith took his brother, Frederick E. Smith, into partnership, under the firm name of J. A. Smith & Brother. Mr. Smith has been president of the Plainfield Grocers' Protective Association, is now vice-president of the same, and also one of the vice- presidents of the Retail Merchants' Association of New Jersey. Mr. Smith is an active and enterprising citizen of Plainfield, and his public- spirited life adds much to the welfare of his adopted city. GEORGE HENRY FROST, one of the proprietors of the Engraving News, New York, and associate member of American Society of Civil Engineers, was born July 9, 1838, in Canada. Both of his parents were natives of Vermont, but in early life they removed to New York, and in 1836 settled in Canada, where both died, leaving five sons and two daughters, of whom all but one are now living. Francis T. Frost, the youngest son, is a member of the dominion parliament, the first liberal candidate elected from his district in his own lifetime. He and his brother Charles comprise the firm which ranks second of the two principal firms manufacturing agricult- ural machinery in Canada. They succeeded their father in the business. George Henry Frost received his early education in the public schools, until seventeen years of age, when he attended a private academy in northern Vermont. He afterward pursued a special course of study at the McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and was graduated with the class of civil engineers in i860. Subsequently he became a student in an engineer's office in Port Hope, Canada, and in January, 1863, passed a government examination and was given a diploma as " Provincial Land-surveyor." Mr. Frost went in the same year to Chicago, Illinois, — then a city of one hundred and fifty thousand population, — and was engaged at once in railroad surveying in Wisconsin, in the service of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company, then a comparatively small corporation, with a single line, to Green Bay, Wisconsin. He spent the summer of 1864 in an architect's office in St. Louis, Missouri, returning to the service of his company in Chicago as first assistant in the office of the land commissioner. He remained with the railway company until 1867, and was then made first assistant engineer in the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad, locating north from Fort Wayne, Indiana. For ten 4M(l HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY years, beginning in 1867, Mr. Frost was engaged in private practice as a civil engineer in Chicago. In April, 1874, he published the first number of the engineering journal now called Engraving News. In 1876 it was changed from a monthly to a weekly journal, under the present name, and moved to New York, January i, 1878. From the smallest beginning this journal has become the leading civil-engineering publication in the world, a state- ment made advisedly and with knowledge. Mr. Frost was at first its sole proprietor, editor and business manager. There are now five stock- holding proprietors, two business managers, two editors and five associate editors, with such additional assistants in the office force as to make a total of twenty persons ; with offices in New York, Chicago, and Ivondon, England. This does not include the men in the mechanical department. Mr. Frost was married December 3, 1868, in Chicago, to Miss Louisa Hunt, daughter of a hardware merchant of that city. He has four sons grown to manhood, and all are in business. The eldest son is a graduate of Yale College, of the class of 1893 ; the second is a graduate in mechanical engineering of the class of 1893 of Lehigh University, Pennsylvania ; the other sons received their education at the Leal School, Plainfield, New Jersey, to which city the family removed, from New York, in June, 1886. Mr. Frost is a Republican. He is much interested in good munici- pal government, and has willingly given of his time and means in promoting such, having now served five years in the city council. He is principally occupied with the sewer and sewage-disposal systems of Plainfield, of which he has had the planning, construction and supervision from the very inception of the undertaking, and is at present chairman of the committee on this subject. He is also identified with street improvements, and in the council is a member of the alms committee. Mr. Frost is a Presbyterian and a member of the Crescent Avenue church. He is interested in Bethel chapel (colored) and in other respects is active in the social and religious matters of his adopted city. CHAPTER XXVI. SPRINGFIELD. PPIylCATlON was made to the legislature in the year 1793, and an act was passed May a/tli of that year, providing that all the part of the township of Elizabethtown and the township of Newark, lying within the following lines: Beginning on the bank of the Rahway river, on the line which divides the wards of Springfield and Westfield ; thence running in the said line to the top of the mountain, and from thence to New Providence meeting house, and thence to Passaic river ; thence down the said river to the bridge commonly known by the name of Cook's bridge ; thence down the old road to the top of the mountain ; thence on a direct line to Kean's Mills ; thence on a direct line to a bridge which crosses the east branch of Rahway river, commonly known by the name of Pierson's Bridge, by his mill-dam ; and from thence down the said river to the place of beginning, shall be and is hereby set off from the townships of Elizabeth and Newark, and made a separate township to be called by the name of Springfield township. This act remained in force until November 8, 1809, when New Providence township was taken from the township of Springfield, and on the 17th day of March, 1869, part of Summit township was formed from the westerly portion of the township of Springfield. The township is now bounded as follows : On the south by Westfield, on the easterly by Union, northeasterly by Millburn, in Essex county, and north and westerly by Summit and part of Westfield township, Union county. It is about five miles long and two miles wide. CIVIL ORGANIZATION. Springfield was formed from Newark and Elizabethtown (then Essex county) in 1793. The first record of this township made in the town books is as follows : At a town meeting held at the house of Mr. Abraham WooUey, innkeeper in Springfield, the 14th day of April, in the year of our Lord 1794, pursuant to an act of the legislature of New Jersey, passed at Trenton the 27th day of May, 1793, the following officers were duly elected: Samuel Potter, Esq., moderator, and Elias Van Arsdale, town clerk ; freeholders, Walter Smith and Elijah Squier ; commissioners of appeal, Nathaniel Little, Samuel Tyler and Jeremiah Mulford ; assessor, Matthias Meeker ; collector, Abraham WooUey ; surveyors of highways, William Steel and Matthias Denman ; overseers of the poor, Ezra Baldwin, Samuel Potter and Joseph Pierson ; pound-keeper, John Woodruff ; constables, Nathaniel Budd, Stephen Morehouse and 31 482 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Isaac Sampson ; overseers of highways, Amos Potter, David Pierson, Joseph Doty, Caleb Potter, Obadiah Wade, Benjamin Pettit, Ephraim Ivittle, John Wilcocks, Stephen Denman, Jacob Brookfield, Uriah Smith, Simeon Squier, Enos Baldwin, Aaron Carter, Stephen Lyon, Jonathan Meeker, Isaac Halsey, Philip Denman, Isaac Sayre, Jr., Cornelius Williams and Samuel Tyler. The village of Springfield is situated on a level plain, having parts of the Orange range and parts of the First Mountain range in full view. It is one mile from Millburn depot, in Essex county, about six miles from Elizabeth and seven from Newark. A branch of the Rahway river passes through the village. In 1738 it is believed that there were in the village of Springfield only three houses, and these were occupied by Thomas Denman and the Van Wrinckle and Whitehead families. The first Presbyterian church was erected about the year 1747, and tradition says it was built of logs. The second meeting house was built in 1761, upon the spot where the present one is standing, and stood until destroyed by the hands of the British soldiers, on the 23d day of June, 1780. The present edifice was erected in 1791. The present Methodist Episcopal church was erected in 1833. The Union Academy was built in 1857, the upper part being used as a town hall. The village contains two houses of entertainment, one of which has stood for many years, called the Washington Hotel, and the other, to the west of the village, facing the Westfield road, called the Springfield Tavern. There were no postal facilities in this village until in the year 1810. Prior to this a stage passed through the place once or twice a week, going to or from Elizabethtown or Newark. Better facilities for transmitting communications were finally established, however, and Caleb Woodruff was the first regular appointed postmaster. He held the oflice for a number of years. Abner Stites was the next post- master. He was the store-keeper and was appointed postmaster about 1837. The first school house in this township was built of logs and stood in the village. It was erected about 1778. The following is found in the records: In pursuance of a notification given at the meeting house, the 27th of July, 1800, a meeting of a number of the inhabitants of Springfield was held on Monday, the 28th, at the old school house, when, Abraham WooUey, Esquire, being chosen moderator and William Steele clerk, a vote was taken whether the lot of ground and materials of said house should be disposed of, which passed in the affirmation, without a dissenting voice.* The premises were accordingly exposed to public sale by Elijah Woodruff, auctioneer. The building was sold for forty-two dollars, and the lot, to Elijah Woodruff, for forty-six dollars, and a committee was appointed to purchase a new lot, and also to build a school house, employ teachers, and discharge them at their discretion. Abraham Woolley, Esq., Matthias Denman, Halsted Coe, Daniel Sutfin and * The oldest deed of school property in this township is as follows : " Abraham Woolley and wife and others, William Steele and others, trustees of the Union Academy, Springfield." Book F. 6 of Deeds, p. 168, etc., Newark, New Jersey ; deed daLed April 25, 1803 ; recorded March 6, 1845. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 483 William Steele were appointed said committee, and at their next meeting, in September, 1800, " they decided to build a school house, two stories high, twenty foot post, twenty wide, and forty feet long; to contain four windows of fifteen panes, 8x10 each side and in the lower story, five ditto on each side and two windows in one end and four in the other. So we perceive that they had decided to build before they had secured a lot, as Rev. Mr. Van Arsdale had a lot for fifty, which he was to give answer to-morrow." At their next meeting they decided to divide the "Academy" into one hundred and seventy-five shares of eight dollars each, and at their next meeting, which took place December 14, 1802, Messrs. William Steele, Halsted Coe and Grover Coe were appointed to draft a constitution. At the next meeting, December 27th, a board of trustees was elected, consisting of William Steele, Samuel Tyler, Halsted Coe, Gershom Williams, and Uzal Wade, "who constituted the number by ballot." The constitution was adopted, and the institution took the name of ' ' the Springfield Union Academy." It is further stated in the records that the "Academy lately erected is established upon such a footing as will aiford the easy and regular means of education to the youth in this vicinity, and add respectability to the place." The first mention made of a teacher in the old record book is as follows: Springfield, March 4, 1805. The trustees of Springfield Union Academy met at the house of Rev. C. Williams, in order to have some conversation with Mr. Joseph Stevyart, who offers his services as a tutor in the lower room. The trustees having satisfied themselves as to his capacity to teach, have agreed to employ him. The number of scholars shall be forty, no more, and the price of tuition shall be twelve shillings for those who read and write only, and fourteen shillings for cyphering and English grammar. In the month of November, 1858, Union Academy was burned. Subsequently a new academy was erected. At this time J. F. Holt was principal, and he remained until Mr. Aiford became the incumbent. Alfred Hand came in i860, and at this time a public school was established in the basement of the Methodist Episcopal church. SPRINGFIELD'S BIG DAY ; ELABORATE CEREMONIES IN TWO PLACES. On June 23, 1896, the old town of Springfield, with its historic houses and Revolutionary memories, its battleground, and graves of patriotic dead, was the scene of a patriotic demonstration in commemor- ation of the deeds of Jerseymen, who, more than a century ago, laid down their lives in the cause of human liberty. On June 23, 1780, the battle of Springfield was fought. In the afternoon of the day noted a monument was dedicated b}' the New Jersey Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, in the old " Revolutionary burying ground," which is in the centre of the village, and in which rest the bones of many of the heroes who fought for 484 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY countr\- and libert}'. The society also dedicated a huge bowlder, which was placed on the highest point of Hobart Hill, in the rear of Spring- field, near Summit, where, during the Revolution, stood, it is claimed, the minute gun, the "Old Sow," which sounded warnings to the FLAVEL McGEE farmers, and where was also placed a signal beacon for the country lying between Summit mountains and Morristown. A thousand special invitations were sent out by the committee in charge, and before noon the guests began to arrive. At noon school was dismissed for the remainder of the day, and stores and business places HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 485 closed their doors. Special arrangements had been made to have the twelve o'clock train from New York stop at Millburn, where carriages were in waiting to convey the people to Springfield. Among them were members from the different state chapters of the Sons of the American Revolution, Daughters of the Revolution, Societ}- of Colonial Wars, and of the New Jersey Historical Society. Upon their arrival at Springfield the people assembled in the old cemetery, which is a short distance back from Morris avenue. This cemetery consisted originally of three acres, but now only twenty-two stones are standing, and these are gathered together in the limits of a half acre. A granite monument, standing six feet high, had been placed in the inclosure. On the face of the monument is the society's seal in bronze, and below this is carved the following inscription : " To the memory of the patriots who fell at Springfield, June 23, 1780." Among those buried there are Captain Isaac Reeve, Captain Joseph Horton, Captain Jacob Brookfield, who was also a member of the state legislature ; Richard Stites, who was an alderman in the borough of Elizabeth and an ardent worker in the cause of independence ; William Stites, who was one of the early settlers of Springfield, and the first owner of the cemetery ; Watts Reeve, son of Captain Reeve, who was town clerk of Springfield from 1789 to 1803 ; Dr. Jonathan J. Dayton, who acted as surgeon during the Revolution ; Peter Dickinson, who was one of the purchasers of the property on which was erected the first Presb^'terian church in the township, in 1751 ; Mrs. Dayton and many others. At 2 o'clock the ceremonies were begun by the unveiling of the monument and the presentation of the deed of the plot to the society by William Flemmer, of the firm of Flemmer & Felmle}', the owners of the ground. The gift was accepted by John Whitehead, president of the society, in a short speech, and he in turn presented to Messrs. Flemmer & Felmley a set of handsomely engrossed resolutions, acknowledging the gift. From the cemetery the assemblage went to the old Presbyterian church, at the corner of Morris avenue and Main street, where the exercises were continued. This old church, with its shingled sides and front, was erected in 1791, on the site of the first church, which was burned by the British eleven years earlier. The interior of the church had been handsomely decorated with palms, potted plants, flags and shields. Back of the pulpit two large flags were draped against the wall and in the centre of these was suspended a large portrait of Washington. On each side of the pulpit were stacked muskets with bayonets attached, while in front were palms and vases of cut flowers. Upon the balustrade of the gallery, which extends around three sides of the building, were festooned American flags with crossed swords placed at intervals. The women who had charge of the decorations were Mrs. B. C. Welch, Mrs. E. J. Parkhurst and Miss M. K. Wade, of Millburn, and Mrs. W. B. Denman and the Misses M. E. and S. A. Bailey, of 486 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Springfield. The body of the church was reser\'ed for the invited guests, while the galleries were thrown open to the public. The ushers were B. D. Williams, J. M. Roll, W. B. Denman, C. H. Leiber and D. Flemmer. Rev. William Hoppaugh, pastor of the church, opened the exercises with a short prayer, and was followed by President John Whitehead, who made a brief address. Dr. Carl E. Dufft, of New York city, sang " The Sword of Bunker Hill." He was followed by Flavel McGee, of Jersey City, the orator of the day. Mr. McGee said : We are met to-day on the spot where our ancestors, more than a century ago, in weakness and poverty, but with great courage, fought to resist the usurpations of power and to obtain for themselves the blessings of civil liberty. We have commemorated in granite and bronze the struggles of those days, and have marked the spots where patriots bled and some of them died in that struggle. It is said that republics are ungrateful, and that their heroes are allowed to go unrewarded, but such occasions as this, and such monuments as those erected to-daj^, must do much to do away with this reproach. The motive for the founding of this nation differs from that of any other recorded in history. Our ancestors came to this continent not for the purpose of conquest ; not with the hope of gain ; not through lust of power ; but came here, in the main, for conscience sake ; that they might find a place to worship God according to dictates of their own consciences. Although they were mostly men without wealth, without much culture, without any of the extraneous aids to prosperity, by dint of marked courage, indomitable energy and unflagging industry, they rescued this land from the wilderness, overcame the savages and laid the foundation of what has become one of the greatest peoples and strongest nations on the face of the earth. The time has gone by for merely patriotic speeches on such an occasion, or for felicitating ourselves upon our excessive virtue. By reason of the vast immigration, the crowding together of people into great cities, and the conflicting interests of various classes of the population, the advantages and opportunities of a purely new country are fast passing away, and the social problems of this land must, from this time forward, be dealt with upon the same basis as that of the older nations of the world. And it behooves us on all proper occasions to give such consideration to the questions involved in this problem as we may be able. The present age, it seems to me, can best be described as pre-eminently that of the common people. To-day the reins of power among all Teutonic peoples, and especially in America, are in the hands of the masses, and each year adds to the strength of the plain people as against that of the favored ones. In America there is no difference of opinion among political parties on this subject, but upon it, at least, they are agreed. It is because this state of affairs seems to me to be a direct outgrowth of the Revolutionary war, which we celebrate to-day, and the causes which produced that war, that I have selected it as the topic around which to cluster the thoughts I desire to express. For the first time in the history of the worlds there sprung into existence a nation without a king, without a nobility, without an aristocracy, — where every man was equal before the law, and whose political authority was as great as that of any of his fellows. Each man thenceforth had one vote and no more. Each man could, if his mental abilities and culture justified, become the ruler of the nation. Each man was an elector and a complete unit of the whole, — a nobleman in his own right. To believe that such a state of affairs could remain was to overlook a fundamental principle of the divine economy. No man in this world, unless he be without the ordinary qualities of humanity, is content with what he is, and no man, so circumstanced that his ambitions can be realized, ever rests satisfied, without an effort to accomplish that end. That which is true of an individual is true of a mass of people. For America to stand still after the Revolutionary war was impossible. The Revolutionary war, however, had accomplished one thing, namely, political liberty. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 487 Orders of society, although without sanction of law, existed, however, and were as hard and unyielding as before. The relation of master and servant, the influence of wealth and education and culture and fortuitous circumstances was as great after that event as before, and while no man was, perhaps, able to formulate his thought into words, there soon came to be a sort of dumb sense that again somehow something was wrong. The rewards of labor were inadequate. The opportunities for advancement, though great, were restricted by environments difficult to overcome. The opportunities of the classes were very much in advance of those of the masses, and somehow things did not seem to be right or fair. Logically the argument was against the plain people. Actually they felt that there was something could be done and should be done to better their condition. The first outgrowth of this feeling was the creation of the public-school system, by which, to some extent at least, the advantage theretofore possessed by the child of a rich man was minimized and shared with that of the child of the poor man. But, once started, such an advance can never be checked^ The public school itself proved to be a source of discontent. The fathers, because they had no education, were content to be hewers of wood and drawers of water, but their sons, advanced a little by their common-school teaching, ceased to be satisfied therewith, and sought to relegate those employments to foreigners and their sons, and to obtain for themselves a higher grade of labor and greater remuneration. But, in turn, the children of the immigrants, by reason of the same education, sought to share in the common benefit, and so it came to pass that ultimately the whole mass of the population was lifted a grade higher than before, and the social differences changed and kept changing until some other remedy was sought to relieve the sense of unfairness. Out of that grew trades unions, combina- tions, and all the vast variety of social creations whereby men have sought by the appli- cation of the motto, " In union there is strength," to overcome by numbers the distinc- tions which their weakness, prior thereto, had enabled men of position to maintain against them. Ere long these masses began to appreciate the value of the ballot when used by great communities as a unit, and the legislatures, and even the halls of congress, began to be filled by men who represented the thought, not of the combinations of capital only, or mental ability, but by men who represented the thought of the masses of the people, the individuals of which felt themselves to be suffering some wrong. The result of it has been the passage of many laws which otherwise would have been impossible. Agrarian labor, socialistic statutes, laws of every kind and description, some of them wise, many of them otherwise, have found their way upon the statute books, each of them a te,stimony to the fact that in this great nation the people now rule and are in command of the situation. Savings banks, building and loan associations, industrial insurance companies, and all that range of business enterprises conducted in the interest of the masses by the plain people themselves, have enabled them not only to hold political power, but to create to themselves, by means of the infinitesimal savings of each, vast masses of capital to be used in the interest of all. Because the mass of the people demanded it, good roads have followed. Schools have increased in excellence, and those of a higher grade have been established, and, unless I read wrongly the signs of the times, the next century will show a state of affairs in which the son of the poor man will have opportunities for education and social prog- ress in every respect equal to that of the son of the richest man in the community. The problems of education and religion have thus far been dealt with as well as could be expected. Other great problems came up, — industrial problems, problems of finance, combinations of capital, questions of integrity,— and they are to be settled by us and settled by the ballot. There is no question which can agitate the world which is not bound, sooner or later, to present itself for solution here ; and just as we settle them so will be the beginning of the end of the discussion all over the earth. There is but one way to settle any problem, — whether it be social, political or religious, — and that is to settle it in accordance with honesty and the principles of ' righteousness. No seeming advantage can atone for dishonesty, or in the end make that profitable or wise which is essentially unjust. No national dilemma can ever be permanently settled, or settled to the benefit of the nation, which is settled contrary to 488 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY the law of God or the rights of man ; and not only so, but no such problem can ever be disposed of, either with benefit to the nation or its individuals, until it be settled in such a way as to give to all the people their fair share of its benefit and their just dues in its operations. What, then, is the lesson to be learned from this celebration to-day ? None of us can right all the problems of society or bring ourselves to bear upon the whole body politic. Few of us can reach out with our influence beyond a narrow circle, but each of us can, by his precept and his example and his individual effort, bring himself to bear upon the circle around him, and be instrumental in training up a community whose underlying thought is righteousness. Let every man when he votes, whether it be in the consideration of the person for whom he shall vote or the principles which shall be advocated by his vote, or the question of the individual casting of the vote, remember the commandment, "Thou shalt not steal," and also remember that when he exercises the power of suffrage he is as definitely adding his mind to the control of the whole nation, and his thought to the formulation of its policy, as any other act he can do in the course of his life, and let each of us remember as is the unit so is the aggregate, and that each of us is a ruler and a factor. While we may not go to war; while it may not be asked of us to shoulder a musket; while we may not bivouac upon the tented field or be called upon to shed our blood in the defence of our country, each one of us can, and each of us should, as we go through life, cast his influence, and so following his vote in favor of that which will in the end uphold the honor of the nation and promote the welfare of its humblest citizen. Having done that, we shall be worthy sons of the sires whose feats of valor we commemorate to-day, and send down to our children a heritage as much grander as it is greater than the heritage they bequeathed to us. After Dr. Dufft had sung the " Star-Spangled Banner," A. Willis Lightbourne, of Westfield, made an address on "American Patriotism." Selections on the organ were rendered by Frank Seal)', of Newark, and the exercises were closed with the benediction, pronounced by Rev. W. A. Knox, pastor of the Springfield Methodist church. * At Hobart Hill is the site of the " Old Sow." Here had been placed the huge commemorative bowlder. On its side facing Hobart avenue had been placed a bronze plate bearing the following inscription : 1776. Here in the time of the Revolution stood the signal beacon and by its side the cannon known as "The Old Sow," which in time of danger and invasion summoned the patriotic Minute Men of this vicinity to the defence of the country and the repulse of the invader. This monument is erected by the New Jersey Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and dedi- cated to the memory of the patriots of New Jersey. 1896. *The authenticity of the site fixed upon on Hobart Hill is disputed by P. C. McChesney, of Millburn. Mr. McChesney says he is well satisfied that a ^ieveous mistake has been made. He declares that the testimony of unimpeachable witnesses, descendants of officers and soldiers of the Revolution, and of historical writers, prove that the " Old Sow '■ was placed on the flat rock on the end of the mountain at Millburn. while the beacon was located a few hundred feet away on the highest point of the mountain. Mr. McChesney claims that from these points a full view of the country clear to the shores of Staten Island could be obtained, while but a limited view could be had from Hobart Hill. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 489 William P. Tuttle's dedicatory address at Hobart Hill, October 19, 1896, was as follows : Fellow Citizeus aud Compatriots. — It is a delightful as well as sacred duty which calls us here to-day to mark a spot hallowed with the associations of the Revolutionary struggle, aud one which was indeed the rallying point of the patriotic forces of this region during that eventful period. Permit me very briefly to recount the circumstances which made this hilltop forever memorable. From the very begiauing of the war of independeuce the colonists were mainly dependent for cannon, powder, shot and shell upon the foundries and powder mills in the vicinity of Morristown, and the appreciation of this fact soon resulted in a general solicitude lest these works should fall into the hands of the enemy, and the colonies, in consequence, be left without the necessary material for fighting. Measures were adopted for their defense, and the farmers throughout this region were armed and prepared for instant service. They were designated "Minute Men," as they were to serve at a minute's notice. Every farmer was thus enrolled with his sons, if they were old enough to hold a rifle. The whole region was intensely loyal to the cause of independence, and these men were enthusiastic in their determination to defend not only their homes and firesides, but the important treasures which were of such immense value to the patriotic cause. In order, however, to call these minute men together when their services were needed, it became a matter of great importance to provide some signal which should be adequate for that purpose; in order that such a signal should be effective, it was necessary that it be placed where a view could be commanded over the country to Newark, Elizabeth Town Point and New York, and signals of danger be observed from every hilltop in the whole expanse. To meet these important requirements, this spot was chosen, and it became thenceforth the point to which tidings were to be signalled fr.om the east and from which they were to be transmitted to the interior. I can do no better here than to read the following extract from a letter written by the Rev. Dr. Ashbel Green, president of Princeton College, to his son. He says: "The alarm gun, an iron eighteen-pouuder, was placed on the highest point of what was called the Short Hills, in the neighborhood of Springfield, New Jersey. -Bishop Hobart, after the war, purchased the site and made it his couutry residence. A loft3' pole was placed by the side of the cannon, with a tar-barrel on the top, which was set on fire when the gun was discharged. The report of the gun and the flame of the tar-barrel were heard and seen to a great distance in the surrounding country. The militia companies had each their place of rendezvous, to which they hastened as soon as the alarm was given. The Short Hills were a kind of natural barrier for the camp and militarj- stores at Morristown. A hundred men might have defended some of the passes over these hills against a thousand. A British detachment once reached Springfield and Ijurnt it, but no British corps e.ver ventured into the sand hills. In a clear day, with a good telescope, the city of New York may be seen from these heights. When encamped at Morristown General Washington occasionally rode to these hills to make his observations. The first time I ever saw him was on one of these occasions. He was accompanied by the Marquis de la Fayette, as he was then called, and who looked like a mere boy." It maybe interesting here to state that Dr. Green, then a young man student, was engaged in teaching school as the assistant of Rev. Ebenezer Bradford, of Bottle Hill, when the alarm gun sounded on the morning of June 23, 1780. The school house stood upon the spot now occupied by the Madison railroad station. Mr. Bradford dismissed the school, and young Green, seizing a gun, went to fight, where he behaved with such conspicuous gallantry that honorable mention of him was made by General Nathaniel Greene, who commanded the Americans. The minute-men, thus summoned, came swarming over these hills, and speedily every bush upon the battlefield seemed to have a rifle in it with a deadly aim behind it. Bold and fearless, they could die, but would not run, and Knyphausen, the Hessian general, was compelled to retreat. He explained his defeat by saying he had found himself in a hornet's nest— that he could fight regular soldiers, but not hornets. 490 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY It was thus that the signal here established called the farmers to the fight at Springfield, and in a like manner it served throughout the war. Far back in the mountains of Morris and Sussex the reverberations of the gun were heard, and the blazing tar-barrel by night carried the alarm to every neighborhood. For some reason the cannon, whose booming thus became a familiar feature throughout the region, ac- quired among the people the name of "The Old Sow." Perhaps it was because of its contrast with the small and piping sounds of musket and pistol. After the battle of Princeton, in January, 1777, General Washington located his army at Bottle Hill, now Madison, and thus the signal station had the additional duty of warning the army as well as the minute men. It had been admirably chosen for that object. Indeed, it is the only spot on the whole mountain which would have served the purpose. A little change to the north would hide New York and Newark behind the jutting end of Orange mountain at Millburn, and a little change to the south would have hidden the beacon from the camps at Bottle Hill and Morristown behind the pro- jecting end of Ivong Hill, near Chatham. This location, however, commands an unob- structed range of every point of importance, both east and west. In the year 1818, thirty-eight years after the battle of Springfield, Colonel William Brittin, of Bottle Hill, who at that time commanded one of the Morris county militia regiments, took the large gun, which had remained here from the close of the war, and placed it in his barn. Colonel Benoni Hathaway, the famous Revolutionary veteran, told Colonel Brittin that the gun, which bore the name of the "Crown Prince," had been captured from the Hessians at the battle of Springfield. He failed to explain why it had replaced the original " Old Sow," but it is plain from his statement that it had done so. The cannon remaided in Colonel Brittin's barn until 1890, when his son, William Jackson Brittin, presented it to the Washington Association, and it is now upon the grounds at the headquarters in Morristown. The whereabouts of the "Old Sow" itself are unknown, though they may 3'et be discovered. In the year 1855 the late Rev. Sam'u'el L. Tuttle, of Madison, my venerated father, with the speaker, then a small boy, seated by his side, drove to Dr. Hobart's residence in search of the site of the old gun, and, as he had been directed by Colonel Brittin', turned up the steep mountain road, the remains of which are still to be seen leading to this place. Arriving at the summit of the hill we here found an old house, the cellar of which was to be seen only a few months since. In front of this house was an old man, over eighty-five years of age, whom we soon discovered to be Richard Swain. In answer to Mr. Tuttle's inquiries Mr. Swain stated that he knew all about the signal station, having lived all his life in this locality, and having been a boy here during the stirring scenes of the Revolution. He led the way to this spot, and pointed out the circular indentation in the rocky ground, which was caused by the decay of the old flagstaff. That mark continued distinct and unchanged during all the years which have passed since then, and until the foundation was built upon it for the stone we have here erected. Such, fellow patriots, is the story of the signal station. We do well to commemo- rate this beacon '^ight of the Revolution. It is our privilege and duty to thus refresh our memories with the recollections of the heroic deeds of the past. Let us do more. Let us strive to kindle anew the fires of patriotism, to lift higher the standard of national pride and devotion, and to keep burning everywhere and always the beacon light of our country's destiny and honor. To»use the language of the immortal Washington, "Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God." THE SPRINGFIELD CEMETERY. The old Springfield cemetery, which, for a number of years past, has been known as the "Revolutionary Burying Ground," dates back to the settlement of Springfield, in 1717. It is situated on a high ele- vation known as the " Hill," about one hundred yards south of Morris HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 4H1 avenue. West of the cemetery, and within fifty feet, is Van Winkle's creek. To the northeast and within a stone's throw is the old Presby- terian church. As nearly as can be ascertained William Stites, who came from Hempstead, Long Island, to Springfield when the village was first settled, in 1717, purchased the land. His property consisted of seven hundred acres west on the Rahway river. He settled there with his family. Three acres were cleared of woodland and set off as a family burying ground. The first person interred there was Mary Stites, four years old, who died about 1720. Her grave was obliterated when a street was cut through the tract in later years. The second burial was that of Richard, the twelve-year-old son of William Stites, who died May 5, 1727. Eight days later. May 13, 1727, William, the father, died, and on August 21, 1728, one year later, the mother followed, and was buried by the side of her husband. A double stone now marks the spot, on which are the following inscriptions: " Here lies ye body of William Stites, died May ye 13th, 1727, aged 51 years"; "Here lies ye body of Mary, wife of Mr. William Stites, died August ye 21, 1728, aged 51 years." William Stites' grandson, whose name also was William Stites, and who was born at New Providence in 1791, afterward became quite prominent in this state. He took up his residence in Springfield in 1820. He was elected to the legislature, and was speaker of the house in 1839-40. William Stites was also a judge of the court of common pleas of Essex county, and was a member of the convention which framed the new state constitution, in 1844. There is also a stone marking the resting place of Hazel Stites, • aged twenty years, who died February 11, 1728. She was a daughter of the first William. Five small children survived their parents, and the property was sold by the administrator. Although the cemetery plot went with the rest of the property, the living descendants of the Stites family stoutly maintain that the graveyard was never alienated from the family and that old records will prove it. William Stites, the first owner of the cemetery, was the great-great-gran^ather of Mrs. Jane Elmer, at present a resident of Springfield; Huflah Stites, of Summit; Mrs. Charlotte Glasby, of Roseville, and Elias Fairchild, principal of the Flushing Institute, at Flushing, Long Island. There are no records of the ownership of the property from the death of William Stites, in 1727, until 1788, after the close of the Revolutionary war, when Matthias Denman, a descendant of one of the early settlers, came into possession and erected a house on the land. That house still stands, almost directly opposite the Presbyterian church, and is now occupied by Mr. Flemmer. During the Revolution the population of the little graveyard was increased to almost its capacity. The majority of the kirials were of colonists who fell while fighting for their 492 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY country. The next owner of the property was Aaron Denman, son of Matthias, who came into possession about 1830. He was in turn fol- lowed by a man named Anderson, who erected large barns on the place and conducted a dairy. About 1850 Anderson disposed of the property to a Colonel Wilson, whose daughter married Captain William T. McGilton, an ex-officer of the Confederate army. In 1873 Captain McGilton cut a street through one end of the cemetery, obliterating a number of graves and unearthing mouldering bones. Some years later nearly all the headstones had fallen, and Captain McGilton had them replaced. The New York Life Insurance Company succeeded Captain Mc- Gilton as owner, and it disposed of the land to Flemmer & Felmley, the present owners, about a year ago. At one time the cemetery covered a space of three acres, but at present only twenty-two stones are standing. Part of the yard was used at one time as a base-ball field, and some of the stones were broken off and used for bases. A lawn-tennis court also occupied part of the field. The monuments yet standing are of old brown sandstone, and from two to three feet in height. On the face of each is carved the head and wings of an angel, in the style of a century ago. Most of the stones are moss-grown and weather-stained, and it is with difficulty they are read. As one enters the cemetery from Morris aveniie the most con- spicuous stone is a large tablet, five feet long, two and a half feet wide and six inches thick. This is supported by four pillars that stand two feet from the ground. Under this are laid the remains of John Stites, son of the first William, and his widow. On this tablet can be deciphered the following: " Here lies interred ye bodj' of John Stites, Esq., who departed this life April ye 21st, A. D. 1782, in the L,XXVI. year of his age. He lived beloved and died lamented by church and state." John Stites was an alderman of the borough of Elizabeth, and an active worker in the cause of independence. In proximity to this tablet is the gravestone of John Stites' s first wife, Abigail, who died in 1734, at the age of twenty. East of the Stites plot are the graves of Captain Joseph Horton and his wife. Patience. It is not recorded that Captain Horton ever took any part in the war, but he was recognized as the village poet. He was noted for his keen wit and humor, and was in demand at every barn-raising or other social function held within the boundaries of the township. It is related that on the occasion of a barn-raising, after the work had been finished, all hands sat down to a supper for which the hostess, who was noted for her close-fistedness, used rye flour, instead of wheat, in making the crust for a potpie. ^After the dishes HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY 493 had been cleared away Captain Horton was called upon for a toast. With a sarcastic curl of his lip he said: Potpie made of rye, And mutton was the meat. Rough enough, tough enough. And not half enough to eat. At the next barn-raising in the neighborhood, everything was of the first-class order and Captain Horton when asked for a toast responded as follows: Potpie not made of rye, But of the finest wheat. Chickens all, both large and small. And fit for kings to eat. Among the other heroes who are buried in this old graveyard is Jacob Brookfield, who was a captain in the Continental army. He is mentioned as having taken a prominent part in the battle of Springfield, in 1780. Captain Brookfield afterward served in the legislature for six years, not once returning home. At the end of the six years he had been home from Trenton only two weeks when he died of smallpox, contracted while watching the evacuation of the British at the end of the war. He resided in an old house east of the Rahway river, in Union. This old structure was torn down and a new house erected in which lives at present his granddaughter, Mrs. Wardsworth. Captain Isaac Reeve is also bitried here, although the stone that once marked his grave is not standing. Captain Reeve was connected with Colonel Dayton's regiment during the Revolution, and was killed at Elizabeth. Watts Reeve, his son, and town clerk of Springfield from 1789 to 1803, is also buried here. Their descendants are at present living in Springfield and Millburn. In another grave are the remains of Dr. Jonathan I. Dayton and his wife. Mr. Dayton was a practising physician when the Revolution broke out, and served as a surgeon during the entire war. Another stone is that over Peter Dickinson's grave. He was one of the persons who purchased the property for the erection of a church in March, 1751. Mr. Dickinson died December 14, 1773. The other memorials standing are those of Noah Brookfield, died January 5, 1793; Sarah, wife of Peter Deuman, died December 31, 1779; Elizabeth Terry, died March i, 1755; Anthony Swain, died July 5, 1758; Catharine, wife of Captain Isaac Reeve, died March 3, 1783; Prudence Ross, died November 25, 1765; Joseph Black, died February 8, 1795; Mrs. Black, died July 23, 1793; and Isaac Egbert, died April 28, 1779. The last person who was buried in the old cemetery was Stephen Addington. He was an Englishman, and was a son-in-law of Captain Jacob Brookfield. Addington died INIay 27, 1824. His body remained 494 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY in the old cemetery only a few years, when it was taken up and reburied in the Presbyterian cemetery. FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. This account of the historical church is from a sermon preached by the pastor, Rev. Henry W. Teller, on Sunday, July i6, 1876. It was iu those early days that the people iu all these regions round about Eliza- bethtown, having but the one church to worship in, used to walk to it from Rahway, Westfield, Springfield and Connecticut Farms. Whether they were in the habit of going to and from both services, or of attending as regularly on rainy Sundays as clear ones, we have no means, at this late day, of determing. The church iu Springfield (which is the only child of the Connecticut Farms church, and one of the grandchildren of the First church of Elizabeth), was organized twenty-nine years after the first settle- ment here. It belonged originally to the presbytery of New York. A house of worship was immediately built, and was situated about halfway between the present parsonage and the Millburn depot. It was very near, if not exactly on, the same spot where Mr. John Meeker's store is now standing. There was also a graveyard there. Tradition says the church was build of logs. It was completed, and the first pastor, .Rev. Timothy Symms, was installed in 1746, just one hundred and thirty years ago. Mr. Symms had charge of this church in connection with the one at New Providence. Mr. Symms was pastor of the church for four years, until 1750, after which there was a vacancy for thirteen years. While he was pastor and the first church was still standing there was given to the congregation a tract of land, consisting of one hundred acres in the following way and upon the following conditions. I quote from the original deed as it was given by James Alexander. The deed bears date March 29, 1751, and reads as follows : " And as to the other one hundred acres of the premises," (one hundred acres were first deeded to Rev. Timothy Symms as his own private property), " the same is to be the sole and only proper use, benefit, and behoof of the said Timothy Symms and Peter Dickinson, their heirs and assigns, rendering therefor yearly one pint of spring water when demanded on the premises : Provided always, and it is here- by declared that the last hundred acres is to be held by the said Timothy Symms and Peter Dickinson, and the survivors of them and their heirs, in trust, to be a glebe for the use of the minister of the said parish of Springfield — for the time being — forever, and never to be sold or disposed of to any other use. But the said trustees and their assigns shall and may, from time to time, at the request of the minister and the vestry of the said church of Springfield — for the time being — grant and convey the same to such other trustees as they shall, from time to time, name for the use and purpose aforesaid and no others." For years the chief value of this land was iu the forests that covered it, which enabled the church to add to their other inducements in seeking a pastor an abundance of firewood. Whatever became of the first log-house of worship I have not been able to learn. There is no record of it, save the single fact, stated in an old manuscript, that it was built. It might have been destroyed, or very likely it was abandoned as soon as they were able to put up another. We know very well the Puritan principles of our forefathers would not suffer them to worship very long in a temple of logs while they dwelt in their ceiled houses. The second meeting house was built in 1761, fifteen years after the first, upon the spot where the present one is standing, and stood here for nineteen years. In 1763 Mr. Ker was installed, and was here two years, when there was a vacancy of nine years. There is no account of any of the events transpiring in all that time except that the first parsonage was raised August 22, 1764. When the record is again resumed, it is at a period immediately preceding the Revolution, for this second church was the centre of Revolutionary interest for the town of Springfield. In November, 1778, it was so taken up with public stores that the congregation abandoned it for the HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 495 time being, and fitted up the garret of the old parsonage as a temporary place of wor- ship. Thus was the building itself dedicated to the country's service in the name of the God of battles. How small and mean the spirit of revenge that afterwards burned it to the ground, and yet a spirit worthy the tyranny that employed mercenary troops and savages to carry on an unholy war. On October 12, 1773, a call was given Rev. John Close. He was offered two hundred and fifty dollars, besides the parsonage and fire- wood, but for some reason kept secret from the ages the offer was not accepted. Per- haps he was a young man and modest, and the offer seemed too great. During this year Rev. Mr. Caldwell, — who was called the high priest of the Revolution, whose wife was shot at Connecticut Farms shortly before the battle of Springfield, and who was himself murdered the year following at the Elizabeth ferry, — preached several times to this congregation. On October 10, 1774, Rev. Jacob Van Artsdalen, whose remains are resting in our cemetery, came before the people and "preached a lecture," as the record has it, which was so well received that it secured him a call at once. He came in December of the same year, upon a salary of two hundred and fifty dollars, together with the use of the parsonage and the inevitable firewood, which was to be drawn to his door. The salary was afterward increased to three hundred dollars. The meagre support received from the churches had a tendency to make some of the pastors pretty sharp financiers. As an illustration of this there is still in existence a fifteen-hundred dollar bond given by the trustees of the church to Mr. Van Artsdalen, upon the condition that if the trustees paid promptly every year, in " quarterly pay- ments," their pastor's salary, " and well and truly provided a sufficient quantity of fire- wood, and kept him in quiet and peaceable possession of the parsonage, with all the appurtenances, and kepi the same in good repair, according to the true intent and meaning of their agreemeni.," then the obligation of the bond was to be void; otherwise to remain in full force and virtue. It does not prove the pastor avaricious, but only that his salary was so small that he could not afford to run any risks. He evidently did not consider their word as good as their bond. Let it be said, however, to the credit of the church, that every obligation was promptly met, and in due time the bond was canceled. Mr. Van Artsdalen served the church faithfully for twenty-seven years, and resigned his charge when failing health compelled him to do so. One evidence of the people's affection for him is the fact that in May, 1778, they gave him a vacation of six months and continued his salary. You must remember that that was not as much the practice then as it is now. It was something more than mere conventional courtesy or a forced concession to a growing custom that led a people in those days to grant their pastor a leave of absence. • He was ardently devoted to his country and to the work of the Master. The time of his ministry included the whole period of the Revolution. He saw his church, together with many of the homes of his parishioners, reduced to ashes, but, nothing daunted, he continued his work. He gathered his scattered flock together again, as a father would gather his children, and, releasing them from their bonded obligation to pay him a stipulated salary, he hired to them from year to year, accepting just what they could afford to give. After the burning of the church we next find him preaching to his heroic band of Chris- tian patriots in the old parsonage barn. Why they did not return to the garret we are not informed, but very likely the congregation had outgrown it or, what is equally probable, they might have thought that, as they were now driven out of their church indefinitely, the barn would be more convenient. They certainly had the grace and the good sense to make the best of the situation. They were cast down but not discouraged. As soon as they fixed upon their place of worship, they agreed to ceil it up to the plate and gable-end beams. In the following year they had put in galleries, with the fore- most seats on the right-hand side of the pulpit reserved for the singers. In this rudely fitted up temple they must have worshiped ten years. September 25, 1786, four years after the barn was fairly fitted up, the church was incorporated under the name of the " First Congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Springfield." The seal of the church, a dove with an olive branch, was not adopted until December, 1792. In 1786 496 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY they began to talk of building for themselves the third house of worship. Four years, at least, were spent in working up an interest and laying plans and devising means before the building was fairly begun. It was first agreed to build of brick and stone. " A burnt child dreads the fire." They wanted something that wouldn't burn; but the first plan was given up as too expensive for their limited means. Twelve months afterward they concluded upon cedar shingles, and finally, in 1791, the frame went up. It was a time for general rejoicing to both pastor and people. Work and material were contributed by the members of the congregation as they were able. Men came bringing their tools and the best timber their farms could furnish. Booths were erected upon the ground, where the women prepared meals for the volunteer workmen. Contributions were solicited from the churches of the presbytery of New York. The bell was contributed by Samuel Tyler, and thus the work went forward to completion, and grand old Jacob Van Artsdalen was the first to preach in the new church, as he had been the last to preach in the old. Some of you will remember this church as it was originally, just as it came from the hands of that earnest band of workmen. You have in your memory an unfading picture of its old-fashioned, straight-back pews, its broad centre aisle, its middle seats that had no partition running through them as these have, its narrow side aisles which made a passage for the benefit of the wall seats only as they opened into them, the centre being closed up at the ends nearest the wall. You have not forgotten either the quaint old circular pulpit, mounted upon a high column like a huge barrel, elevated so as to overlook the back of the church, and at the same time sweep the galleries. And you will remember also the great sounding-board back of the pulpit and directly over the preacher's head, that caused you always to think of the wings that overshadowed the mercy seat, though it never bore to them the slightest resemblance. Such was the primitive glory of this latter house, as some of you well remember. In it Mr. Van Artsdalen preached as long as he was able, and finally, when he could no longer, he was brought one day by loving hands that his sorrowing people might look upon his face once more and for the last time. On the 1st of May, 1800, he stopped preaching, but he remained in the parsonage, and his salary was continued. On May i, 1801, he was dismissed, and one year's further salary was voted him. In 1803 he entered into his rest. It is recorded that near the close of his ministrj' Rev. Jonathan Elmer preached for him; and as he was without charge he requested a contribution, which was accordingly taken vip, and amounted to eight dollars and some cents. It may seem to us an unimportant item to be a matter of record, but we must acknowledge that he was a better judge as to its importance. In March, iSoi, it was decided to hire Rev. Gershom Williams for one year from May 1st. In October of the same 3'ear a call was given him, which he seems to have had under consideration for a long while, for the first communion after his acceptance of it was on the 23d of May, 1802. His ministry here was marked by the most powerful revival that ever occurred in this church. He has left on record, in his own handwriting, two bits of personal experience that are as windows looking into the heart of the man, and disclos- ing something of the spiritual moods to which he appears to have been subject. Like the Psalmist David, he was susceptible of the highest exaltation aijd deepest depression. On September 9, 1804, he went home from the Lord's Supper and wrote in the bitterness of his spirit, " Not one new member admitted. O melancholy instance, once repeated since my public ministry began ! May this evidence of barrenness humble me and lead all the disciples to ardent prayer." Four years the leanness continued, and there were but nine added to the church iu the whole time. There was an addition of thirty at one communion, and at another in the same year of fifteen. After that there was no general work of grace until 1814. On May 8th of that year the faithful pastor goes from the breaking of bread to his study in a far different mood from that which carried him there on that dark vSeptember day ten years before. The fruit is at length ripening and drop- ping into his hand, and his heart is full. He sits down and writes a long list of names, every one of which he counts as a star, and then under the list he writes, "The above one hundred and one names were all added to the church in one day, of whom forty- HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 497 nine then received baptism. Wondrous day of the Lord! Never to be forgotten!" It was, indeed, a wondrous day for the church at Springfield. These galleries were packed until it was feared they would break down ; these seats and aisles were crowded with penitent saints and sinners that had been alike quickened into new life. Do you think that pastor's joy could have been measured that day by any earthly measurement ? There are many treasures in this world that men reckon of priceless value, and count with pride and delight, but there are none like the souls that are saved for Jesus. We know nothing of the fullness of joy until we sit down to number the saved through our instrumentality, who shall shine as stars hereafter in our crown of rejoicing. Just at the close of Mr. Williams' ministry, in 1818, the first Sunday school known in this part of the country was started by Miss Catherine Campbell, in a room fitted up for the purpose on her father's premises. The school began with three teachers, — Miss Catherine Campbell (now Mrs. Wilbur, of Orange,) Miss Eliza Campbell, and Miss Duyckinck, — and with one hundred scholars. Miss Eliza taught forty of the larger boys, Miss Catherine twenty-five of the larger girls, and Miss Duyckinck took the remaining boys and girls. A few months later the schools immediately connected with this church were organized by Mrs. May Ten Broeck (now Mrs. Atwater, of New Haven, ) and a young lady (now Mrs. Samuel Halsey, of Newark.) It began with about five teachers and a hundred scholars. Neither scholars had any male teachers at the begin- ning. The good brethren wanted to see the innovation a success before they lent it any assistance that would be likely to compromise their Christian standing. Sunday schools were then a new thing under the sun. A good many of the churches, and not a few of the pastors, regarded them suspiciously, as calculated to draw away the general interest from the long-established means of grace and methods of salvation. The people also shared this want of confidence in them, or else were at a loss to know just what was intended by them. Some had the impression that it was a money- making operation. One woman, to whom one of the teachers went, asking if her children could attend, wanted first to know how much she was going to charge a quarter. There were difficulties to overcome, but the schools were successfully estab- lished, and from the first were greatly prospered and blessed. They are not yet done bearing fruit. Rev. James W. Tucker, who succeeded Mr. Williams, came here from New England. He was installed August 4, 181S, and was here but a few months. He died suddenly, February 11, 1819. He is described as a man of remarkable pulpit ability, having few equals in his day in this respect. He was warmly in sympathy with the two infant Sunday schools, and" greatly endeared himself to the earnest workers of the church during his short stay among them. Following him, in 1820, was the Rev. Elias W. Crane. He was installed January 5th, and preached here six years. He was dismissed October 17, 1826. A large number were added to the church during his ministry. While here he preached the first his- torical sermon, but there is no copy to be found of it at present. It was during his time that a decided novelty in the shape of a stove was introduced into the church. Hitherto foot-stoves heated with corncobs, and flat stones well toasted and wrapped up, together with the warming power of the pulpit and the inward heat of the spirit, had been relied upon. But the people were getting more tender or fastidious or both. There seems not to have been, however, as much opposition here to the ungodly things as in other places. It came and took peaceable posses.sion of the centre aisle, about one-third of the way from the door. The pipe ran straight up towards the pulpit to within a few feet of it, and then sent out at right angles two arms that were thrust out through these side windows. As there were no chimneys you can imagine the condition of the church on windy Sundays. The stove was paid for by voluntary contributions. An incident con- nected with this fact has been preserved to illustrate the generous spirit of the good old times of which we delight to hear, if it is not too frequently thrust upon our notice, as in sharp contrast with the more penurious spirit of the present age. One liberal-minded young man, when the contribution box was passed around, dropped twenty-five cents into it, and a near neighbor, witnessing his ruinous . liberality, nudged him, and in- quired, reprovingly, "What did you give so much for? " 32 498 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY During the last year of Mr. Crane's ministry the people of the township met in this church to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the nation's independence, and to listen to an able and eloquent oration delivered by Mr. Sylvester Cooke, then a young man, and a teacher in the public school, now a venerable minister of the gospel, retired from the active work. Rev. John D. Paxton followed Mr. Crane, and was here little less than a year. He was never installed. He was moderator of the session from October 27, 1826, to June 25, 1827. Rev. William Gray was settled February 6, 1828, and was here about a year. He left some time in 1829. In the sessional records, as kept by these earlier pastors, I find that whenever there was a meeting of the session, if one of the elders was absent he was called to an account at the next meeting,or even if he was late he must give his reasons. It was considered a matter of sacred duty in those days that every elder should be present at every meeting of the session. It was a custom that might be practiced to an advantage in our present day. Rev. Horace Doolittle was installed in May, 1830, and dismissed in April, 1833. After Mr. Doolittle's time the church was without a pastor, except as supplied by Rev. Mr. Woodbury, until 1835. On April 28th of that year Rev. John C. Hart was installed, and remained eight years. He was dis- missed September I, 1843. Mr. Hart is remembered as an earnest preacher and most excellent pastor. There were large accessions to the church during his ministry here. He preached a historical sermon, July i, 1840, to which reference is made in the His- torical Collections of New Jersey. From his manuscript we learn of a thrilling incident that occurred during the battle of Springfield. When the alarm was sounded upon the mountain, a family living where Mrs. Daniel Smith is now living began to hide away their more valuable household goods. While they were all thus busily engaged the two armies were posted for the fight on either side of the Rahway river. They themselves were directly between the contend- ing forces. They could not go down the road to cross the bridge without exposing themselves to the fire of friend or foe. So they sought the shelter of the woods in the rear of the house, and becoming separated from each other, one of the family, a girl, fourteen years old, found herself alone with a little sister in her care. Taking the baby in her arms, she bravely forded the river while the battle was raging, and ran with it past the church on the road to Millburn, until she sank down exhausted. There the father and mother soon found her, and they all continued their flight to a place of safety among the Short Hills. Mr. Hart was succeeded by Rev. Edward E. Rankin, who was installed April 23, 1844, and dismissed in 1850. He is spoken of as a man of fine personal appearance, having a clear, pleasant voice, which, while it was not loud, was always easily heard. His ministry here was largely blessed. During his pastorate he took a trip to Europe, and Rev. Mr. Starkweather supplied the pulpit in his absence. Rev. William E. Locke, formerly a preacher in the Baptist denomination, succeeded him. He was installed May 28, 1851, and dismissed in 1852. Of his successor, the Rev. O. L. Kirtland, who was in- stalled May 3, 1853, and dismissed, at his own request, on account of failing health, April 17, 1872, it is not necessary that I should speak even to the children of this con- gregation. It is not to be expected that the words of one who was a stranger to him can make any more dear or fragrant that name of blessed memory to you all. How many hallowed associations are clustered around it in your hearts and homes ? He is the man who for twenty years was your sympathizing friend and spiritual adviser. In the very nature of the case no other can ever take his place to many of you. He married you ; he baptized your children ; he stood with you at the grave of your loved ones ; he sought to soften the sorrow bj' words of holy comfort ; he has been in your homes a frequent and honored guest; his memory is associated with days that were bright and days that were cloudy; he has been to you father and brother and friend, — and such friendships are formed but once in a lifetime. There were one hundred and fifty-eight added to the church during Mr. Kirtlaud's pastorate here. In the early part of his ministry the lecture room was built, and near the close of it the church was remodeled to its present appearance, and the organ put in its place. Two years after his resignation he fell asleep in Jesus. On the 24th of October, 1872, Rev. Mr. Bowen was installed ISRAEL D. CONDIT HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 499 pastor of the church, aud dismissed in April, 1874, to enter upon the Turkish mission, where he now is. The present pastor was called and began the supply of the pulpit in May, 1874, and was installed October 28th of the same year. During the past year (1875) an infant-class room has been built upon the lecture room, and the lecture room repainted, at an expense of about eight hundred dollars. The church has had, since its beginning, fifteen pastors. Of the men who have served you in the gospel ministry several took this as their first charge, and were ordained here One was married here ; two died and were buried here. From the membership of the church three young men, Alfred Briant, William Townley, and William D. Reeve have entered the ministry. One young lady has gone out as a foreign missionary. Miss Rebekah Smith, who went, as the wife of Rev. Mr. Forbes, to one of the Sandwich Islands. Thus have we endeavored to give as concisely as possible, but faithfully as to facts and dates, the history of this church. Rev. William Hoppaugh, the present pastor of the church, succeeded the Rev. George H. Stephens, October 31, 1886. The present membership is one hundred and sixty. Mr. Hoppaugh was born at Junction, Hunterdon county. New Jersey, August 29, 1857 ; is a graduate of I^afayette College, Easton, Penn- sylvania, of the class of 1884, and of Union Theological Seminary, New York, 1887. ISRAEL DODD CONDIT, a lineal descendant of John Condit, who came from England and settled at Newark in the year 1678 A. D., fourteen years after the first settlement of the state of New jersey, at Elizabethtown, was born at Orange, New Jersey, on the 9th day of July, 1802, of Mary Dodd, daughter of Captain Amos Dodd, of Bloomfield, New Jersey, and John Condit (third of the name) who, at the time of the son's birth, was absent on a business trip, from which he never returned, dying at Savannah, Georgia, a victim of yellow fever. Deprived of the counsel and experience of a father, Israel D. entered upon the toilsome pathway of life under the guiding hand of a mother whose sterling qualities had been developed and confirmed amid the severe trials sustained by the people of New Jersey during the days of the Revolution. As the educational facilities of that period were extremely limited, he was dependent upon home instruction for the acquirement of the rudiments of erudition, and at the early age of ten years he entered the school of active life as a factotum in a country store, where he was employed carrying the United States mail on horseback between Orange and Newark twice a week and executing sundry commissions intrusted to him by the neighbors, at the same time gathering unto himself priceless gems of practical knowledge, powerful enough to cre- ate an eventful and prosperous career of more than seventy years. A few years later he removed to Bloomfield, and continued the same line of business at that place until after the death of Captain Dodd. In 1822 his brother WicklifiFe, having previously established a general store at Springfield (now Millburn, New Jersey), was taken ill, and requested his brother Israel to go to Springfield and conduct his business for one week, while he enjoyed the recuperative climate of Virginia. He accepted the trust, and often spoke of this period as the most weari- some of his life, and how eagerly he longed for its termination. The SOO HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY week finally reached its end, but with it came an earnest appeal from Wickliffe for its prolongation. An ardent desire for home urged a refusal, but the "crimson tie of kinship," agent of the Father's con- trolling hand, prevailed, and consenting to remain, a business agree- ment between them was consummated, and Springfield became his permanent abode. Two or three years later he became associated with Captain Wooldrige Eaglesfield in the manufacture of paper by the hand process, producing some of the largest sheets used by the press of New York;, also the paper upon which the American edition of the Edin- burgh Encyclopaedia was printed. On October i, 1826, he became united in marriage to Captain Eaglesfield's daughter, Caroline, — a union existing sixty years, during which eight children were born, three of whom survived him. About this time he began the manufacture of wool and fur hat-bodies, and soon acquired the reputation of an expert assorter of wool, and upon his judgment large cargoes of foreign wool were purchased for the American market. Possessing an active and progressive mind, far beyond the wisdom of his generation, he was constantly on the lookout for improvements, and when the Wells' patent for the formation of fur hat-bodies by machinery was issued, he succeeded in obtaining an absolute right to the use of three machines. The successful introduc- tion of this invention, eventually revolutionizing and controlling the hat trade of the United States, and adding largely to the growth and prosperit}' of the county of Essex, was due in a great measure to his persistent efforts in withstanding mob violence in the city of Boston, and sneers at home; and this was the source of the wealth he accumulated and dispersed in the development of other enterprises, more or less successful in their results. He was one of the original promoters and the last of the charter members of the Morris & Essex Railroad Company, connecting Newark and Morristown, and continued in its board of direction many years after its extension to Dover. He was also prominently identified with the Dundee Water Power Company, at Passaic, and was its president at the time of its transfer to John H. Cheever. In 1863 he entered the iron business by purchasing the old Colonel Jackson rolling-mill property, at Rockaway, Mori'is county, where he endeavored to produce malleable iron direct from the ore by cementation. In 1864, in connection with the Messrs. Coggills, of New York, he organized the Musconetcong Iron Company, at Stanhope, New Jersey, and erected the then highest blast-furnace existing. In 1865 he again entered the paper business, and in company with others erected a large mill at Shawangunk, Ulster county. New York, for the manufacture of printing paper from rye straw. The Newark Daily Advertiser and Journal both obtained their paper from this mill, tmtil its destiaiction by fire, in September, 1872. Being at this time sole owner of the Shawan- HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 501 gunk propert}-, he began to rebuild the mill on a larger scale, notwithstanding the heavy loss sustained through defective insurance policies, and had it almost completed when the financial panic of 1873 overtook him. This being followed with the destruction of his forming mill, at Millburn, by floods, obliged him, after a few years of unsuccessful efforts to retrieve his fortune, to retire from active life. Politically affiliating with the old Whig part)- in early life, he took an active part in national and state affairs, especiall}' in all matters appertaining to the county of Essex, which then included a large portion of Union county, serving several terms on its board of chosen freeholders. He was instrumental in the removal of the court house from lower Broad street to its present location ; also in the adjustment of the county line between Essex and Union, whereb\- Springfield was divided. The place of his abode remained in Essex, under the title of the township of Millburn, while the southern part was apportioned to Union county. Although his large business and political interest brought him in connection with all the prominent men of the day, he never sought political preferment, but, choosing the substance rather than the shadow, he, b}' a judicious use of a reserved power and influence, added lustre to the ornate columns of the state, and onh- once, in a case of emergency, in 1867, did he consent to serve for a single term in the halls of legislation. He was nominall)' a Presbyterian the first half of his life, when, in 1850, an interest in ecclesiastical affairs was aroused by the Rev. Dr. E. H. Hoffman, who desired to establish a mission of the Episcopal church, at Millburn. Displaying the same energy as in secular affairs, he gathered together a sufficient number of persons to constitute a legal organization, under the name of St. Stephen's Episcopal church, of Millburn, and held the first services in the public school building. In 1853 he erected, and presented to the congregation, the present church building and property. Later he added a cemetery, containing about twelve acres of land. On the 29th day of January, 1897, in the ninety-fifth year of his age, and the full possession of all his faculties, he passed from earth, leaving a record inscribed upon the pages of the state's history in such characters of living light that the effacing fingers of time cannot obliterate them until that history itself shall have been destroyed. SYL^■AXUS LYOX. The subject of this sketch has been a resident of Springfield for a period of thirt}- years, and is recognized as a representati\-e citizen. His efforts in a philanthropic line have been indefatigable and far reaching, and there is unmistakable consistenc}' in according him recognition in this volume. Mr. Lyon is a native of Mamaroneck, Westchester county, 502 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY New York, where he was born on the 7th of May, 1826. He was chairman of the town committee of Springfield for nine years, and it was within the time of his administration of this office that the town was bonded in the sum of six thousand dollars for the purpose of carrying forward certain municipal improvements. He has been a zealous worker in behalf of public interests of a local nature, and has shown a lively and active interest in all good works. He lent effective aid in clearing the indebtedness of the Methodist and Episcopal churches, and was one of the leading spirits in the great centennial celebrations of Springfield. Mr. Ivyon's name is widely known in connection with works of charity. He organized the Prisoners' Aid Society, raised seventy-five thousand dollars to build the Christian Home for Intemperate Men and has carried on the great work of the Moderation Society for eighteen years, being vice-president of the same. The noble work of this society includes the providing of free ice-water fountains for the poor, flower distributions in the slums and the extending of timely aid to those in need. Mr. L,yon was married, in 1861, to Miss Adele C. Peshine, of Newark, New Jersey. PKTER COURTELON McCHESNEY, son of John and Mary M. (Edwards) McChesney, was born at Short Hills, New Jersey, December 26, 1846. The first American ancestors of John McChesney came from Scotland, about the year 1740 ; Samuel and Mary (Meeker) McChesney were the parents of John. Nine stalwart sons and two daughters were born to them. John and his wife, Mary (Edwards) McChesney, were the parents of nine children, — seven daughters and two sons, — all of whom are dead except one son and one daughter. The ancestors of the Edwards family came from England as early as 1730, and settled at Short Hills, where they purchased a large tract of land, which remained in the family for many years. Mary M. Edwards was a great-granddaughter of Jacob Edwards and Affie Spear, his wife. Jacob and five of his sons were all soldiers in the war of the Revolution, as were also the father and brother of Affie Spear. On her mother's side Mary M. Edwards was the granddaughter of John Clairage, who came from England, in 1802, and settled at Short Hills. Peter C. McChesney's early life was spent upon his father's farm, and his education was obtained in the public schools of the township. When eighteen years of age he went to Newark, New Jersey, and learned the trade of watchmaker, jeweler, and optician, and followed that occupation there until August, 1872, when he was obliged to give it up, on account of his health, until the summer of 1876. In March, 1882, he was elected a member of the township committee, and was appointed treasurer. In 1884 he was elected a jtistice of the peace for five years. In May, 1885, he was appointed collector of taxes and appointed treasurer. In July, 1885, he was appointed postmaster, which office he held until EDWARD T. WHITTINGHAM HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 503 October i, 1889. In March, 1886, he was elected collector of taxes. In 1887 he refused to accept the office, but in 1890 he was again elected and held the office continuously to May, 1894. In 1889 he was elected justice of the peace for five years, and resigned in 1892. In 1891 he was appointed notary public and commissioner of deeds, and in 1897 was again appointed commissioner of deeds. He has been chosen as executor and administrator for nine different estates. Mr. McChesney has never been an office-seeker, but has always been put forward by his friends without his asking. Mr. McChesney is now a resident of Millburn, New Jersey, and still holds a title to a portion of the original Edwards lands at old Short Hills. EDWARD THOMAS WHITTINGHAM, M. D. , was the oldest child of William Rollinson Whittingham, fourth bishop of Maryland, and Hannah Harrison, his wife. He was born April 22, 1831, in New York city. After graduating from the College of St. James, at Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1849, where he was sent at the age of eleven years, he entered the medical department of the Univer- sity of Maryland, where he pursued his studies until he received his diploma, in 1852. In the following year Dr. Whittingham began the practice of medicine in Baltimore, the home of his parents, remaining there, however, but two years; and from Baltimore he removed to Millburn, Bssex county, New Jersey, where he lived until his death. At the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, in 1861, Dr. Whittingham immediately relinquished his practice in Millburn and received from Abraham L,incoln an appointment as assistant surgeon in the regular army. This o^ce he fulfilled with valor, fidelity, and honor, until 1863, when he resigned, and returned to his home in Millburn. Dr. Whittingham was thoroughly patriotic, had great per- sonal magnetism, served both church and state with enthusiastic devotion, and was a man among men. In 1859 he married Martha Gilley Condit, the younger daughter of Israel Dodd Condit. They had five children, — three sons and two daughters. Mrs. Whittingham, two sons and two daughters survive him. Dr. Whittingham was a member of Lincoln Post, No. 11, G. A. R., of Newark, and was a Mason. He died at his home in Millburn, on October 26, 1886. CHAPTER XXVIl BRIEF HISTORY OF WESTFIELD. [by rev. NEWTON W, CA DWELL.] " Truth comes to us from the past, as gold is washed down from the mountains of Sierra Nevada, in minute but precious particles, and intermixed with infinite alloy, — the debris of centuries." — Bovee. ESTERN towns often begin with a saloon, but it is an historical fact that Westfield began with a church ; and her entire history has been closely allied with that of her churches. Webster, in his History of the Presbyterian Church, claims that as earl}- as 1709 we were a part of the parish of Elizabeth Town, with the famous Jonathan Dickinson as pastor. Bellamy speaks of him as "the great Mr. Dickinson." Dr. Erskine said the British Isles had produced no such writers on divinity in the eighteenth century as Dickinson and Edwards. Brainerd spent part of the closing year of his life under Dickinson's roof Hence any parish might consider itself fortunate with so strong a man as pastor, although that parish "embraced Rahway, Westfield, Connecticut Earms, Spring- field and a part of Chatham." WESTFIELD PRIOR TO 1720. It appears from a deed, dated 1651, that "Augustus Harman, probably of Dutch descent, purchased this tract from the Indians." Other Dutch proprietors are named in ancient deeds, but it does not appear that they became residents of the place, as some of their deeds, given to the early English settlers, mention that they resided in New Utrecht, on Long Island, and in New York city. In 1664 James, the duke of York, obtained from his brother, Charles II, king of England, a grant for an extensive tract of land in this country, — reaching from the western banks of the Connecticut river to the eastern shore of the river Delaware; including, of course, this state. He soon conveyed what is now the state of New Jersey to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, of English descent. After this conveyance Colonel Richard Nicholls, who was acting as governor for the duke of York, over his territority in 'America, at one time, while ignorant of this grant to Berkeley and Cartaret, formed the design of colonizing the district which they had acquired, and for this purpose granted licenses to various persons to make purchases of lands from the original inhabitants. The effect was that three small town- HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 505 ships were speedily formed, in the eastern part of the territory, chiefly by emigrants from Long Island, who laid the foundations of Elizabeth Town, Woodbridge and Piscataway. Thus it seems that this place and the others also were at that time claimed by three parties as owners, viz.: Mr. Harman, Messrs. Berkeley and Cartaret and Colonel Nicholl's emigrants from Long Island. Colonel Nicholls, however, on learning of the Duke's grant, resigned up the territory as its governor, in 1665, to Sir Philip Cartaret, who arrived in August of that year, with thirty from settlers from England, who established them- selves in Elizabeth Town. The name of Eliza- beth Town was given to this city in honor of Liady Elizabeth Cartaret, and this state was called New Jersey as a tribute of respect to Sir George Car- taret for defending the island of Jersey, near England, against the Long Parliament in the civil war. It does not appear that the emigrants who came from Long Island andjaid the foun- dations of the three town- ships just mentioned, were ever disturbed by the newly arrived pro- prietor. Others set up claims, however, the settlement of which caused no small difiSculty . But he seems to have cared less for a small sum of money and the few farms they occupied, than to fill the colony with inhabitants. Hence he sent to New England invitations for settlers to come and occupy the territory; and many came,— among whom were the founders of Newark (then New Ark.) The price of Westfield land was at that time ten acres for a penny. Sir Philip would not have obtained much money, as lands then sold, if he had exacted from the emigrants as much as they paid the Indians; for the sum paid for the Elizabeth Town tract was thirty-six pounds, fourteen shillings,- sterling, which, as subsequent surveys proved, was about one mill an acre, or ten acres for a penny,— and this OLD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH— 1803 506 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY was not paid in money. The articles given were " twenty fathoms of trading cloth, two made coats, two guns, two kettles, ten bars of lead, twenty handfuls of powder, and four hundred fathoms of white, or two hundred of black, wampum, — to be paid in one year from the date of entry by the grantees upon the lands." THE NAME AND SETTLEMENT OF WESTFIELD. History says that Westfield took its name from the rich "fields west of Elizabeth Town, and hence for over one hundred years went by the name of West Fields. " Town records say that "the settlement of Westfield dates back to the last year (1699) of the seventeenth century. It was the result of the ' Clinker Lot Division.' Almost immediately after the division emigration from the older parts of the town of Eliza- beth began to set towards the interior, — especially to the territory lying between the Rahway river, on the east, and the mountains, on the west. It was not, however, until 1720 that the settlers became numerous enough to constitute a distinct community." These hardy pioneers ventured out by means of blazed trees, crossed Crane's Ford (Cranford), settling at West Fields and Scotch Plains. The present city of Plainfield was as yet unborn. "West- field," says Dr. Hatfield, "was the extreme border of civilization. Neither church nor minister was yet to be found in the regions beyond, toward the setting sun." The Stamp Act was one of the causes of the bitter struggle with England. The attitude of this county toward that act may be learned from the following clipping from a New York paper of February 27, 1766: A large gallows was erected in Elizabeth Town last week, with a rope ready fixed thereto, and the inhabitants there vow and declare that the first person that either distributes or takes out stamped paper shall be hung thereon, without judge or jury. At the same date the editor says: "We have certain intelligence from Elizabeth Town, New Jersey, that the magistrates and lawyers carry on their business in the law without stamps as usual." THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON, APRIL, 1 775- Nothing ever so stirred this section as the news of the above engagement with the British, where the first blood of the war was shed. "It roused the sleepers; it fired the populace; it united the people as one man to resist unto blood the tyranny of the lords and commons of Britain. Loyalty was at a discount. The Tory faction, till then defiant and exultant, were palsied with dismay. The die * References : Spark's Washington ( Pennsylvania ) Ledger, New York Gazette, Remembrancer, Moore's Diary, Graham's Life of Morgan, Hall's Civil War in America, Irving's Washington. Hatfield's Elizabeth-, etc. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 507 was cast. Nothing remained now but the sword, and he who would not gird it on in his country's need was a traitor worse than Judas." In the provincial congress of New Jersey, which met at Trenton, May 23d, was Abraham Clark, one of the immortal signers of the Declar- ation of Independence, and of the same family as Mr. Addison S. Clark, present freeholder at Westfield (1897.) Freeholder Clark is now in possession not only of a small section of land, on the suburbs of this town, once owned by Abraham Clark, but also of a fine old chair said to have been made by his revered ancestor. (Vide Westfield Curios.) A BRUSH WITH THE ENEMY AND PURSUIT TO WESTEIELD. December 17, 1776, Colonel Symmes, in his account of the "brush" near Springfield, says: " Captain Seely, who commanded the flanking party on the right, made a warm attack upon the left of the enemy, spread along the Westfield road. The colonel-commandant of the militia, supported by Colonel Lindsly on the left and Major Spencer, who now commanded the Essex regiment, on the right, brought up the centre of the brigade, retaining their fire until within pistol-shot of the enemy. The conflict continued about an hour, when the darkness for- bade a longer contest at the time, and the firing seemed mutually to cease on both sides. * * * * The brigade fell back that evening only one mile, to Briant's tavern, struck up fires, and lay all night on their arms, intending to make a second attack in the morning. But in the morning the enemy was not to be found; he had withdrawn in the night, with all possible silence, taking off his dead and wounded in wagons. The militia pursued him to Westfield, but could not come up with him. This was the firs.t instance in the state of New Jersey when the British troops turned their backs and fled from those they called 'rebels'; and this success, small as the affair was, taught the Jersey militia that the foe was not invincible."* Is it not a strange coincidence that the enemy just six months later, June 26, 1777, under Howe and Cornwallis, forced our troops back from Scotch Plains, but at Westfield began a retreat which was " much to the disgrace and chagrin of the British leaders and the bitter disappointment of the whole Tory faction." The year 1777 was a hard one for Westfield. The inhabitants were in a constant state of alarm. General Sullivan was in command below the range of hills on the west, while Maxwell held the town (Elizabeth.) Their troops were continually moving from Chatham and Springfield, or from Westfield and Scotch Plains, watching for opportunities to cut off the foraging parties or pick up the scouts of the enemy. Skirmishes, more or less severe, were of almost daily occurrence. Several actions took place, in January, February and March, in which the war was brought to our very doors, and necessitating constant vigilance. Every * Vide Dr. Hatfield's Elizabeth, pap^e 452. 508 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY foraging party venturing but a few miles into the country, on either side of the lines, was sure to be attacked by some partisan leader, like Cap-- tain lyittell, and his band, or by the brave Maxwell with his militia, and seldom returned to camp without loss. Washington says, January 20th : "Within a month past, in several engagements with the enemy, we have killed, wounded and taken prisoners between two and three thousand men." RETREAT OF THE BRITISH FROM WESTFIELD. The campaign in East Jersey was brought to a close on the 30th of June, 1777. The British evacuated New Brunswick on Sunday, the 22d of June, retiring to Perth Amboy. On Thursday morning, the 26th, they advanced in force from Amboy as far as Westfield, under the com- ■i^' mk ■'V ;#S 'fLgltW^ ^" ■mi -J lijip JBSL 1 iiijrmji iHim! .„. , -ts^^^sm^ W'' '■^ ?w^r: ■ ■• jj^^.i>3.v^; 1' , OLD ROSS HOMESTEAD mand of Sir William Howe and Lord Cornwallis. On the way the advance of the latter fell in with Colonel Daniel Morgan's corps of rangers, at Woodbridge, with whom a hot contest was kept up for half an hour, at the expense of a considerable number of men. At Scotch Plains a severe engagement ensued with the troops under Lord Stirling, who were obliged, being greatly inferior in numbers, to fall back to the heights in the rear, with the loss of a few men and three cannon. At Westfield, perceiving the passes on the left of Washington's camp to be strongly guarded, and with no prospect of getting into his rear, as was comtemplated, the enemy encamped for the night, after a burning hot day. Here they remained until three o'clock, p. m., Friday, when they marched to Rahwaj', closel)- followed and assailed in the rear and on the flanks by Scott's light horse and Morgan's rangers. The next day they returned to Amboy, still followed as on the previous day. Here they rested on the Sabbath, and the next day, Monda}-, June 30th, they left — a part crossing over to Long Island on a bridge of boats, and HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 509 another part embarking on board of two hundred and seventy trans- ports, which filled the harbor, and sailed away on the 23d of Juh'. HARD WINTER OF 1780. This memorable winter of the war proved to be the "severest on record. The cold set in early, and storm succeeded storm, piling up snow in every direction, until January 3, 1780, when one of the most terrific storms ever remembered set in, from which the army suffered dreadfully. Six feet of snow covered the earth, and the steady cold closed up the rivers, the Sound, Newark bay, and even the harbor of New York. The ice, even in the bay of New York, was of such solidity that an army, with all its artillerj^ and baggage, could cross with greater facility than on the firm earth." PREDATORY RAIDS. Under such conditions the enemy made many successful raids across the ice. On the night of January 25th a raid upon Elizabeth Town resulted in the burning of the historic Presbyterian church and the court house, with the capture of man}- of the inhabitants. From very many sources of information it would seem that Westfield citizens were more impoverished and kept in a greater state of constant alarm by these midnight surprises and predatory forays than in any other way. I ^vill mention only one instance — that of John Ross, mayor of Elizabeth Town in 1748, and the father of Gideon Ross, yet remembered by our oldest inhabitants as one of the prominent citizens of Westfield. The following is a true cop}', verbatim ct literatim^ of the list of articles taken by the British army, under General Howe, from John Ross, June 26 and 27, 1777, at Westfield : £ S. D. £ S. D. To 2 Mares and 2 suckiug colts . 40 ' ' 10 gallons JIal asses at 47 I / 6 " Two year old colts 40 ' ' 9 Plates & 2 large platters I 15 " I Beaf cow 7 ' ' 4 Basens 12 " 3 Two Year old heffers . 15 ' ' 2 Milk Pales 8 " 3 yearling heffers . . 6 ' ' 2 Shets & a pair of pillow cases I 15 " 3 Spring calves 4 10 ' ' I Bed Blanket . I " I Cubboard 7 10 ' ' T pair of Buck skin Breclies 9 " " I Clock case of Cheritree. . . 6 ' ' 5 Pair of stockings 1 15 " 2 Dining Tables 3 10 ' ' a pair of house to a saddle . 2 " a set of Carpenters & Joiners ' 7 gallons of cider spirets . I 8 Tuels 15 ' 100 lb of Pork at 9 c . 3 !5 " damage in the meadow to the ' 100 lb of chees at 6 c . 2 10 amount of 20 Tun of hay 25 — — — " 400 of Poles of Seader 7 £2 00 4 6 " 100 hups . ... 2 ID Proved by John Ross, Esq., " 1-2 Barril of Matheglin . . 2 and Matthias Ivudluni. POWDER. The greatest need of the young republic was not patriotism, but powder. ' ' But for this Bunker Hill would have been a greater triumph 510 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY (June 17, 1775). Powder was in demand in the army and everywhere. Hence, on the 17th of July, the citizens forwarded, via Dobbs Ferry, fifty-two quarter casks just received from Philadelphia." So great was the lack of powder by the army around Boston, August 13th, that there was "not more than nine rounds a man." The destitution con- tinued till our committee at Elizabethtown, "upon receiving the alarming news, sent out a few tons, which they were obliged to do with the greatest privacy, lest the fears of our own people, had it been known, should have stopt it for their own use in case of emergency." On the 20th of August Washington acknowledges the receipt of " six tons and a half of powder from the southward." That the same provision was demanded for protection during the war of 1812, is shown in the action taken by the Westfield town com- mittee on the 12th day of April, 1813: It was agreed, by a unanimous vote of Town Committee, that the sum of Two Huiidred and Fifty Dollars be raised and appropriated toward purchasing Powder, ball and Flints, for the purpose of repelling any attempt which may be made on our Rights and Liberties by our common enemy, which ammunition is to be put into the hands of the Captains of the different companies in the Township, to be by them distributed in equal proportion to such Individuals of their separate companies or other inhabitants of the Township as shall, on an alarm or an emergency, actually turn out and put them- selves under their command ; the men who receive it to be answerable to the Captain they receive it from, to return to him all but what they expend against the enemy. RESOLVED, That Doctor Joseph H. Quimby, David Osboru and Freeman Cole be a Committee to carry the above into immediate effect. I hereby certify the above to be the true proceedings of the above town meeting. CapT. Charles Clark, Moderator. REV. JAMES CAtDWELL. The history of Westfield and vicinity will not be complete without a brief reference to this Revolutionary hero and martyr. Here he often preached ; here, at the Badgley home on the mountains, and at New Providence, he often found an asylum for himself and family ; here, in the old Presbyterian church, Morgan, the ruthless murderer of Caldwell, was tried and court-martialed ; and here immediately he was hung, on Gallows Hill, about one mile east of the church.* His prompt and spirited action in the sharp engagement at Spring- field is thus immortalized by Bret Harte : Here's the spot — look around you ! Above on the height Lay the Hessians encamped. By that churcb on the right Stood the gaunt Jersey farmers, and here ran a wall, — You may dig anywhere, and you'll turn up a ball. Nothing more — grasses spring, waters run, flowers blow Pretty much as they did ninety-three years ago. Nothing more, did I say ? Stay a moment — you've heard Of Caldwell, the parson, who once preached the Word * It may interest some to learn that Rev. N. W. Cadwell, the writer of this sketch, and for the past fifteen years pastor of the Westfield church, belongs to the same family as that of the brave old chaplain. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 511 Down at Springfield? What! No? Come, that's bad ! Why, he had All the Jerseys aflame, and they gave him the name Of the " Rebel High Priest !" He stuck in their gorge. For he loved the Lord God, and he hated King George'. He had cause, you might say ! When the Hessians that day Marched up with Knyphausen, they stopped on their way At the "Farms," where his wife, with a child in her arms. Sat alone in the house. How it happened none knew But God, and that one of the hireling crew Who fired the first shot ! Enough ! There she lay. And Caldwell, the chaplain, her husband, away ! Did he preach ? Did he pray ? Think of him as you stand By the old church to-day ; think of him and that band Of militant ploughboys ! See the smoke and the heat Of that reckless advance — of that straggling retreat ! Keep the ghost of that wife, foully slain, in your view. And what would you ! what would you ! what would you do ? Why, just what he did ! They were left in the lurch, For the want of more wadding. He ran to the church, Broke the door, stripped the pews, and dashed out in the road. With his arms full of hymn books, and threw down the load At their feet ! Then above all the shouting and shots Rang his voice : " Put Watts into 'em, boys, give 'em Watts !" And they did, — that's all. Grasses spring, flowers blow Pretty much as they did ninety-three years ago. You may dig anywhere, and you '11 turn up a ball ; But not always a hero like this, — and that's all. TRIAL OF MORGAN AT WESTFIELD. Morgan was imprisoned at Springfield, then at Burlington, and, in January, at Westfield, where on the 2ist of January, 1782, he was arraigned for trial. The court sat in the Presbyterian church. Chief Justice John Cleves Symmes presiding, assisted by two associate judges, one of whom was Judge Barnet. Colonel William DeHart, of Morris- town, was Morgan's counsel. Ephraim Scudder, Benjamin Meeker, David Ross, Aaron Woodruif and Job (?) Ryno were members of the jury — all being Westfield men. Tradition says that Morgan was led into the ' church with a halter about his neck, a custom with a few noted criminals. He was found guilty of wilful murder, remanded to the custody of Noah Marsh, sheriff of the county, and was hung at Westfield, on Tuesday, January 29th. The place of execution was about half a mile northeast of the village, nearly opposite Captain John Scudder's (now Isaac Scudder's), on Gallows Hill, a heap of stones marking the place for years afterward. The day was intensely cold. Morgan was considerate. Turning to the sheriff, he said : "Do your duty quickly ; the people are suffering from the cold." * Hatfield says that on the day of execution a sermon was preached by the Rev. Jonathan Elmer, from Jeremiah XLIV, 4, — " O ! do not this * At an earlier point in this history there is accredited to IMorgan a less worthy sentiment, as expressed at the time of his execution. 5V2 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY abominable thing that I hate." He also saj^s that, "Morgan was a Roman Catholic and of bad reputation. He seems not to have made any confession as to his intent in the act for which he suffered." Jacob Ivudlum (I/udlow), grandfather of Gideon E. lyudlow, and his wife, Margaret, witnessed the execution of Morgan. Mr. Ludlow remembers well his grandmother's recollection of that eventful day. The snow was deep, and the weather bitter cold. The prisoner heard the sermon of Jonathan Elmer, and then was immediately taken to Gallows Hill, followed by a multitude of people. Morgan stood composedly in a wagon beneath the gallows, which was constructed with two upright posts, with a heavy piece of timber across the top. When the rope was fastened around his neck and over the gallows, the wagon was drawn from under him, and he soon was a dead man. FURTHER REVOLUTIONARY DATA. Gaines says, November 24, 1777 : "We hear of orders to a place called Westfield, a few miles from Elizabeth Town, New Jersey, for the inhabitants of that place to prepare quarters for a large bod)- of men, and to cut down five hundred cords of firewood. On Tuesday, Wednes- day, Thursday and Friday last (18-21) parties of rebels landed on Staten Island, from Elizabeth Town, but were as often beaten off." These "parties" were probably employed in this way to keep the British from learning the object of the encampment at Westfield. Louis Thiess says there is a well founded tradition in his and the Chamberlain families, that, at the time of the retreat of the British from Westfield to Amboy, eleven soldiers were killed and nineteen wounded on his farm. Many musket and cannon balls, pieces of jewelry, money, etc., have been found on the place. The following is a list of Westfield men, mostly, who served under Captain Littell : Robert and John Aken, Jr., Jacob and Joseph Badgley ; William, Henry and Daniel Baker ; William, Jesse, Azariah, Charles and John C. Clark ; Jacob Cole, Samuel Cory ; Stephen Corwin ; Daniel Connet ; John, John, Jr., and Jacob Crane ; Moses De Camp ; Elias Darby ; John Dunham ; John Forster ; Moses and George Frazee ; Abial Hayes ; Samuel Halstead ; Richard Harris ; Matthias Hetfield ; John High ; Zebulon Jennings ; James Lambert ; Cornelius Ludlum ; Enoch Clark ; Noah and William Miller ; Ephraim and Abraham Marsh ; Jeremiah Pangborn ; Sylvanus (i) and William, Jr., Pierson ; Ebenezer Price ; Robinson ; Moses and Ezekiel Ross ; Ephraim and Richard Scudder ; David Smith ; John Spinning ; Moses Swain ; Will Steward ; William Terry ; Nathaniel Willis; Matthias and James W. Wade; Benjamin, Jr., and Charles C. Williams ; Noah and Jeremiah Woodruff Many others served under Captain Scudder, Captain Matthias Clark, etc. -THE JERSEY BLUES. This Westfield volunteer company should be fitted out with proper clothing, — and who could do it but the patriotic wives and daughters HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 513 whose heroism and devotion only made victory possible for the army of Washington ? A writer says: "These patriotic females furnished tow frocks and pantaloons dyed with blue, of their own spinning and manufacture. Many of them were trimmed with colored tapes, giving the company a singular appearance. They were known as the "Jersey Blues," and many of their company followed Washington and the regular army to Morristown. " It is a common tradition among the early Westfield residents that on the eventful day when the British passed by Ash swamp to Scotch Plains, and thence to Westfield, "Aunt Betty" Frazee had been baking bread all day for our hungry soldiers. When the British drove them back Lord Cornwallis rode up, dismounted and said to her: "I want the first loaf of bread that next comes from that oven. " He then retired to the shade of a tree, and when the bread was done Aunt Betty came out and said to him: "Sir, I give you this bread through fear, not in love." Lord Cornwallis leaped to his feet, admiring her spirit and courage, and said to his men: ■" Not a man of my command shall touch a single loaf." Lord Cornwallis was but another Stonewall Jackson, and Aunt Betty Frazee was Westfield's Barbara Fretchie, — ■ made famous by the poet Whittier. Among the officers and men who took active part in the capture of the British ship, "Blue Mountain Valley," January 22, 1776, are the names of many Westfield families: Baker, Clark, Craig, Hetfield, Marsh, Meeker, Pierson, Ross, Miller, Hendrix, Hinds, Woodruff", etc. ' GENERAL WASHINGTON IN WESTFIELD. There are many traditions that the " Father of our Country " was often in Westfield, — in fact that it was his favorite stopping place on his way from Morristown to Philadelphia. It is positively certain that sections of both armies often stopped at the living spring back of the Presbyterian church, on the present Stitt place. Benjamin Downer, in his biography of Rev. Edwin Downer, who died in the pulpit of the above church, says: " The house now occupied by Dr. Frederick Kinch, in Westfield, is the old Downer homestead. Samuel Downer entertained General Washington there for a few days at the time of the battle of Trenton, and several of the, service dishes are still in possession of various members of the family." * Aunt Nancy (Mills) Baker, often called "Aunt Granny Baker," who died a few years since (1894,) at the age of one hundred and four, often told the writer that she remembered having seen General Wash- ington in Westfield. Granny Baker was strong and sprightly for her age, and often walked the two miles to town after she had passed the century mark. One day she had engaged a man to mow some grass * Some members of the present Downer family have reason to believe that this entertainment took place in another house, across the street, where Samuel Downer lived at that time. 33 514 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY and weeds about her place, but he began to do it in such a slow aud slovenly manner that she promptly discharged him and, seizing the scythe, soon finished the task in a workmanlike manner. FAMOUS OLD "one horn." This is a genuine relic of the Revolution, and none other is so highly prized by Westfield citizens. A noted writer says: "Time, which has woven a mantle of forgetfulness about so many curios of the Revolution, hiding the associations that give to tattered flags and rusty gun-barrels a value beyond price, has dealt kindly with the old cannon known as 'One Horn.' " This weapon stands on an eminence in Fair- view cemetery. Beside it is a soldiers' monument; yonder to the left are the Orange mountains; and above, on a lofty flag pole, perches the American eagle, symbol- ical of the liberty the cannon was so active in achieving. Compared with the ponderous artil- lery of our time, "One Horn " is but a plaything. It is less than five feet in length, and weighs five hundred pounds; but in its day the gun was re- garded as a formidable weapon, and its capture from the British, June 23, 1780, occasioned great re- joicing in the patriots' camp. For over one hundred years history and tradition have agreed as to the story of "One Horn," but lest some upstart iconoclast, of that peculiar order of the genus homo who deny that Moses and Shakespeare and Napoleon ever lived, maj' rise up in after years and deny the authenticity of this, the only valuable relic which connects Westfield with the Revolution, the following facts are published. There are many witnesses alive to-day who well remember Deacon William Clark (Captain Billy), whose family residence was once appropriated as the headquarters of General Howe. He entered the Revolutionary service at the age of seventeen; he himself helped capture old "One Horn;" he was taken prisoner and confined in the old Sugar House, New York city, a sketch of which is here shown, while his "sugar-house cane," which he carried for years, is depicted in the illustration of Westfield curios. He did not die until 1853, being then in his ninety-eighth OLD ONE-HORN" CANNON.* * The above drag-rope, rammer and wormer are now in possession of the writer of this article. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 515 year, and no one woitld have dared to question the authenticity of "One Horn ' ' while this stanch old patriot was living, since he helped capture it with his own hands. Moreover, such worthy citizens as Gideon Ross, Isaac French, Andrew H. Clark, Squier Pierson, Isaac H. Pier- son, Ephraim Clark, John High, Jacob Baker, Samuel Downer, Benja- min Cory and Henry Baker,— all Westfield men of probity, honor and position,— declared that "One Horn" was captured from the British. For fifteen years the writer has been collecting historical data of West- field. He has questioned, among a host of others, ' ' Aunt Phebe ' ' Ross, who died in 1882, at the advanced age of ninety-six; "Aunt Ann" Scudder, ninety-fifth year; "Aunt Granny" (Mills) Baker, one hun- dred and fourth year; and "Betsy" Clark, who was born in 1800, being the daughter of " Captain Billy " Clark, above mentioned,— all competent witnesses, with splendid memories,— and not one of them had ever doubted the history of "One Horn." Moreover, Cornelius Leveridge, who for half a century has been gather- ing historical material in this immediate vicinity, says he never knew one of the old Westfield families who had the least doubt as to the authenticity of this historic fieldpiece. It is not claimed that the gun carriage is the same as in 1780, — it is not. At least two have been made for it since that date. It is not claimed that it is of British manufacture, but simply that it was cap- tured from the British by Westfield citizens, led by Captain Littell and Captain William Clark, at the old Baker homestead {vide cut) on that eventful day when the bell was thrown from the steeple and the troops were gathering for the battle of Springfield, four miles away. The thrilling story of its capture has often been told in the old "general training" days; told again by eloquent speakers in many presidential campaigns; told again in 1861-2-3, when Westfield volun- teers gathered around it on the village green, — and thus the reader will perceive that among the old families the story of old "One Horn" has naturally made a greater impression than even the engagement at Springfield. The accepted story of the capture of old "One Horn" is as follows : Early in the morning of June 23, 1780, the citizens of Westfield were OLD PIERSON HOMESTEAD riKi HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY called out by the warning peals of the old church bell. The clouds of war began to thicken and spread, and the patriotic sons of the old families — the Bakers, Conants, Clarks, Cranes, Kembles,- Kytes, Millers, Piersons, Scudders and others — sprang to arms and thronged the high- ways. Some had been under arms since the previous unsuccessful raid, only two weeks before. The British troops, composed of five thousand men, besides dragoons and fifteen or twenty pieces of artillery, advanced in two divisions from Elizabeth Town, under Sir Henry Clinton. One column reached Connecticut Farms about sunrise. A small detachment took the Westfield road, capturing citizens and plundering farm houses as they advanced. The family of William Pierson, grandfather of the present Benjamin Pierson, was on the alert. The mother, standing on a pile of wood, suddenly saw them, and shouted : " The Redcoats are coming," and the husband ran out and hid in the orchard. Soon the house was surrounded by and filled with the British. " Where is that damned old rebel ? " they demanded. But, failing to find him or elicit any in- formation, they contented themselves by taking, a fine horse from the bam, leaving a young colt. Hastening forward they next stopped at the old Baker homestead, then occupied by Henry Baker, grandfather of Deacon Henry Baker, and now owned by J. H. Vail. The framework of this house is doubtless o\-er one hundred and forty years old, and Deacon Baker, who died in 1885, aged eighty-seven, often said that the old trees in front were seemingly of the same size when, as a boy, he played among their branches. The oflficer in command asked for a drink of cider, and promised protection to the family if the wants of himself and his men were supplied. Finding themselves unmolested, they became boisterous and insulting. A " minute man," by the name of Captain Littell, hid himself in the bushes, close to the house, to watch and, if necessary, to render the family assistance, and when one of the me^ approached Mrs. Baker and forced her, at the point of the bayonet, tp the wall of one of the rooms of the old farm house, he fired and seriously wounded the ofilcer in command. The British sprang to their saddles, but in the quick turn one of the cannon was thrown over against a large rock and one of its arms or "horns," broken off, for which reason it has ever since been called old "One Horn." It was immediately captured, with OLD BAKER HOMESTEAD HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 517 all the trappings. The British soon rallied, and, although "their advance was contested foot by foot, the citizens were finally compelled to retreat." For some minutes the church bell had been furiously ringing, alarming the whole country, and now the enraged British enter the church, throw the bell from the steeple and, finding it iininjured, carry it away with them and set it up on Staten Island. " In the conflict the enemy cap- tured William and Azariah Clark, two brothers, and Noah Miller. They were taken to New York and confined for some time in what was called the ' Old Sugar- House Prison.' This prison is located well back from the docks, has a railing around its high roof, and the great mortality among our prisoners there will forever rank it with the more modem rebel prisons, Libby and Anderson ville." As Captain Clark lived until 1853 his friendship for old "One Horn" extended over a period of seventy-three years, and his love for it was touching. History says "he was ex- tremely anxious to have it well taken care of, and on all occasions when its services were in requisition contributed liberally for powder. ' ' From the time of its capture old "One Horn" was the central object of interest on ' ' general training ' ' days and in every 4th of July celebration. It has been fired in scores of patriotic rallies, and often during the Rebellion, when the wires announced the triumph of Union arms, old "One Horn" was rolled out to celebrate the victory. In fact the dear old cannon was so highly prized by the patriotic descendants of the Revolution in near-by towns, that they have made many rival claims to ownership. For half a century, surrounded by strong old harnesses, drag ropes and chains, it lay quietly in the "Arsenal," a small building which once stood on the corner near the present residence of Charles B. Peddie. Then, taken from its carriage, it was stolen by "the boys " of Scotch Plains and for safety was buried in the old cemetery. Then, captured by the Central Railroad men and buried beside the track, it was retaken by the peaceful payment of "ten dollars." Soon, in an unguarded moment, it fell into the hands of the Rahway boys, and after its recapture it was in turn hidden away in cellars, garrets, haymows and, for a long time, in an old well. A few years ago the writer was trying to ascertain the whereabouts of old " One Horn." Sitting on an old- fashioned iounge in the kitchen with a friend who had often helped recapture the famous relic, I asked him if he had any idea where the OLD SUGAR-HOUSE PRISON 518 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY cannon was then located. Suddenly turning and solemnly demanding if I could keep a secret, he told me to "feel under the lounge." I did so, and there was the old treasure. But the very next 4th of July, after old "One Horn" had done its accustomed patriotic duty in waking up the valley, "the boys " were invited next door to be treated. They were off duty, and the cannon for a moment was left unguarded. It was easy work for half a dozen lusty " Plainfielders " to rush up, tear it from its carriage, and lift it into a waiting wagon, and then they raced it to Plainfield. There it was carefully hidden, and after a time placed in the G. A. R. rooms. Despairing of its recapture in so well policed a location, the writer, with S. W. Reese and some of our Grand Army men, succeeded in pleading so loyally for its return that on Decoration day, 1889, when our soldiers' monument was unveiled, it was magnanimously returned to Westfield, and now, its troubles over, sacred to friend and foe, old ' ' One Horn ' ' peacefully guards the above monument, in Fairview cemetery. Captain Mathias Clark was another patriotic old soldier deeply interested in old "One Horn," since he also took a part in its capture. He was the grandfather of the present Martin V. Clark, and lived where his grandson now lives. Marauding parties often sought to capture the leaders of the Continental army while "off duty," and once Captain Clark had to run for the swamp for his life. His family now have in their possession an old clock once owned by him, and also an ancient musket, marked "Jordan 1747," which they claim he captured from the British. The inscription on his monument, in the old cemetery, reads: Capt. Mathias Clark. Died July 7, 1808 aged 54 years. A Revoi- has been directed along the beaten paths of earnest, honest endeavor to the goal of prosperity. He was bom on the 15th of June, 1845, a son of Amos Picton and Susan Aymar Scudder, and began his education in the public schools of Westfield, later supple- menting his early privileges in that direction by a course of study in Woodbridge, New Jersey. When he laid aside his text books, he began to learn the more arduous lessons of the school of experience ; and industry and perseverance have characterized his business career. For man}- years he was engaged in the real-estate and insurance business in New York city, and by his well directed efforts, his unflagging industry and his good business ability he won a fair degree of success. In 1894 he was appointed by President Cleveland to the position of postmaster of Westfield and has since served in that capacity, discharging his duties with marked fidelity and promptness. Mr. Scudder has also been one of the chosen freeholders of Union county, and in his official capacity, as well as when holding no office, he has labored earnestly and efficiently for the welfare and progress of his native town. His political support has ever been given the Democracy and he is deeply interested in the growth and success of his part}-. THE LAMBERT FAMILY. One of the oldest and most prominent families now living in West- field bears the name that appears at the head of this review and traces its origin in this counti-y back to some time previous to the year 1673, when Roger Lambert emigrated from England and settled in this city, here taking the oath of allegiance to the Dutch government, as required by law, the Hollanders having regained all their former possessions in New York, including New Jersey. In the following year the English proprietory government was restored, and on the 2d of August, 1676, Roger I/ambert received a patent for his land from Sir George Carteret, Philip Carteret being governor. Roger Lambert's wife was named Eleanor, and they had only one son, John. In 1712 Roger and John Lambert, -with their wives, Eleanor and Hannah, sold land to John Dagworthy, and the latest date of any deed signed by Roger Lambert is 17 16. By the will of John Lambert it appears that his eldest son was- named John, following whom he 576 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY mentions his son Richard, then his son David, and makes an appropria- tion for the maintenance of his " poor, infirm son," Solomon. He gave land at Ash Swamp to his grandson, John lyambert, the child of his eldest son, John ; and his townright of common and undivided land in Elizabethtown he gave to be divided between his three sons, — John, Richard and David. The will of Hannah Lambert, of Elizabethtown, mentions her grandsons John and Samuel, and granddaughters Margaret and Huldah, and sons Solomon and David. The instrument is dated 1748, Isaac Winans, executor. In the agreement of the first settlers of the land lying in Rahway, then a part of Elizabethtown, and dated November 18, 1721, appear the names of John, Richard, David and John Lambert (3d). In 1736 David Ivambert was overseer of highways in Elizabethtown, and in 1838 John Eambert (3d) was appointed to the same office. Samuel Eambert, who was a merchant in New Haven, Connecticut, came from Essex county, New Jersey, and his will was proved in the province of New Jersey, county of Essex, on the loth of March, 17 18. He was probably a son of Richard or David. Samuel Lambert, of Elizabethtown, in his will, of date 1756, mentions a number of children, but does not give their names. His mother he designates by the name of Joanna. Joseph Lambert died intestate (widow Elizabeth, administratrix), August 17, 1758. In 1699 Daniel Lambert bought of Benjamin Thorp land lying in Elizabethtown (state records Lib. G, page 90). Edward Lambert, of Freehold, Mon- mouth county, in his will, dated December 4, 1714, directs his land to be sold and half the proceeds to be given to his brother, Jonah Lambert, and the other half to be put to interest for the benefit of his nephews, John and Joseph, children of his brother John, deceased. John Lambert, of the borough of Elizabeth, county of Essex, in his will, dated August 21, 1778, gives his wife, Mary, her support, and mentions his sons David and Daniel, his grandson John, son of his son Joseph, deceased, his granddaughter Esther, daughter of his son Simeon, deceased, and Hannah, daughter of his son Enoch', giving legacies to his grandchildren, Phebe Rogers and Joseph Lambert, and fifty pounds to the Baptist church at Scotch Plains. This will was proved on the 27th of June, 1779. (Records of wills in Trenton, Lib. 21, page 178.) Administration granted to James Lambert in estate of James Lambert, deceased, late of Essex county, February 18, 1789 (Lib. 22, page 34), and administration granted Andrew Lambert, of Essex county, in the estate of Jonathan Williams, June 21, 1784. The foregoing is a record of the history of the Lambert family up to 1784, the members of which lived in what was then Essex but is now Union county. Simeon Lambert, son of James, married Miss Freelove Littell and lived on his father's farm in Westfield, known as the " Old Wind-mill Farm," the old mills of which were replaced in 1840 by water power, HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY .-,77 the latter being still in use. He acquired considerable property in stocks and bonds, but lost heavily during the panic of 1872-6. Mr. Ivambert filled prominent county offices for many years and was conspicuous in the public affairs of his day. He and his wife became the parents of ten children, of whom we make brief record, as follows : (i) John Ivambert married Susan Ann Hetfield and they became the parents of the follow- ing named children : Ira C. married Ella M. Folsom and they had children — Theodore F. and Harold ; James B. married Sarah Jane Harris, their children being James Leslie, Newton, Percy, Lilian, and Helen ; Simeon Wallace Lambert married Estelle May Harris, by whom he had children — ^John Raymond, Emma DeCamp and Chauncey Ripley ; Laura is not married ; Julia married George Westervelt ; Isaac H. married Ella Louise Darby and had children — Howard, Willard and Walter M.; Phebe H. married William DeWitt Pierson ; Ada M. married Ambrose Smalley ; Anna S. married Edward Gilby ; Clarence, not married. John Lambert, son of Simeon, married for his second wife Mary Elizabeth Frazee ; they had no children. (2) Freelove. (3) Rachel, who married Eliphalet DeCamp. (4) Julia married D. S. Scudder. (5) James. (6) Martha Ann married George Merrick. (7) Isaac married Huldah Melick and they became the parents of children- William, who married Kate Thomas, who bore him five children; Lucy, who married Daniel Terry and became the mother of seven children; Alice, who married Douglas Darby and is the mother of three children; Albert, who married Fanny Darby, by whom he has two children, Albert and Ruth; John; Rachel, who married Alex. Neuman and had children; and Charles, who married Elizabeth Sedam, of whom three children have been born. Isaac Lambert, son of Simeon, consummated a second marriage, being united to Elizabeth Cooper, and the children of this union are Adelaide, Matilda, Grace, Caroline, Josephine, Mary Elizabeth, Julia and Pearle,' — none of them being married (1897). (8) Sarah Elizabeth married D. B. Hetfield. (9) Matilda married Moses Pierson. (10) Irene married Charles R. Clark. John is living on the old homestead, and the others or their descendants reside in Union or adjacent counties. A CARD FROM Rev. N W. Cadwell. — I would hereby acknowledge the hearty co-operation uf the following named persons, without whose assistance this chapter could not have been properly written : Luther M. Whitaker, Irving Ross, A. K. Gale, F. R. Baker, Robert French, Ezra Miller, Daniel and Henry Hetfield, Dr. Kinch, C. A. Leveridge, Benjamin Downer. S. W. Reese, Gideon E. Ludlow, A. S. Clark, J. T. Pierson, Wilbur Cory, Ira C. Lambert, Charles Badgley, Benjamin Pierson, Lawrence Clark, J. S. Ferris, Loilis Theiss, .Martin \'. Clark, Charles E. Bussing, the photographer, and many others. n CHAPTER XXVIII. NEW PROVIDENCE. HIS township was set off from Elizabeth Town February 4, 1793, and annexed to Springfield township. This town- ship lies in the extreme northwest part of Union county, being parts of the Passaic valley and First and Second mountains. It went under the name of Turkey until, by an act of the legislature, November 8, 1809, when it assumed the title of New Providence. The boundary remained unaltered until the year 1869, when Summit township was taken off from the northeast part, which leaves the town about five miles long and two miles wide. This oblong piece of territory, being part of the First, Second and Third mountain ranges, has beautiful and picturesque valleys, and contains an area of about thirteen square miles. The name of this township was practi- cally changed from Turkey to New Providence in 1778. The cause of this change is worthy of mention. Several years previous to this date the people were assembled in an unfinished house of worship when the beams of the gallery gave way, precipitating the people in the gallery upon those seated below, but without fatal results or serious injury to any one. This was considered a remarkable interposition of Provi- dence, and in commemoration of that event the town was named New Providence. This township did not hold an election by ballot until April 13, 1840. Aaron Doty served as moderator at this election. There were polled at this time one hundred and forty votes, of which the Whig ticket had seventy-three votes and the Democratic ticket sixty-seven votes. The Whigs carried the election by six majority. Daniel Wood had seventy-two votes, and was elected town clerk. Abraham Lockwood had seventy-one, and was elected judge of election; and Dayton Badgley and Stephen Marshall were elected sur- veyors of highways. The pound-keeper elected was John Wilson. School committee, John L,ittle, John S. Smith and Amasa Denny. The first overseers of the highway elected by ballot were Benjamin Weed, John Little, Jonathan Potter, John Marshall, John Stephenson, Noah Wilcox, John Wilson, John T. Wilcox, William Moore, Israel B. Ivong, Amos Morehouse, William L,ittell and Matthias Osborn. The assessor was Jonathan Valentine, and the collector, John S. Smith. The first grand-jurymen elected in this township were Amos Potter and Nathaniel Bonnel; the members of the legislature, John Littell, Jona- HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 579 than Valentine (who was also surrogate of the county), Stephen Day, Jr., and Daniel H. Noe. The following is a history of the town of New Providence, by A. M. Cory, M. D.: In the year 1664, October 28th, the tract of land in which the city of Elizabeth is now located was purchased of the Indians then in possession. The names of the chiefs who signed the indenture on Staten Island, and their marks, are as follows: " Mattano ; Sewak herones, N; Warinaco . The consideration was twenty fathom of trading clot)i, two made coats, two guns, two kettles, ten bars of lead, twenty handfuls of powder; and further four hundred fathom of white wampum after a year's expiration from the day of the sd John Bayly, Daniel Denton and Luke Watson entery upon ye said lands. " The surveys made in 1699 and 1700 show that the town included the lands where Rahway, Westfield, Plainfield, Scotch Plains. Springfield, New Providence, Summit and other places are built, extending to Union Village and into the Great Swamp, north of Long Hill. The names of the applicants who purchased the lands of the Indians are John Baillies, Daniel Denton, Thomas Benydick, Nathanel Denton, John Foster, Luke Watson. At the easterly end of the Passaic valley (an Indian name) a hamlet called Turkey was founded at an early day by these English settlers, as the following petition shows: "The freeholders, inhabitants and owners of the land of and belonging to Elizabeth Town, or township, and other lands thereto adjacent, in the province of East New Jersey, inAmerica, in behalf of themselves and many others." After reciting their title they say: " The said purchasers, and those claiming under them, still continue in the possession of the lands by them purchased, and peaceably enjoyed the same, until September, 1693, being nearly thirty years, and during that time, at great labour and ^xpence, built, planted and improved the same; and they humbly conceive they ought according to law, reason and justice, still enjoy the same." This inference is strengthened by the names signed to the petition, which are familiar to this locality, Cory, Clarke, Crane, Osborn, Lyon, Little, Bonnel, Price, Sayre, Brown, among one hundred and twenty signatures. The name Elizabeth Town was given in honor of Lady Elizabeth, wife of Sir George Carteret. Turkey, tradition says, was a name suggested by the abundance of wild turkeys in this locality. Denton writes, 1670, to his friends in England: " Venison, turkeys, geese, heath hens, cranes, swans, ducks, pidgeons, * * * sweetness of the air, * * * if there be any terrestrial Canaan, 'tis surely here, where the land floweth with milk and honey." THE PRBSBYTERIAN CHURCH IN NEW PROVIDENCE. These sturdy yeoman, desiring freedom to worship God, were devoted and faithful observers of the Lord's day, traveling on foot and horseback to Elizabeth to attend meeting. In 1737 a log church was erected in Turkey. In 1739 this was replaced by a new frame building. This structure covered on the sides, as well as roof, with cypress shingles, served until 1834, and was then superseded by the present building. The lot, containing nineteen acres, was given by John Blanchard, the deed being dated October 30, 1738. The first authentic record of New Providence having been substituted for the name Turkey is in the deed by Samuel Johnson for the parsonage property, dated February 7, 1759. The consideration named in the deed is sixty pounds ten shillings. The parsonage, a beautiful place, is still retained. The purchase of a parsonage was resolved upon in 1748, eleven years before the deed was executed; and the scheme of a lottery was resorted to for raising the money, .^152-5-0, the drawing to take place at the house of Benjamin Pettit, Esquire, Turkey, if filled by that time, under the care and management of Messrs. Benjamin Pettit, David Day, Elnathan Cory, John Badgley, Nathaniel Davis and Josiah Broadwell, on or before the first Tuesday in November, 1748. In 1769 it was "agreed that the meeting house be enlarged on the north side sixteen feet; and sealed overhead and sides and ends." In 1781, " voted that it be plastered, both sides ends and overhead." William Parsons was paid for "underpinning" it iu 580 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 1783. The lottery was used for ways and means in building and improving the meeting house. From 1739 to 1783, a period of forty-four years, these devoted people worshiped in discomfort, without fires, excepting a few embers carried in foot stoves by the women. In 1769, "at a public lecture it was voted that the seats on the men's side of the galleries should be rebuilt, and that pews over each stare way should be built. Cost ^30-4-10. ' ' Tradition says the name New Providence was substituted for Turk ey because of the fall of the galleries, and the new name having been used in 1759, i' must have been eleven years before the repairs were made. The society was incorporated March 20, 1793, and Mr. Elmer dismissed. Springfield was set off May 27, 1793, the line run- ning by New Providence meeting house to Passaic river. February 4, 1794, the westerly line was extended to Somerset county line. In 1809, November 8th, New Providence was erected into a township. Sixty years later, 1869, Summit township was formed from Springfield and New Providence. The following is a list of the pastors of the church from the time of its organization: John Cleverly, 1737-39; Azariah Horton, 1740-41; Joseph Lamb, 1742-43; Timothy Symmes, 1746-50; Timothy Allen, 1753-56; Johathan Elmer, 1757-93 ; William Jackson, 1794; John Richards, 1795; James G. Force, 1796-1802; Elias Riggs, 1806-25; James B. Hyndshaw, 1825-32; William H. Burroughs, 1833-34; Thomas Cochran, 1834-46; John T. M. Davie, 1846-47; Elbridge Bradbury, 1847-51; Charles Milne, 1852-55; James McDoug- all, 1855-56, stated supply; John A. Baldwin, 1857-63; William L. Moore, 1864-70; Elias R. Fairchild, D. D., 1870-75; Henry M. Grant, 1877-79; Albert King, 1879, stated supply; D. M. Seward, D. D., 1880-81; W. A. Hooper, 1882. THE METHODIST EPISCOPAI, CHURCH IN NEW PROVIDENCE. The first Methodist preacher in America, Philip Embury, preached in his own house in New York in 1766. Under his ministry Mrs. Jonathan Morrell became a convert. The family afterward moved to Elizabethtown, 1772. Soon after the war traveling preachers visited the place. " September 6, 1785, Bishop Asbury preached in the unfinished Presbyterian church, Elizabethtown, by invitation." Methodism, probably by the aid of the itinerants, found its way to New Providence, and in 1798 a class was formed here. The circuit preachers in Elizabethtown that year were James Tolleson, Samuel Thomas and Thomas Morrell. Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke were the bishops. The circuit was in the Philadelphia conference. New Jersey district. Johnnie Robertson, or Robinson, was appointed the first leader of the class. The meeting was held at the house of Charles Mooney. Chief among the families were the Woods, Clarks, Corys, Days, Elmers, Cranes and Dickinsons. Mr. Mooney lived where the late Mr. John Walsh lived, — on the highest ground on the left, before reaching the mountain on the road leading south from West Summit station — now, 1894, Division avenue. From a deed, dated in 1803, and still in a good state of preservation, we learn that a site for a Methodist church and burying ground was given by George Cory and Rachel (Price) his wife. It contained one acre, and is yet a burial place, having been enlarged by an addition on the south side. The church was built on the northeast corner of the lot. It was a plain frame structure without tower or steeple, of good dimensions, with gable facing the stage road leading from Elizabethtown to Basking Ridge. Galleries were constructed on the sides and front end. There was no vestibule. A stairway leads from each of the two doors opening from the street, meeting on a landing and converg- ing into one flight of steps above. The pulpit as first constructed was of the antique Episcopal style, consisting of a deep octagonal box, about four feet in width, highly elevated on posts and covered with a canopy or sounding-board. The backs of the seats were nearly perpendicular, and as high as the shoulders or neck; they tended to promote seclusion, but not comfort ; penance, but not joy. A letter written from a resident to a friend in the west, in 1807, tells us that passing teams were^ then on the way " to Peapack to get lime to plaster the meeting house." Mr. S. S. Day writes, November, 1894 : "I have no list of contributors to the build- HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 581 ing of the old church. Prominent members of the society at that time were Daniel S. Wood, Daniel Seely Clark, Levi Wilcox and Daniel Valentine. I have no knowledge of its cost. The carpenter work was done by Charles Mooney. The corner-stone was laid in April, 1803. The sermons at the dedication were preached by Joseph Totten and William Mills. Mr. Mooney put iu the pews, and built one for the accommodation of himself and family. Later he was expelled from the society, but he insisted upon occupy- ing his pew property. According to my notes the building was completed and permanent seats put in in i8n." From an old register, dated on the title page 1802, we learn that the first board of trustees was organized 1802: "At an Election held at the house of Waters Burrows in New Providence, on the ■ Day of March, 1802, and The following Persons were duly Elected Trustees of The Methodist Episcopal church in the Township of Springfield, County of Essex and State of New Jersey (New Providence township was set off from Elizabethtown and Springfield A. D. 1809.) Branard Dickinson, Joshua Ward, Isaac Sarle (Searle) Daniel S. Wood, Waters Burrows, John Willcocks, Ezra Williams. Branard Dickinson Elected President of the Trusties, the above is recorded according to Law in the Clerk's office of sd County." " At an Election held at the house of Waters Burrows on the 30 Day of April, 1803 for the purpose of Electing two Trusties to fill the places of Joshua Ward and Daniel S. Wood who have resigned, and the following persons were duly Elected, viz.. Smith Miller, Henry Mooney." " After advertising Ten days according to Law, there was an Election held at The Methodist Meeting house in Newprovidence on the 30 Day, of March 1809 to fill the places of henry mooney Waters Burrows John Willcocks & Ezra Williams and the following persons were duly Elected Stephen D.ay Joseph Crane, John Crane Thos Parrott Stephen Da}' was Chosen President of Trusties Daniel S. Clark Sec'y." These records of meet- ings to this date are in the handwriting of Daniel S. Clark. There is no record, excepting that of the ministerial, from this date until 1815, March 5, when an " account with the Treasurer and Trustees of the Methodis Episcopal Church New Providence " was opened. This is a complete and accurate account in detail of the "Penny Collections " received and the disbursements, extending over a period of forty-one years, to June 15, 1856, when " Wm. E. Samson was Elected Treasurer." John Crane was treasurer from March 5, 1815, to July 18, 1843, when he was called to render up his account and rest from his labors at the age of seventy-nine. He was a quiet, faithful and honest worker. The next items of special importance in this connection, taken from the register above referred to, are several quarterly-conference minutes made in 1832. "At a quarterly Conference held at the Methodist Chapel in New Providence on the i6th of June, 1832, for New Providence Circuit. Amos Willcox Cl'k. Rev. George Brown Presided, three Stewards was then Elected viz D. S. Clark, Thomas O. Scudder & John Briant Sd D. S. Clark appointed recording Steward. "The application of John Newell for License to Preach the Gospell was submitted to the judgment of the Rev. George Brown untill the next quarterly meeting Conference. ' • Resolved that there be General Class meeting once every month in said Circuit. " Resolved there be a Campmeeting at Plainfield the ensuing season. (Financial.) Ezra Drake, leader. Paid to Stewards . . • ■ • • $4-43 Union Village Society Paid to Stewards ■ 8.74 Plainfield Society Paid to Stewards . ■ • 8.50 Collection on Sabbath 17th June in New Providence . . . 6.29 $27.96 "The above was Paid to Rev. George Brown, except five Dollars made Present to Brother Janes (afterward Bishop Janes. ) " D. S. CtARK, Recording Steward. " At a quarterly Conference for New Providence Circuit held at the Camp Meeting near Plainfield on the 30th of August 1832 the following Members were present: Charles o82 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Pitman, P. E. George Brown, Jno. N. Crane, Preachers. Stephen Day, L. D. (Local Deacon). L. Rood, L. P. (Local Preacher). Leaders S. Day Jun, Ezra Drake, T. O. Scudder, John Briant. Stewards D. S. Clark, T. O. Scudder, John Briant, Stephen Day, E. B. Townley. Exorter David Codington. The P. Elder asked the following questions i. Are there any complaints, None 2d are there any appeals none 3d is there any unfinished Business, none 4th is there any applications for License to Preach, the Case of Brother John Newell was brought Before the Conference who was regularly Recommended by his Class to receive license to Preach After a due and Satisfactory Kxamination he was licensed to Preach the Gospel. "The next quarterly meeting is to be held at Plainfield 27-28, October, 1832." In 1833 this place, with Union Village, was made .a station, and John K. Shaw was appointed preacher in charge. In 1834 New Providence circuit was made, by union with Spring- field, Chatham and Genung Town, including Bottle Hill, now Madison. It was restored to a station in 1836. Mrs. Elizabeth Day, widow of Rev. Stephen Day, born in 1787, became a member of the first class formed, in 1797, and continued in the activities and joys of a Christian life until called to her heavenly home, June 5, 1884. As the years passed, the old church was the scene of hundreds of conversions, the large ingathering in 1842-3 under the ministry of Rev. Mulford Day, having been in this regard a notable one. The present neat and commodious church was dedicated July 29, 1857, by Bishop Scott, his text being a sermon in itself: Psalm 137, 5-6. The Union Village church was erected in 1824-5, largely through the efforts of Elam Genung, a local preacher, who afterward re- moved to the west, and it has been a dear and sacred place to many a soul. ST. LUKE'S CHURCH, MURRAY HILL. In the summer of 1889 the Rev. W. Maxwell Reilly, rector of the Protestant Epis- copal church at Scotch Plains, New Jersey, commenced holding religious services in the public-school building in the village of New Providence. Being unable to obtain the permanent use of the building, Mr. Daniel Pike made application and secured the use of tlie railroad station at Murray Hill for the continuance of the services, which were held as a mission work by persons of different denominations. On Sunday, July 22, 1889, after religious services, a meeting was held at the resi- dence of Dr. Samuel H. Bassinger, in accordance with a notice which had previously been given. There were present Colonel and Mrs. E. H. Ropes, Mr. and Mrs. Kramm, Mr. and Mrs. T. W. Hood, Miss Amy McEHigott and Dr. S. H. Bassinger. Colonel E. H. Ropes was called to the chair, and Dr. Bassinger was appointed secretary. After a full discussion of the subject. Colonel E. H. Ropes, Mr. Ephraim Kramm and Dr. S. H. Bassinger were chosen a committee to take necessary steps to perpetuate religious services at Murray Hill regularly each Sabbath. Dr. Bassinger was elected treasurer, and instructed to collect funds for the support of the mission. At a subsequent meeting, held November 28, 1889, at the house of Dr. Bassinger, there being present Messrs. Barbour, Kramm, Hood, J. M. Wilcox, Bisbee, Bowen, A. Miller and Dr. Bassin- ger, Dr. Bassinger was called to the chair, and Mr. J. M. Wilcox was chosen secretar}'. A motion having been made to that effect, it was decided to increase the general committee to five, and Messrs. Hood, Barbour and J. M. Wilcox were added to the com- mittee. Mr. Bowen was elected superintendent of the Murray Hill mission Sunday school. Dr. S. H. Bassinger was re-elected treasurer. Services were continued from that time with varying encouragement, being held each Sunday afternoon in the rail- road station at Murray Hill, until some diflSculty arose in regard to the authority of the Rev. Mr. Reilly, when the attendance upon the services, and, consequently the offer- ings were so greatly diminished, growing less and less each Sunday, that the Rev. Mr. Reilly, together with some of those connected with the mission, decided to move the services to the village of New Providence, which they did on the 8th of November, 1890. The remaining members of the mission, thinking there was no need for such a mission at New Providence, as there were already two churches there, acting under the direction of the majority of the general committee, continued holding services during the winter at the residence of Dr. Bassinger. The services were conducted by ministers of CARL H. SCHULTZ HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 583 different evangelical denominations, among whom were Rev. Mr. Lockwood of the Methodist Episcopal church; Rev. W. A. Hooper and Dr. White, of the Presbyterian church; the Rev. Mr. Hoor, of the Baptist church, the Revs. Gallagher, Huntington, Windeger, Dennis and Walters, of the Reformed Episcopal church, and the Rev. A. F. Lyle, of the Presbyterian church, Newark, the last mentioned preaching for nineteen consecutive Sundays. During the ministration of Rev. Mr. Lyle a special meeting was held, May lo, 1891, Mr. Lyle presiding as chairman. The following resolution was oifered and unanimously adopted: " Resolved, That two delegates be elected to represent this mission, and ask the synod of New York and Philadelphia, of the Reformed Episcopal church, to receive us as a new parish, and grant us pecuniary aid in sustaining the preaching of the gospel." Dr. S. H. Bassinger and Mr. T. W. Hood were elected delegates, and attended the meeting of the synod, and upon their representation the parish was formally received into connection with the Reformed Episcopal church. The Rev. A. F. Lyle continued his ministrations very acceptably until the end of July, 1891, at which time the Rev. W. A. L. Jett, of Virginia, was invited to preach during the month of August, and at the expiration of that time a call was extended to him to become the permanent pastor of the church, which he accepted, and took charge October 18, 1891, and was duly installed as such, on the 12th of the following month, by Bishop William R. Nicholson, the bishop in charge of the synod. The church edifice was dedicated at the same time, Bishop Nicholson preaching the dedication sermon, and Rev. Alexander Thompson, D. D., of the Dutch Reformed church, delivering the installation address to the newly elected pastor. When Mr. Jett took charge of the parish he found only four communicants, and eight children in the Sunday school. The communicant list has increased to fifteen, notwithstanding the loss of four by death and other causes, and there are now thirty- three names upon the roll of the Sunday school. During the three years of Mr. Jett's pastorate he has baptized twenty-seven, presented six for confirmation, officiated at three marriages and six burials. CARL H. SCHULTZ, for more than thirty-five years a well known business man in the city of New York, died at his home in Murray Hill, New Jersey, May 29, 1897. He died from pneumonia, and had been ill only a few days. He was sixty-nine years old. Mr. Schultz, who was born in Germany, on October 2, 1827, gradu- ated from the University of Breslau, in 1849, with the highest honors, and came to this country in 1853 to act as assistant to Professor Silliman in charge of the chemical exhibit of the World's Exposition. In that way he became acquainted with prominent scientists, and later was made assistant to Dr. John Torrey, in the College of Physicians and Surgeons. When the United States assay office was established, in 1854, Mr. Schultz was appointed assistant to Dr. Torrey, the chief assayer. In 1867 Mr. Schultz was sent abroad by the government to investigate the coinage system of the European nations, on which he subsequently made a report, regarded at the time as being of much value. Mr. Schultz became interested in mineral waters before the war, and established a manufactory in New York in 1862. Some years later he took full charge of this business, and a dozen years ago founded the settlement of Murray Hill, New Jersey, where he introduced the macad- amized roads and expended much money in this direction. He erected 584 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY a country seat here, which is possibh- the finest in Union county, and to which he was very much attached. He also built houses for all of his married daughters here. Mr. Schultz leaves a widow, seven daughters and three sons, — two of whom graduated from Yale College in June, 1897, one having taken the Sheffield course and the other the academic course. The third, a lad of eighteen, is now attending St. Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire. Mr. Schultz devoted much time and means to charitable and scientific work, and was connected with the German Hospital, Post- Graduate Medical School and other charitable institutions. He was a member of the New York Academy of Science, the American Chemical Society, the College of Pharmacy, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and several clubs. Mr. Schultz employed in his mammoth establishment some two hundred and fifty men, all of whom held their generous and beloved employer in the highest esteem ; he was gentle, kind and just to all, and was looked upon more as a father than an employer. The heads of the several departments are men who have been thirty odd years in the employ, and were selected and trained with great care by Mr. Schultz for their various positions. These men, with the widow, will conduct the business as heretofore. HENRY FERDINAND. BARRELL. The ancient family name of Barrell dates its origin back to the sixteenth century in Herefordshire, England, the first person bearing that cognomen to emigrate to America being George Barrell, the rec- ords of whom show that he died, a freeman of Boston, on the 4th of September, 1643. John Barrell (ist), son of George, was born in 1618, and died on the 29th of August, 1658. He was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, of Boston. John Bar- rell, the second, was the sixth child, born in 1656, and he died in 1743. In 1686 he was Captain John Barrell, mariner of Boston, and master of a barque sailing for the West Indies. He utilized his wealth in fitting out ships for religiously persecuted persons of Eng- land. He was buried in the Granary burying grounds, Boston Com- mons. His son, also named John, was the second child, and was born in Boston on the 20th of August, 1707, his death occurring in England in 1781. He was a wealthy merchant of Boston. Joseph, the son of John (3d), was born in Boston, February 28, 1739, and died October 13, 1804. He married Sarah Webb, of Wethersfield, Connecticut. He was a prosperous and well known merchant of Boston, and an earnest and unrelenting supporter of the Revolution, who had the distinction of entertaining Generals Washington and Lafayette on their visits to HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 585 Boston. Ill 1779-80 he was engaged with Colonel Samuel B. Webb in fitting out privateers for the purpose of waging war against Great Britain's merchant marine, and in 1787 he, in conjunction with several others, built and sent out the ships Columbia and Washington to cir- cumnavigate the globe, and on the nth of February, 1792, a river was discovered by the Columbia, and was given that name. George Bar- rell, son of Joseph, was born on the 5th of February, 1788, and married Miss Eliza Leaycraft, daughter of Captain George Leaycraft, who served during the Revolutionary war as captain in Colonel Lamb's First Artillery of New York state. He was lost at sea in his own vessel. George and Eliza (Leaycraft) Barrell were the parents of our subject. The father was a prominent broker in rice and dye woods, in New York city, where he established his business in 1821, continuing in the same for a period of forty years. Henry F. Barrell was born in New York on the 3d of October, 1833, and there passed liis youth, attending the public schools, adding to the knowledge thus acquired by a course at the Mount Pleasant Military Academy, in Sing Sing, New York, from which he was graduated in 1848, at the early age of fifteen years. As a boy Mr. Barrell evinced a great dislike for city life and a corresponding fond- ness for the country, and he spent his summers in Orange, New Jersey, reveling in the delights of nature in her variegated forms. In 1850 he went to Orange county, New York, to reside, and in 1853 ^^ purchased a farm in Warwick township, bordering on Wickham's Pond, which he retained until 1864, when he disposed of it and bought another at New Providence, New Jersey, taking possession of the same on the i8th of July, in the same year, and continued to reside there until his death, which occurred on the 28th of October, 1895, at the age of sixty- two. His great admiration and love for nature remained undiminished till the last, and during the latter years of his life he made many valu- able collections of insects, birds and minerals, during which time he was a liberal contributor to thedivision of ornithology in the agricul- tural department at Washington, District of Columbia, of full reports on the subject of bird migration. In his political views Mr. Barrell had always bee4i identified with the Republican party, and in 1875 he held his first position of a public nature, at New Providence, when he was elected to the office of school trustee, at which time the public school was in a primitive condition. For twenty years, or up to the time of his demise, he continued as a trustee, and during the last nineteen years he filled the office of district clerk. As a result of his earnest efforts the school rapidly advanced until for many years it has ranked among the foremost in the county as regards all the advantages to be furnished the scholars, and through his energy and enterprise an excellent library was supplied. New Providence being one of the first towns to take advantage of the state 596 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY aid in helping forward this worthy object. Dnring the different periods of his life Mr. Barrell held at New Providence the office of town committeeman, was for a number of years, and until his death, the township clerk, and in 1895 he was elected justice of the peace. Both of Mr. Barren's parents were members of St. Thomas' Epis- copal church, in New York, and in that faith he was reared, but in the latter part of his life he attended the Presbyterian church of New Providence. On the 15th of April, 1858, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Barrell, in the town of Warwick, Orange county. New York, to Miss Elizabeth Wisner, daughter of the late Henry B. Wisner, and the issue of this union included the following children : Henry Ferdinand, Charles Wisner, deceased; Elizabeth, Robert Webb, Joseph, William Colburn, deceased; Ruth, Dorothy and Ethel. The death of Mr. Barrell was sincerely mourned, not only by his family, but by a large circle of friends, to whom his many excellent qualities of character warmly endeared him. A man of strong char- acter, yet gentle and loving in his disposition, a kind friend, and an affectionate and tender husband and father, his loss to the com- munity was irreparable. CHAPTER XXIX. SUMMIT. UMMIT township was formed from Springfield and New Providence, by act of the legislature, in the year 1869. It is situated in Union county, and is bounded on the north by Millburn township, Essex county, on the east by Spring- field, Fanwood'and New Providence, and on the west by New Provi- dence and the Passaic river. The Passaic is also the dividing line between Union and Morris counties. EARLY SETTLEMENT. We find manyl of the early homes in this township still standing, and a few of them are occupied by the descendants of the pioneers. Here and there, where the early homes have disappeared, some memento can be traced, — a few fruit trees, planted by the first settlers, are yet standing. Many of these trees were raised from seeds brought by the pioneers when they came and settled in these hills. We notice that some of the foundation stones of these farm houses were carefully squared and shaped before being placed, the mortar being now as hard as the stone. The following is a record of some of the first settlers: Isaac Sayre came from New England, between 1700 and 1720, and settled between the mountains southwest of Springfield. He married Jane, daughter of Matthias Swaine. We find the former home of Mr. Benjamin Weed, who came and settled upon the westerly side of Second mountain in the year 1730. William Robinson, the " Father of Meth- odism," settled on Stony Hill about 1720. The original home is still standing, but had an addition made a few years ago. At his house, in 1786, was organized the first Methodist society of this valley. The church was built in New Providence, in 1801, and Mr. Robinson was appointed class-leader. He married his cousin, Betsey Robinson, on the 2d of December, 1772. Major Jotham Potter, son of John, son of John, son of Joseph Potter. The New Providence branch is from Samuel Potter. The ancestor of the Potter family in this section of the country came from Wales. He settled on a tract of land, four hundred and fourteen and one-half acres, at the foot of the Second mountain, by the side of an old mine, and on the east side of Green river (Green brook), which was laid out for him February 26, 1733. He was a justice of the peace. 588 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Major Potter married Rebecca Crane, of Westfield township. Major Potter was quite prominent in military affairs, and for many years had charge of the militia, acting as a major. He' was prominent in many enterprises, and was for many years an elder of the Presbyterian church. There was also a Major Jotham Potter, the second child of Amos Potter, Esq. He also was a major in the militia and a justice of the peace. He married Phebe Pettit, and had eight children. His son was the Rev. Ludlow Day Potter, a Presbyterian preacher in Indiana, and another son, Amos, who was born in 1820, is now an elder in the Presbyterian church, in New Providence. Peter Parrot married Sally Crane, daughter of Norris Crane. Daniel Seely Clark (son of Samuel Clark), born on 12th of August, 1773. On the 28th of February, 1796, he married Sally Wilcox, daughter of John, and died February 22, 1843, nearly seventy years of age. Daniel, like his father, was a mer- chant, and a justice of the peace. He lived on his father's farm, and kept the same store his father did before him. Mr. Clark had nine children. Moses Reeves, son of Watts Reeves, of Springfield township, lived in the valley between the First and Second mountains, next to Dayton Badgley's. Benjamin Sturgis' lands lay just on the southerly part of this township. He was a carpet-weaver as well as farmer. He married Hetty Badgley, daughter of Anthony Badgley. They had no children. They lived to be quite old. Samuel Badgley lived between the First and Second mountains. He married Polly Frazee, and had nine children. Isaac Bryant was a relative of Captain William Bryant ; they lived for a time in or near Elizabethtown, but Isaac moved to Stony Hill. Joseph Doty came from the east end of Long Island, and owned part of lot No. 39 of the Elizabethtown lots in Stony Hill valley, just on the borders of New Providence township. He married Sarah Badgley, sister of John and James Badgley. Benjamin Spinning was probably one of the first settlers in this township. It is supposed that he was a descendant of Humphrey Spin- ning, who died about 1700. They lived in the borough of Elizabeth- town. Mr. Humphrey Spinning married Abigail Hubbard, daughter of George Hubbard, of Guilford, Connecticut, in 1657, and came to this state about this time. In the records of the court in old Essex county is mentioned a Benjamin Spinning, a constable in 1714. John Noe (Nue). This family were Huguenot refugees. The name was originally, it is thought, " Nean." Elias Nean was one of the founders of the French church in New York, and emigrated as a catechist of the Propagation Society. " That good man," Peter Noe, was admitted as an associate in 1695, with a third-lot right. His sou John, in 1694, was a subscriber to Rev. Mr. Harriman's support, but resided in Woodbridge, Middlesex county. One record makes him the son of Daniel Noe. He married HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 589 Mary Ayres, of Woodbridge. He died April 26, 1828, aged seventy-one years. His wife, Mary, died October 31, 1823, aged sixty-four years. They had seven children. Jabesh Shipman married Agnes Rogers, and owned lands next west from where Thomas Squires lived. Benoni Trembly (Tranbles) may have been a descendant of John Trembly, a Huguenot refugee ; he married Mary Noe, daughter of Peter Noe, about the year 1694. Peter Trembly is mentioned in or about Westfield, perhaps on the First mountain. Benoni Trembly lived on lot No. 61 of the Elizabethtown lots south of Aaron M. Ludlow's house. He was a wagon-maker, was an elder in the New Providence church (Summit had no church so early), and had four children : Benjamin, Jonathan, Abraham and Becca. He died in October, 1788. Andrew Hyslip (Hislip) came from Scotland and settled on the John Robison place. He was an extensive raiser of fine fruit. Mr. Hyslip married Ann Matthews, from England, and had three children. William Ivittell, Esq., son of John and Mary Ivittell, was born October 10, 1813, and on the 26th of October, 1836, married Mehetabel Bonnel, daughter of Jonathan C. Bonnel, and by this marriage they had four children, — William Henry, born May 2, 1840 ; Theodore, born May 14, 1844 ; Frederick ; Rose, born April 12, 1847 ; ^^^ Julia Smith, born April 3, 1851. CIVIL ORGANIZATION. An act to create a new township in the county of Union, to be called the township of Summit, was passed on the 17th day of March, 1869. The people of this new township are very greatly indebted to Augustus J. Thebaud for his untiring efforts, which were crowjied with success, b\' the passage of the act by an almost unanimous vote. VILLAGES AND HAMLETS. The town of Summit includes the whole of the center and main road called Springfield avenue, leading from the village of New Provi- dence. The outskirts are surrounded with fine country-seats,— the home of retired as well as business men from the adjacent cities of Newark and New York. West Summit is on the extreme border of the township, and has many fine residences and well cultivated farms. The depot of the Passaic & Delaware River Railroad is here convenient for all needed transit. The roads are kept in excellent order. The Baptist church is here located, as well as various business enterprises. East Summit, or Deantown, as originally called, from the settlement of families by name of Dean, is to the extreme eastern border of the township. District school. No. 20, is here located ; also the hub factory of Houtem & Brother. This part of the township is growing rapidly, 590 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY with neat comfortable homes. Good roads are found here, as well as in nearly the whole of the township. Huntly is a small hamlet, having a mail, and is included in East Summit boundary. The following historical sketch is taken from the Summit Herald of December 19, 1896 : As its name indicates, Summit is situated upon the top of a mountain, at a mean altitude of four hundred and fifty feet, the highest point being five hundred and forty- feet above tide water. From Overlook, Hill Crest and other vantage places, views may be obtained that are unsurpassed in the state. The landscape is diversified. Toward the east the picture is that of a level expanse of land, with the cities of Newark, Elizabeth and the metropolis of the nation filling in the horizon; to the north the view stretches a distance of forty miles to the Blue Ridge, "woods and templed hills " filling in the panorama, making it a scene of beauty as well as of grandeur. Not only does Summit afford far reaching vistas of beauty, but it is the center of a clu.Kter of gems that nature has wrought in a setting of wondrous picturesqueness. Within or near its own limits the town possesses a varied scenery that excites the admiration of all lovers of nature. The laying out of roads and the building of many residences in recent years have, with the aid of the landscape gardeners, only enhanced the work of nature. Its altitude and hygienic surroundings have made of Summit a great health resort, especially to those afl^ected with throat and lung troubles. The purest of artesian-well water and an effectively operated sewerage system insure a continuance of the town's health-giving qualities. Possessing these many natural attractions, the marvelous growth of Summit during the past few years has been the result solely of its merits in this direction, and its rapid development is by no means the consequence of any real-estate boom. This is the highest praise to be said of a growing town, and indicates the abiding character of its five thousand and three hundred inhabitants, who have made their homes here because they are able to appreciate the true worth of the place. Summit has but to be seen to be admired. Many who have come to this overlook town for a brief summer stay have been so captivated by the charms of the village that they have located here permanently. The fame of Summit as a summer resort has been the means of introducing the claims of the place to city residents more than any other way. They have been attracted to this place for the heated season not less bj' nature's ample provision of pure air and beautiful scenery than by the sumptuous equipments of its palatial hotels and many large boarding houses. Summit is essentially a place of homes. Its suburban character and easy access to the city, with thirty-two trains daily in each direction, has appealed to the business men who desire to escape the noise and turmoil of city life when the day's work is done and wish their homes to be located where quiet reigns and among people of like cultivated tastes. In municipal improvemeuts Summit exceeds most towns of like population. Many miles of well kept macadam roads, lighted by electricity; an abundant water supply, gas, a sewerage system, a well graded primary and high school, are among the things upon which its claim for superiority is based. An eflScient police force and well equipped fire department add to the security enjoyed by the inhabitants. A free library, several literary societies and five private schools: St. George's Hall, Kent Place School, Summit Academy, Miss Potwin's School for Girls, and the Summit School of Music, are indications of the intellectual stauding of the community. The resident streets of Summit present many handsome and attractive homes and there are many mansions here which can successfully vie with Fifth avenue houses in the beauty and richness of their interiors. There are also many pleasant smaller houses of beautiful exteriors and homelike interiors which are owned by the home-lovers of moderate means. The business structures are of an imposing nature, there being no less than eight brick blocks, including the Van Cise building with Howard and Willard halls, the Wulfif block and the Taylor building, both having offices and lodge rooms, and the Kenny block. The Town Hall was erected in 1S93, at a cost of twelve thousand dollars, HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 591 and coutains, besides the hall and township committee rooms, a police-justice court room and the house of Summit Hose and Hook and Ladder Companies, No. i. The manufacturing industries number but two,— a silk mill and tack factory,— which together employ two hundred and seventy-five hands. SOCIAL AND ATHLETIC CLUBS. The Fortnightly Club is an organization of ladies who have banded together for intellectual improvement. Their meetings are literary in character and the subject being studied this year is Russia: its history, social life, literature and art. The officers of the club are: President, Mrs. Lemuel Skidmore; first vice-president, Miss E. A. Means; second vice-president, Mrs. F. L. Crawford; treasurer. Miss Harriette Brewster; secretary, Miss Clara B. Potwin. The Highland Club is a gentleman's club. It was organized last month (Novem- ber, 1896) and rents a building which has been fitted up for the purpose of a club house. The officers are: President, William H. Risk, M. D.; vice-president, Charles E. Kimball ; secretary, Thomas B. Adams; treasurer, J. Frank Haas. The Summit Field Club was formed for the purpose of encouraging outdoor sports, and although in its infancy, the organization promises to have a brilliant future. The spacious grounds on Summit avenue are adequate for all the sports to be promoted by the club. W. C. L. Rubsamen is president of the club, and the other officers are: vice- president. Dr. J. Boyd Risk; secretary and treasurer, A. W. Hicks. The Summit Wheelmen is a club composed of riders of the silent steed, and was organized in August of this year (1896) the officers being Seaman Wright, Jr., president; John W. Clift, vice-president; Harry L. Card, secretary, and George V. Muchniore, treasurer. The fraternal societies of Summit are: Summit Council, No. 1042, Royal Arcanum; Overlook Lodge, No. 163, F. and A. M.; U. S. Grant Post, G. A. R.; Overlook Council, No. 211, Jr. O. U. A. M., and the Summit T. A. B. Society. CHURCHES. In no feature of Summit's marvelous growth has there been such conspicuous transformation in the past decade as in her church edifices and organizations. Fifty years ago there were no churches in Summit. Union meetings were held by the Presbyterians and Methodists in the red school house, on Morris avenue, at the junction of the Feltville road, an old building that was erected in 1795. For many years the few members of the various denominations worshiped at New Providence, Millburn, Springfield or Madison. The town is now graced with five handsome church buildings that are a great attraction to the place. CALVARY CHURCH, PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL. The first church organization in Summit was that of the Protestant Episcopal, in 1840, when the Calvary church organization was formed as a mission, and met in a small building erected on lands given by William Littell, and Rev. Dr. R. Riley became the first rector. The church was duly organized in 1862, and in 1872 a stone building was erected on the corner of Springfield avenue and Keithock place, in which they worshiped until it was destroyed by fire, in 1892. The present magificent building was erected on the beautiful site selected on Woodland avenue, in 1895, and dedicated Easter, 1896. The Rev. J. F. Butterworth, was the beloved rector from 1875 until 1893, when he was succeeded by the present popular rector, the Rev. Walker Gwynne. The present build- ing cost sixty-one thousand dollars, has a seating capacity of seven hundred and fifty, and the parish house, adjoining, was erected in 1894, at a cost of fifteen thousand dollars, which with the land purchased, and the site of their old church, which they still retain, makes its possessions worth about one hundred thousand dollars. ST. TERESA'S CATHOLIC CHURCH. St. Teresa's Catholic was built in 1862, upon a beautiful elevation on Morris avenue, by several charitable men residing in Summit, Madison and Whippany, and services 59:2 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY were conducted twice a month. In 1874, Rev. W. M. Wigger, D. D., bishop of Newark, was appointed the first rector. During his pastorate a residence and school were erected. The Rev. G. A. Vassallo, was placed in charge in 1876, under whose efficient care the church has made great progress. The present frame structure was added to the original stone church, which serves as an altar and vestry, in 1886, at a cost of twelve thousand three hundred dollars. Additions and improvements have been made several times since, and yet the present seating capacity is insufficient. This organization also own a fine cemetery property along the River road, which cost about three thousand six hundred dollars, and have recently purchased and fitted up a fine parochial-school building on Morris avenue, adjoining their church property. METHODIST EPISCOPAI, CHURCH. The Methodist Episcopal church of Summit was organized July 17, 1867, with thirty-seven members. The first board of trustees were : Benjamin S. Dean, John Denman, William B. Coggeshall, D. W. Day, and James Pitts. The first church build- ing, with seating capacity for one' hundred and fifty, was erected, on the corner of Morris and Summit avenues, in 1867, on land donated by Mrs. Mary Sayre, and was dedicated July, i858. The pulpit was supplied by preachers from Drew Theological Seminary, until 1869, when Rev. R. B. Collins was stationed here as the first pastor. A parsonage was erected, adjoining the church, in 1875, and the entire cost of property and furniture was less than ten thousand dollars. In 1889 the present desirable site was purchased, at a cost of seven thousand dollars, and the handsome stone structure, on the corner of the Boulevard and De Forest avenue, was built, the corner stone being laid October 23, 1S89, by Bishop Foss, and the building dedicated November 23, 1890, by Bishop Foster, under the pastorate of Rev. B. M. Garton, and cost about thirty-five thousand dollars. The parsonage, adjoining, was built under the pastorate of Rev. D. B. F. Randolph, at a cost of eight thousand dollars. The present membership is two hundred and sixty-five, and the seating capacity, including the gallery and Sunday- school room is six hundred. The Sunday school numbers about one hundred and fifty, and the church also has a thriving young peoples organization. The present pastor is Rev. C. S. Ryman, D. D. CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. The history of this church only dates back to 1870, when a few people met in Littell's hall (now occupied by the Summit Herald), and organized with twenty members." Rev. J. DeHart Bruen, was installed the first pastor, in 1871. The present church building, which is most conveniently situated, was dedicated in 1872, at a cost of sixteen thousand dollars, and the manse was erected in 1876, and cost six thousand dollars. The chapel was built in 1882, and cost six thousand six hundred dollars. The many improvements rendered necessary by the increased attendance have materially enhanced the appearance as well as the usefulness of the church. Rev. Dr. White was installed as pastor in 1S83, when the membership was one hiindred and seventy-three; at the present time it numbers three hundred and thirty members, — and the average attendance is between five and six hundred, — and the seating capacity is frequently taxed to the utmost. The first alterations were made in 1889, h\ the addition of large transepts on both the north and south ends of the church, and in 1890 it was found necessary to enlarge the chapel by the addition of two rooms, for bible and infant-class work. In 1S93 another addition was required to the church, to accommodate the increased attendance, and at the same time the magnificent grand organ was built in the extension to the east end of the building. Rev. Theodore F. White is pastor. FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. The First Baptist church has showu equal prosperity with her sister churches. This society was organized March 17, 1876, and worshiped in a building on Springfield ave- nue, West Summit, which had formerly been used by the Presbyterians for occasional ser- vices. Their membership here increased slowly but steadily. The present church build- HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 593 iiig, on Morris and New England avenues, was dedicated May 27, 188S, and the parsonage was erected one year later. The former pastors have been Rev. A. B. Woodworth, Rev. William Ivawrelice, and Rev. G. G. Noe. Rev. George E. Horr was the first pastor of the new church, and after three years' service he was succeeded by the Rev. N. B. Randall, under whose pastorate the church has increased in membership and influence until it has nearly outgrown its present quarters. The membership is one hundred and thirty, and the average attendance two hundred. About one thousand dollars was spent for improvements in 1892, and, when it is found necessary to enlarge, the congregation will probably select a new site and erect a handsome structure. They have a flourishing Sunday school, numbering one hundred and twenty-five members. There is also an organization of the Scandinavian Lutheran mission, that meets on Sunday in the Presbyterian chapel and during the week at the Y. M. C. A. building. They number about thirty Swedes, Danes and Scandinavians, and have already estab- lished a fund for the erection of a chapel. Our colored friends also hold occasional ser- vices here in Green's hall. YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. When first organized they rented a small house on Park avenue. This was in 1886, and was to be a test as to whether there was need for an institution of this kind in Summit. Time proved that there was such a need, — that a place where our young men could spend their evenings, surrounded by pure, wholesome influences, was really wanted. The rooms soon became a centre of activity among the young men, and the work grew apace, so much so that in a short time it became necessary to consider more com- modious quarters. A building of their own was suggested, and very soon a canvass for that end was begun, with the result that a lot was purchased on Railroad avenue and a frame building erected, free from debt, and ofl January i, 188 , the new rooms were formally opened. Here an excellent work was done, — old members still recall with pleasure many profitable and jolly times spent in these quarters. But as our town grew and the membership of the association increased, it became evident that this building would not long meet the requirements of its growing needs. So, in 1892, another build- ing canvass took place, resulting in the purchase of this present- site; and in November of that year the erection of the new building was begun. November of the following year saw their present roomy, well equipped and thoroughly up-to-date quarters opened, the same having cost in the neighborhood of twenty-four thousand dollars, of which sum five thousand dollars was paid for the lot. The building is a two-storied one. On the ground floor are two rented stores. The main entrance is on Springfield avenue, and leads directly into the reception room, in which is the general secretary's oflice. To the left is the handsomely furnished parlor, and on the right is the reading room. In the rear is a finely equipped gymnasium, the floor of which can be taken up in the summer time, when it is turned into a natatorium. The upper floor contains the lecture hall, seating three hundred, and the janitor's quarters. In the basement are two fine bowling alleys, lockers and dressing rooms, shower and tub baths. The present officers and board of directors are as follows: J. William Johnson, president ; William C. Renwick, vice-president ; J. Frank Haas, recording secretary ; John Kissock, treasurer; William Jessop, general secretary; William Halls, Jr., J. F. Chamberlain, Charles S. Day, Francis L. White, Charles B. Grant, D. A. Youngs, Arthur A. Ahern. The property is invested in a board of trustees composed of the following well known gentlemen : Charles B. Grant, president ; Francis S. Phraner, secretary ; E. G. Potter, treasurer ; E. C. Jewett, A. F. Dohrman, Charles S. Day, George H. Williams, William Halls, Jr. Another factor in this work which must not be omitted is the Ladies' Auxiliary, but for whom the work could never have accomplished what it has. To them the asso- ciation is indebted for the cheerful appearance of the rooms inside and for the comfort- able furnishings. They number about thirty. The officers are: Mrs. W. T. Day, presi- 38 594 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY dent ; Mrs. W. C. Renwick, vice-president ; Miss Louise Ahl, secretary ; Miss Julia I/ittell, treasurer. REAI, ESTATE. Those familiar with the growth of Summit do not need a setting forth of facts and figures to convince them of the rapid progress of our village to a place among the first of suburban towns in the state, but it may possibly be a surprise to the outside world to learn a few of the facts in reference to Summit's new buildings during the past few months. In the business portion of the town we have the new store buildings of the Summit shoe store, Walters' building, the building occupied by Dudgeon and Ely & Henry, Charles B. Grant's, H. M. Osmuu's, W. Z. Larned's office and banking building, and the Summit Bank, recently commenced. The cost of these buildings will be in the neighbor- hood of ninety thousand dollars. During the past six months at least twenty-five residences have been erected in Summit, at a cost of about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and the land that has changed hands during the same period will foot up to one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, which is an evidence of the demand for property in this place. In addition to this our property-holders have spent over ten thousand dollars for opening up new streets, putting in sewers and macadamizing. CHARITIES. The pride of Summit's philanthropic citizens is the Fresh Air and Convalescent Home, with its commodious building and record of the good work done since its founda- tiou in 1888. The original efforts of the institution were to give a brief breathing spell to those living in the crowded tenements of the city. Later it was found that by taking convalescent children as they were discharged from the city hospitals, its usefulness could be greatly increased. As their stay was only temporary, the good accomplished was usually counteracted by the return to the unhealthy surroundings of their city homes. Heuce, this year, the policy was inaugurated of keeping the children until their health was fully restored. During the summer eighty-nine children were thus cared for. At present there are thirty-four at the home. Nine convalescent beds and four fresh-air beds have been endowed, and there are also five memorial beds. The board of managers numbers forty-four ladies of Summit, and the officers are : President, Mrs. Henry L. Pierson ; vice-president, Mrs. George J. Geer ; corresponding and recording secretary, Miss Sarah B. Mathews ; treasurer, Mrs. Theodore C. Dunn. The Arthur's Home for destitute bo3'S was established in 1882, and since that time has cared for many hundred boys, finding homes for them with families when possible. The institution was incorporated in 1889, and in 1891 a farm of twenty-three acres, at New Providence, was presented by Colonel B. H. Ropes, one of the directors, and since then the home has occupied that place. At the last annual meeting the reports showed that one hundred and twenty-five children had been cared for during the year. The present officers of the home are : President, Mrs. Thomas B. Adams ; vice-president, Mrs. Joseph C. Clayton; treasurer, Mrs. John N. Cady; corresponding secretary, Mrs. R. D. Richard; recording secretary, Miss Emma C. Clark. NEWSPAPERS. The first newspaper published in Summit was issued March i, 1876, by Newton Woodruff, and was called the Triumph, but was discontinued one year later. Lorenzo H. Abby, of Madison, first established the Summit Herald, in July, 1881, printing it at Madison, in the office of the Madison Journal. After a few issues its publication was stopped for lack of patronage. The Summit Record was established, January 6, 1883, by Newton Woodruff, and passed into the hands of D. M. Smythe in 1885. Thomas F. Lane came into control of the paper by purchasing a chattel mortgage on the plant, in September, 1889. D. M. Smythe re-established the Summit Herald in October, 1889, and successfully conducted it until his death in February, 1896. Edward Gray purchased the paper from the HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 595 admiuistvatrix in May, and sold it to J. W. Clift, in Jul5-, 1896, under whose management the paper has improved in character and influence and is at present the leading paper of the town. SUMMIT TOWNSHIP OFFICERS. Township Committee,— George Wilcox, chairman; William H. Lawrence, treas- urer; Parker W. Page; Robert J. Muldowney, clerk; William H. Swain, freeholder; William H. Risk, township physician; S. R. Mullen, collector; John A. Hicks, assessor; William McMane, Sr., health inspector; W. B. Coggeshall, sewer inspector; William Stewart, captain of police. THE FI. North; and Robert G. Hann, secretary and treasurer. THE SUMMIT BANK. The Summit Bank was organized in June, 1891. W. Z. Larned was the first president. The following gentlemen compose the board of directors: John N. May, president; John N. Peet, A. W. Newell, Norman Schultz, George Wilcox and William C. Renwick. J. F. Haas is the cashier. The last financial statement of this institution showed surplus and undivided profits of $21,699.17, with individual deposits amounting to J198, 690.68. SUMMIT'S EARLY HISTORY. The following sketch of the early history of this prosperous town was read by Miss Julia I/ittell at a meeting of the Summit Chapter, Daughters of the Revolution, held at the residence of the regent, Mrs. Charles A. Robbins, on February 20, 1896 : It may perhaps be interesting to the chapter of the Daughters of the Revolution in Summit to hear something of the early history of our town and of its marvelous growth from four houses to the present number, and from about twenty inhabitants to about five thousand in less than sixty years, though this rapid growth really began forty years ago. One of these original four houses stood where the Beechwood entrance now is, on the site of the stone house occupied by Mr. Doaue, which, with two hundred acres of ground, was owned by Mr. Jotham Potter, later by Mr. J. C. Bonnel. Another, an old shingled house, stood opposite where Baldwin's bakery is and what is now the Park. Still another, where Dr. Risk's house stands, which the older residents remember as a story-and- a-half shingled red building with its old well-sweep in front and oaken bucket swinging in the air. Tradition says that Washington on his way to Morristown passed a night in this house. Perhaps this occurred after the great Princeton battle. The last of the original four houses is still standing, though hardly so recognized as such, because of its remodeled appearance, at the entrance of the Overlook road, and was formerly occupied by Mr. Brooks Sayre and his forefathers. Some outstanding houses, such as the Blackburn house and Mr. Kissock's, were remodeled later. The Grogan house, which stood where the entrance of Mr. Cranstoun's residence now is, was occupied in 1837 by a Mr. Philemon Elmer. The Burnett Osborn house, owned later by Mr. Van Blarcom, was burned some years ago. Mr. William Littell moved to Summit in 1837, and for a time, while his own house was being built, lived in that one of the four houses first described. This house — that is, the main part of it — was afterwards moved to Union avenue, opposite Purnald street. The house standing HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 597 directly opposile the Littell building was put up during this year and was occupied by the Littell family for fifty-two years. About this time the Morris & Essex Railroad was completed as far as Morristown, and Mrs. William Littell well remembers looking at the first train that went through Summit, in 1838. A wonderful sight, indeed, in those days, to see the steam engine trying to climb the hill, which it was unable to do until Mr. Littell sent his oxen to help pull up the train, which finally passed on to Madison. Mr. J. C. Bonnel (Mrs. William Littell's father) bought up much of the land along the railroad so as to secure the course of the railroad through and over " The Summit," as it was called for many years. He also built the well which, until recently, was used at the station to water the iron horse, to ensure the stopping of trains, though it was a steep climb up the hill. Mr. Bonnel foresaw that Summit, with its natural advantages of high land and pure air, with its short distance from the great metropolis, was destined to become a resort for many city people seeking country homes, and in buying the land of the neighborhood he succeeded in quieting the fears of the farmers, who thought the railroad would be a means of injury to their broad acres. This Morris & Essex Railroad was one of the first roads in New Jersey. The engines in taking water were brought opposite the tank, the driving wheels resting on the wheels in the track, and the engine being chained fast while they pumped the water. The Littell business began in a store which stood at the corner of the lot adjoining the homestead, where the railroad crossed the highway, and a platform was built against this store for Mr. Littell's accommodation in rolling off freight, and which for some years served also for the passengers' convenience in stepping on and off the cars. The post office was opened in this store, also the telegraph, with Mr. Theodore F. Littell as operator for many years, and both continued to hold their places in this store for some time after its removal to the brick building on the opposite side of the street, put up in 1866. the post oflSce for forty-fi-ve years. Mr. Littell's store and platform were used some time after the small building was put up for a depot where the freight house now stands. Between Mr. Littell's house and store he built his well, convenient to all, — the house, the store and the wayside travelers. Many an engineer and fireman has slaked his thirst at this well. Some times the trains were obliged to wait while either workman or traveler were taking a draught of water. The Rev. Theodore Cuyler, in a lecture delivered in the Presbyterian church a few years ago, spoke of Summit as a " watering place," alluding to this well, now covered over. Summit was destined to grow, and several houses were soon built, including that still standing on tbe northwest corner of Maple street and Railroad avenue, which was placed there by a retired sea captain, because, as he said, he was still able from the high piazza to get a view of New York bay, and keep his " life on the ocean wave " fresh in his mind. Chancellor Kent's house, where the Kent place school is now, was built in 1838, and was then considered a very handsome place. Chancellor Kent sold this place to Mr. W. D. C. Moller, and he later, as we know, to Mr. DeForest. The Beechwood stands where Dr. Parmly, a prosperous dentist from New York, built a fine summer residence at the top of the hill, with beautiful, well-kept lawns stretching down to the road. This afterwards passed into the hands of Mr. Jonathan Edgar, and was known as the Edgar place. Dr. Parmly also built the house now occupied by Dr. Burling, corner of Summit and Springfield avenues, known later as the Daggett Hunt place. He also built the brick house owned and occupied by the late Mr. George H. LeHuray, on Springfield avenue. About this time Mr. Oliver Hayes built the house on Springfield avenue near where the entrance to Mr. Amsinck's property now is, and he owned all the land en- closed with a black picket fence, some of which may still be seen. In this house his family lived for some years, but as the older members have died and the younger ones have moved away, no improvements have been made on this entailed property until lately. 598 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY The Episcopal church was built in 1852, a little brown wooden building accommo- dating about seventy-five persons, which stood where Baldwin's bakery now is. This, the first church in Summit, was built by the Rev. Thomas Cook, who also built the house now owned by Mr. Raymond and occupied by Mr. King, which was a very pretty home, surrounded by fine trees, with a lake on one side. Later he built the house opposite, now owned and occupied by Mrs. D. A. Youngs, where he had a boarding school in 1857. Summit has for many years furnished good boarding schools, and in these early days its educational advantages brought the young people and their parents from the city to en- joy the healthy air of the hills. In 1858 the late J. C. Bonnel built the Summit House where the Presbyterian church now stands. This was a good, commodious hotel, built of brick and mastic. It was well fitted up, furnished, and rented to a hotel-keeper, and very soon the house was too small, so that wings were added on either end. Soon this became too small, and the annex was built opposite the Presbyterian parsonage. This hotel was located just far enough away from the cars to enable one to read " Summit House " easily, and, with its pleasant shade trees in front, was one of the most noticeable buildings along the railroad. The design of its builder was to attract people to Summit, and so to build up the place, and this it did, bringing here some of our best and most intelligent men, who later built for themselves homes. Among those who came first to this house were the late Mr. George Manley, Messrs. Hicks, Mr. Willson, father of Mrs. John Hicks, Mr. Houghton, Mr. A. Gracie and Mr. Jayme Riera. The latter gentleman originated and gave the name to the park. The Summit House was burned in 1867, having well served the purposes of its erection, which the owner saw some time before his death. The proprietors were Captain Baker, Mr. Pierson and Mr. Knaufft, whose wife was a sister of Bret Harte. The late Mr. George Manley built and lived for many years in the house now occupied by Mr. Naylor, head master of Saint George's Hall. Mr. Jayme Riera planned and graded the park and built the cottages there, and later the Park House. The late Mr. William C. Hicks lived in one of these cottages until he afterwards built his commo- dious house on Norwood avenue, in 1868. In 1859 the Highland House was put up by Mr. Stoughtoii for a boys' boarding school, which flourished there for some years. This same school was started by Mr. Sleight and Mr. Stoughton, in one of the old original houses (that one which stood where the entrance of the Beechwood now is), and later in the old Episcopal church. The Mansion House, the Record office until of late, was also built in 1859, by Rev. Thomas Cook, and Mr. Riley, at the time rector of the Episcopal church, opened there a girls' school which afterwards came under the care successively of Mr. Tver, Dr. Rose and others. The Catholic church was built in 1863. The old Methodist church, which stood on the corner of Summit ahd Morris avenues, was erected in i858 or about that time, and a new one in 1890, on the Boulevard. The Presbyterian church was built in 1872. The society organized and worshiped for some time previous in Littell's hall, with Rev. James De Hart Bruen as pastor. Rev. J. Hall Mcllvaine succeeded him, and Rev. Theodore F. White followed Dr. Mcllvaine. A Presbyterian Sunday school was held in a small building used as a depot about 1846, and later in a concrete house below the Oliver Hayes place, and, later still, in the house now occupied by Dr. Lawrence. The building spoken of as the depot was built in the time of the famine in Ireland forstoring grain, to be shipped on the cars for the port of New York. The first stone Episcopal church was put up about 1872, and burned Sunday morning, January 8, 1893. The Baptist church was put up in 1887. For some years previous the Baptist society worshiped in the church in West Summit. The Baptist and Methodist congregations worshiped iu Littell's hall Sunday evenings, for a time, while their churches were being built. The present depot and also the Edgar block were put up in 1870, and new stores were opened in this block for the accommodation of a fast growing village. The turn- table was formerly where the depot now is. The public school was opened in one of these stores by a young lady, now a well JONATHAN CRANE BONNEL HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 599 known member of the New Jersey branch of the Daughters of the Revolution, and she was followed by Messrs. Foote, Wheat and Bailey. The present school building was erected m 1878, which, as we know, recently acquired an extensive addition, having ten rooms and ten regular teachers and three special teachers. The principals in the order of ser- vice are as follows: Messrs. CoUard, Schuyler, Lyon, Chapman, Bissell and Knapp. The former Y. M. C. A. building, on Railroad avenue, was built in 1888, and dedi- cated January 4, 1889. The present building on the corner of Highland and Springfield avenues was completed and dedicated October 5, 1893. The Fresh Air and Convalescent Home was organized the eighth day of November, 1888. Too much cannot be said of this home and of the good work that is being accom- plished for so many poor and sick from hospitals and tenements in the city. The Arthur's Home for orphans, which has been carried on so long by Mrs. Holmes, has done its good work for many years. The Casino was built about 1889, the Summit bank in 1891, the Summit town hall in 1892, the Van Cise building, in which are two public halls and a school of music, in 1894, the new post-office building the same year, and the Wulff building in 1895. Two incidents of the Revolutionary war occurring in the vicinity of Summit are worthy of note in this sketch. The one was that of a cannon stationed near Hobart mountain, called the " Old Sow," which was used to give the signal at the time of the battle of Springfield, but has since been removed to a point near the railroad station in Westfield. Hobart mountain lies on the Morris turnpike, between Short Hills and Chatham, at the end of Hobart avenue, and was named for Dr. Hobart (son of Bishop Hobart), who came here several summers, with his family. The other was a fort built on the Feltville road, near Mr. Edward Ballantine's place. Tradition tells us that this fort was called " Fort Nonsense," as the object in putting it up was to keep the soldiers employed while Washington was in Morristown. JONATHAN CRANE BONNEL. Among those who inthefirsthalf of the century figured prominently in the public life of New Jersey was this gentleman, whose labors materially advanced the interests of the community with which he was connected, and whose works are yet manifest in the improved conditions of the county. He comes of a family whose ancestral history is one of close connection with the development of the state. Early in the sev- enteenth century the first ancestors, supposed to have been French Huguenots, sought refuge in far lands, owing to the persecution inci- dent to the revocation of the edict of Nantes. They settled on Long Island, 'and from there Nathaniel Bonnel, the great-grandfather of our subject, removed to Elizabethtown, New Jersey, becoming one of the first company of "Elizabeth Town Associates," — this, of course, implying very early identification with the state. He bore the military title of captain, and eventually removed to Chatham, Morris county. His son, Nathaniel Bonnel, the grandfather of the subject of this review, was born in 1731, and died in July, 1809. The father, also named Nathaniel, was born in June, 1756, and died April 15, 1814. He married Martha Crane, who also belonged to a prominent old family, and they became the parents of three sons and four daughters. Jonathan C. Bonnel was born in Chatham, Morris county, on the 29th of September, 1790, and acquired his education in the common 600 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY schools of his native town. His father was engaged in the lumber trade, and, after his death, which occurred when the son was twenty- four years of age, the latter assumed full control of the business, with which he had been previously associated. He did an extensive business in furnishing ship timber during the war of 1812, supplying many of the leading builders. He employed many workmen, and the volume of his trade was very great. He successfully conducted the industry in Chatham township, at a place now known as Stanley, until about 1840. In 1836 he was one of the projectors of the Morris & Essex Railroad, now operated by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Company, and was very active in promoting the important enterprise, negotiating the purchase of the right of way for the line from Newark to Morristown, and successfully overcoming difficulties and obstacles which had prac- tically seemed insuperable to his associates. He also effected, to a great extent, the purchase of the right of way for the extension of the road from Morristown to Easton, Pennsylvania, and thus performed a very important service for the community. It is facilities for transportation and travel which open i:p a district to improvement and advancement, and one who is active in securing such facilities certainly deserves to be numbered among the benefactors of his district. In other ways he was prominent in developing the section traversed by the railroad, and was a leading and influential figure in public affairs. He always re- tained his residence in Chatham, but became interested in the affairs of Union county in such a way as to demand representation in this connection. At the time of the projection of the railroad noted, incidental to securing its right of way, he personally purchased two hundred acres of land in Summit township. Union county, and here his interests eventually centralized, although he was not a resident of the county. In 1858 he erected a very large summer hotel in Summit, which was successfully operated, through eligible management which he secured for the place. It was virtually the nucleus of the modern and attrac- tive town of Summit, but the hotel was destroyed by fire in 1868. In other ways Mr. Bonnel was active in the upbuilding of Summit, which is located on a portion of the two-hundred acre tract which he origin- ally purchased, and which was afterward platted. He was very suc- cessful in his business ventures, by reason of his enterprise, sound judgment, keen foresight and unflagging industry. In 1814 Mr. Bonnel was united in marriage to Miss Phoebe Ward, a daughter of Ichabod Ward and Ester Ward, of Chatham, who were representatives of old families of Morris county. To Mr. and Mrs. Bonnel were born five daughters and two sons: Mehitabel, widow of the late William Littell, of Summit; Julia, widow of Dr. JohnS. Smith, of New Providence; Harriet, Charity F., and Emmaline, who have made their home in Summit; Jonathan, a prominent resident of Sum- HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 601 mit, who has carried forward the work instituted by his father, having been conspicuous in all that has conserved the advancement and sub- stantial development in the upbuilding of the town, having been prominent in local affairs for the past thirty-five years, and, with others of the family, having greatly added to the progress and prestige of the town; and David Ward Bonnel, who also is a resident of Summit, and who is intimately identified with aiding and co-operating with others in efforts for the promotion of the best interests of Summit and com- munity. Jonathan C. Bonnel was never active in politics, but voted with the Whig party in early life, and afterward gave his support to the Republican party. In his religious belief he was a Presbyterian, and rendered great aid to the church of that denomination in New Provi- dence, serving as a member of the board of trustees for a long term of years. The varied interests of the county of a beneficial nature all bear the impress of his individuality. He looked beyond the exigencies of the moment to the possibilities of the future, and labored for the com- ing time as well as the present. He possessed sound judgment and keen foresight, and his endorsement of any movement or enterprise was a guaranty of its worthiness. His purpose was ever clear, and was adhered to until its object was accomplished. He possessed a genial manner, a helpful spirit, high moral principles, and a courage born of a firm belief in all that he supported, and his characteristics, peculiar to himself, won him the confidence and regard of all whom he-met. THE POTTER FAMILY is an old one in the state and very prominent. John Potter the ancestor of Edward G. Potter, of Summit, was a native of Wales. He came to America and settled eventually at New Haven, where his son Samuel was born, in 1641. Samuel moved to New Jersey and settled in Newark, where he lived and died. His son Samuel, born in 1672, moved to Connecticut Farms. His son Daniel, born in 1692, became a justice of the peace and an elder in the church at that place. He left no will, but his estate, which consisted of land about a mile square, was divided between three sons, viz. : Daniel ist, Amos and Samuel. The three brothers built three houses on the main road leading from Springfield to New Providence. Daniel 2d, son of Daniel ist, died before the Revolutionary war. Samuel, cousin of Daniel ist, was a colonel in the Revolutionary war. Amos, son Amos ist, moved to Franklin, Ohio. Jacob Potter, brother of Amos 2d, son of Daniel 2d, was a brother of the grandfather (Amos 2d) of the Rev. Dudlow D. Potter. Jacob Potter and this grandfather (Amos 2d) married sisters by the name of Clark. Their brother Noadiah moved to Ohio. Isaac, the son of 602 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Samuel, who was the father of the Rev. Samuel S. Potter, lived and died in the middle one of the farms mentioned above. Major Jotham Potter, father of Benjamin P. , and the grandfather of Edward G. Potter, the subject of this sketch, was the grandson of Daniel ad, whose farm of about two hundred acres covers the principal part of the present site of the town of Summit. Benjamin P. Potter, son of Major Jotham, was born on land known as the Beechwood Land Company's property. He afterward moved to New Providence, where all his children were born . Edward G. Potter was his second child. He came to Summit in 1880, where he has successfully carried on the real-estate and fire-insurance business ever since. He owns a portion of the old homestead property in the easterly part of Summit, and also a handsome residence on New England avenue, where he maintains his home. JOHN W. CLIFT. John William Clift, editor and proprietor of the Summit Herald, was born at Nyack, New York, December 5, 1856. He is the son of John A. Clift, Esq., and Margaret Clift, both of Morristown, New Jersey. Mr. Clift removed with his parents to Morristown, in 1865. He attended the public schools until fifteen years of age, and then, in 1872, went into the office of the True Democratic Banner, with the late L. C. Vogt. After a service of twelve years as boy, man and foreman, Mr. Clift retired to associate himself with Mr. Fred B. Bardon, at Madison, New Jersey, in publishing the Madison Eagle, and this partner- ship was continued from 1883 to 1894, when he became publisher of the Morristown Chronicle. In July, 1896, he purchased the Summit Herald. In 1878 he was married to Miss Mary H. Class, daughter of Jacob Class, of Troy Hills, Morris county, New Jersey. JOHN W. CLIFT GEORGE SHEPARD PAGE was born in Readfield, Kennebec county, Maine, Juh- 29, 1838. His father, Samuel Page, removed with his family, in 1845, to Chelsea, HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 603 Massachusetts, where young Page was educated iu the public schools graduating from the high school when he was eighteen years of age. In 1857 lie made a trip to Minnesota for a business venture in real estate, which probably owed its failure to the great financial disturbances of that year. He returned to Chelsea and engaged with his father in the business of the distillation of paraffine oil and coal tar. Soon after his connection with the establishment the business increased greatly, and A-c.J.-i^ GEORGE S. PAGE enlargements were made. In 1862 he removed his business to New York city, where he could more easily obtain crude tar in large quanti- ties for the manufacture of the American pitch, which he was then making. Soon after this he formed the firm of Page, Kidder & Fletcher, which was afterward changed into a .stock company, under the title of the New York Coal Tar Chemical Company, with which he remained about twenty years, and then started in business alone, giving his attention to the various products arising from distillation of coal gas. [In 604 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY all coal-tar and ammoniacal products he dealt largel)-. At the time of his death he was president of the B. P. Clapp Ammonia Company and vice-president of the United States Ammonia Company, both of which were organized by himself He was a member of the British Institute, of the American, Ohio and Western Gas Light Associations. Mr. Page was in one sense a sportsman. He was not, however, merely a fisher- man and a shooter and hunter of large game, btit found most satisfaction in fostering and replenishing depleted waters with new species of fish and in introducing song birds into the fields where they had never before been found. He made his first visit to the Rangeley lakes, of Maine, in i860, by invitation of his cousin Hon. Henry O. Stanley, fish commis- sioner of the state. In was in these lakes he took his first trout, and obser\'ed the spawning habits of the fish. Forest and Stream in an article on this subject says : " A pair of trout had a nest which he watched for several days, and even approached and stroked them gently without alarming them, so intent were the)' upon their business." In 1867 Mr. Page organized the Oquossoc Angling Association, in Maine, and was its president ten years. In that year he took thirty thousand eggs of the Rangeley trout, packed them in moss and transported them to New Jersey. He also took the great ten-pound trout, which was for ten years the largest Salmo fontinalis on record, and which was mounted and exhibited at the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, and is still in the possession of his family. In 1869 he introduced black bass into Maine, and also carried brook-trout eggs to England and Erance. Those in England were hatched at South Kensington, by Frank Buckland, and those in France at the Jardin des Plantes, Paris ; under the Societe d' Acclimation. In 1870 Mr. Page was made honorary member of the Societe d' Acclimation, Paris, and corresponding member of the Deutsche Fischerei Verein. In 1874 Mr. Page was elected vice-president of the American Fishcultural Association, and built a hatcher}- on Bemis stream, Frank- lin county, Maine. In 1881 he suggested to Professor Thomas H. Huxley, inspector of salmon fisheries of England, the introduction of the American shad into England. April 1, 1882, he was elected president of the American Fishcultural Association. Mr. Page was also well known in Christian, philanthropical, reform and temperance associations. He was vice-president of the Howard Mission and Home for Little Wanderers, and was one of the four original founders of the New Jersey State Temperance Society, of which he was president seven years. He represented the Smithsonian Institution when abroad, by appointment of Professor Baird, its secretary. In 1870 he delivered addresses at Manchester, England, at the invitation of the National Education League, in Free Trade hall, and elsewhere, in which he described the free-school s}-stem of the United States, for which he received the thanks of the league for assistance in securing the enactment of the present free, HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY fi05 unsectarian and compulsory-education law. His home was in the Orange hills, at Stanley, New Jersey, which was named by him in honor of his mother, whose maiden name was Stanley. Mr. Page was married, at the age of twenty-one years, to Miss Emily De Bacon. He died March 26, 1892. At a meeting of the board of trustees of the Chatham Fish and Game Protective Association, held on the evening after Mr. Page's death, resolutions were adopted, as a tribute to his memory, which bear high testimony to his character and abilities. From these minutes we abstract the following: " He was peculiarly a public man, taking a profound interest in all that concerned his neighbors and neighborhood, which to him meant a wide locality. He was always on the moral side of every public question. In his personal relations Mr. Page was as faithful to his friends as he was to his convictions of duty. He took a warm personal interest in his associates and won their confidence and esteem by his gentle bearing and kindly acts. A man of strong convictions, which he advocated with emphasis ; of sturdy principles, to which he constantly adhered, he nevertheless yielded with grace to the will of the majority. He loved nature and all her works, and his inherent sympa- thy for mankind was constantly deepened and broadened by this influence. The recollection and influence of his faithful, conscientious and earnest life constituted his most suitable and lasting; monument." WILLIAM E. BADEAU. The subject of this review is a representative of an old and honored family of the state of New York, while, as the name implies, his lineage traces to pure French origin on the agnatic side. He is a direct descend- ant of Elias Badeau, the Huguenot, who fled from France immediately after the revocation of the edict of Nantes, seeking refuge in the New World, and settling in New Rochelle, New York, where his was the distinction of having been the first deacon in the Huguenot church of that place. William Badeau, the great-grandfather of William E., was born in New Rochelle, in the )-ear 1767, and located in New York city in the initial year of the nineteenth century. He was the first superin- tendent of the old Willett street Sunday school, located at Nos. 7 and 9 Willett street. New York, between Grand and Broome streets. This school was organized in Brown's old ship house, on what was called Manhattan Island, and the only method of reaching the place at that time (181 7) was by walking over the logs which formed both obstruction and means of access. Those interested in the organization of the school were David Hoyt, William Badeau (Presbyterian), Father Hoyt and Father Egleston (Episcopalian). It is a matter of historical record that the old Broome Street Presbyterian church in New York was organized at the house of the said William Badeau, in Broome street. 60f> HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY William E. ISadeau is a native of the national metropolis, — as were also his father and grandfather, — the date of his birth having been Jul)' 26, 1853, being the son of Charles Ra3'niond IJadean. The latter's maternal grandfather, Naptliali Raymond, became a volunteer in the continental army, at the age of sixteen, and, in addition to participating in the'war of the Revolnion, also did valiant service in the war of 181 2. He also served under Jackson in the Creek war in Alabama and Florida, being in active engagement in the battle of New Orleans. He was likewise present at the massacre of San Domingo, and was held a prisoner WILLIAM E. BADEAU by the Haytians for a period of nearly two }-ears. He was finally released from captivity, was loaded with presents and given a ship to replace the one which had been taken from him, and on this he set sail for his home. He put in at Philadelphia, where the Quakers, discovering that the boat had been formerly emplo}-ed in the slave trade, peremptorily seized and burned the vessel. Nathaniel Raymond, a brother of Naptliali, was a commissioned officer under the famous Paul Jones. He went from Norwalk, Connect- icut, as a corporal of the guard in the Revolutionary war, and was with the Connecticut troops when the British landed at Flatbush and CARROL P. BASSE rT HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 607 precipitated the memorable engagement at that place. Ivossing's Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution speaks as follows concerning him : " The venerable Nathaniel Raymond, still living, when I was there (1848), near the old mill wharf, or West Norwalk wharf, where he had dwelt from his birth,— ninety-five years,— remembers the hill being red with the British. He was corporal of the guard at the time, and, after securing his most valuable effects and carrying his aged parents to a place of safety, three miles distant, shouldered his musket and was with the few soldiers whom Tyron boasted of having driven from the hills north of the town. He says it was Saturday night when Tyron landed, and, like Danbury, the town was burned on Saturday." Elias Badean, a brother of the great-grandfather of the immediate subject of this review, fought with the New Jersey troops in the war of the Revolution. William E. Badeau received his preliminary educational discipline in the public schools of New York city, graduating at the age of fifteen years. He soon became identified with the practical affairs of life, becoming concerned in mercantile enterprises, and manifested such executive and financial acumen as to secure him distinct recognition and insure his rapid and consecutive rise in positions of marked trust and responsibility. Upon his removal, in 1884, to Summit, Union county. New Jesrey, Mr. Badeau became thoroughly identified with its interests and has been conspicuously identified with the development and substantial upbuild- ing of the attractive town. His investments in local realty give evidence of keen' foresight and rare judgment as to intrinsic values. He is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, the Huguenot Society of America, the New York Cotton Exchange, the Consolidated Stock Exchange, etc., and enjoys a distinctive personal popularity in business circles. In the year 1879 ^^- Badeau was united in marriage to Miss Annie Marie Bishop, a great-grandniece of Colonial Governor Bloom- field, of New Jersey. CARROL PHILLIPS BASSETT, son of Caroline Phillips and Allan Lee Bassett, was born February 27, 1863, at Brooklyn, New York. He was graduated from the Newark Academy, and in 1879 entered L,afayette College, from which institu- tion he was graduated, as valedictorian, in 1883, with the degree of C. E. He pursued post-graduate study, receiving the degree of E. M. in 1884, and, after study in Europe, his alma mater conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, in 1888. He is a member of the Phi Delta Theta college fraternity, and has been active in its exec- utive work, having filled various offices of its general council, including the presidency in 1887-9. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa; a life member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a member of the 608 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Philadelphia Engineers' Club, and of the New England Water Works Association. In social life he is a member of the Essex County Country Club, Essex Club, Highland Club, Blooming Grove Park Association, and the Baltus Roll Golf Club. In the exercise of his profession as civil engineer he has designed and constructed water-works, sewerage systems and sewage-purifica- tion plants in many towns in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. He was president of the New Jersey Sanitary Association, 1892-3, and is the author of "The Conservation of Streams," "Inland Sewage Disposal," and other technical papers. He is a regular lecturer on hydraulics and sanitation at the University of New York and at Lafayette College, and is retained as consulting engineer by several water companies. He is largely interested in and director of the following corpora- tions: The Mountain Water Company, the Commonwealth Water Company, the West Orange Water Company, the Mountain Electric Company; also the Mutual Building & Loan Association and the First National Bank, of Summit. Mr. Bassett resides at "Norcote," Sum- mit, New Jersey. FREDERICK C. CLARK, of Summit, New Jersey, was born in Stamford, Connecticut, in 1829. His parents were Austin Griswold and Sarah Ann Clark. His ancestry in America dates back to the year 1632, when the first representative, John Clark, from Essex county, England, came to this country, — one of the company that followed the Rev. Thomas Hooker, the Clemsford lecturer, when the latter was forced to flee from England because of his refusal to conform to the ritual of the established church. This company settled at Newtown, now Cambridge, near Boston, in 1632. In 1636 many of the members of Mr. Hooker's church at New- town removed with him to Connecticut and founded the town of Hartford. Among them was John Clark, and upon an old monument in the cemetery in the rear of the Centre Congregational church, in Hartford, are inscribed the names of ninety-eight of the original settlers, at the head of which is John Haynes, the first governor, next Thomas Hooker, with John Clark's name following. He was chosen one of a committee to apportion the land in Hartford, Connecticut, and in 1637 was a soldier in the battle against the Pequot Indians. Subsequently he removed to Saybrook, and on September 9, 1647, John Clark and Captain Mason were appointed by the general court to build a fort at Saybrook and to use the last rate (taxes) paid by Saybrook therefor. He and Robert Birchwood were appointed by the court to view the lands given to Captain Mason's soldiers, which same had been taken by the Pequot HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 609 settlers, and lay out land at Nianticut, for the settlers, as an equivalent for the land taken at Pequot. John Clark was a representative of the general court at Hartford for many years, and held other positions of trust and responsibility. Subse- quently he moved to Milford, Connecticut, where he was ordained ruling elder, and died in the year 1674. John Clark, Jr., born in England, about 1630, the eldest son, was a large land-owner in Connecticut, and was killed by the overturning of a cart, in 1677. His eldest son, John Clark, 3d, was born November 17, 1655, being the third generation of that name in this country. The family records are full of allusions to his activities, among which are lieutenant's commission of the fort in Saybrook, from Robert Treat, governor, dated February 9, 1693-4 ; lieutenant's commission of Train Band of Saybrook, from John Winthrop, governor, dated May 16, 1699 ; captain's commission of Saybrook Fort, from John Winthrop, governor, dated May 26, 1702 ; order appointing him to be major of militia in the county of New London, by the general assembly of Hartford, and that he be commissioned by the governor accordingly, dated Ma}- 12, 1709 ; order from G. Saltonstall, as governor, to protect the library of Yale College (it was then a collegiate school) in its removal from Saybrook to New Haven. History mentions that Samuel and John Clark, legatees of Joshua Sachem, signed an instrument, with other legatees, to "give unto the trustees of ye collegiate school in Connecticut for ye use of said school the quantity of two thousand acres right in ye lands given by said Joshua if the house should be erected at Saybrook for Yale College ;" dated February 10, 1712. The next descendant in line was Nathaniel Clark, born July 19, 1694. Then follows Christopher Clark, born in 1736, followed by Christopher Clark, Jr. , born February 9, 1782, who was a sea captain, commanding a ship between New York and Cuba for many years, and subsequently settling on a farm in the western part of New York state, where he died, at Holly, in 1843. His son, Austin Griswold, was born in Saybrook, in 1804. He was married in 1826 to Sarah Ann How, of Darien, Connecticut. He resided in Stamford, a highly esteemed citizen, and died there in 1880. Frederick C. Clark removed to New York in 1848, where, in 1855, lie was married to Josephine Waterbury, the daughter of Selleck and Cornelia Waterbury. Her parents, formerly residents of Stamford, were connections of the Waterbury family long prominent in Con- necticut. Prior to his removal to Summit, in 1895, Mr. Clark had resided in Brooklyn, New York, for thirty-nine years, and was identified with the Episcopal churches in that city, being a member of Christ church, in the eastern district, also of the parishes of St. Peter's and St James's. 39 610 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY His membership on the board of managers of the Church Charity Foundation, of Long Island, extended over a long period, and for several years he represented St. James's parish in the diocesan conven- tion, at Garden City. Mr. Clark's connection with the wholesale-grocery business in New York dates back to 1849, when he entered the employ of Burdick & Martin, on Front street, continuing his connection with that firm and its successors till i860, when he was admitted to a partnership in the reorganization of the house, under the name of Sheffield & Company, on January ist, of that year. Subsequent succeeding firms have been Bailey & Clark; Bailey, Clark & Chapin; Clark, Chapin & Holly; Clark, Holly & Ketchum; and Clark, Chapin & Bushnell, of the last named of which Mr. Clark is the senior member, being located at 177 and 179 Duane street. Mr. Clark's connection with the wholesale- grocery trade of New York, for more than forty-eight years, is a record which has few, if any, parallels. His firm was one of the original members of the Wholesale Grocers' Association of New York, and Mr. Clark has been on its executive committee from its organization. EDWARD B. KELLY, a resident of Summit, has acquired prominence in both the business and official circles of that city, and is one of the best known men in Union county, where he has resided for a period of forty years. Born in Summit, on the 26th of March, 1857, the boyhood of Mr. Kelly was spent in the city of his nativity, and he acquired his mental training in the public schools there and in Madison, and subsequently engaged as clerk in the Park House, Summit, for ten years. He then embarked in the grocery trade, in which he prospered, conducting a first-class store for four years. In his political affiliations Mr. Kelly is a stanch Democrat, giving the party the benefit of his active support. He has held several local offices of a responsible nature, among them being that of chief of police, which position he occupied for twelve years ; state detective, acting as such for twelve years ; township collector ; local agent for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and for eleven years he has been justice of the peace, having, in 1897, been re-elected for a term of five years. Mr. Kelly is a representative citizen of Summit, and has discharged the duties of the various offices of trust to which he has been chosen, and is also correspondent for the New York World and Newark Evening News, with signal ability and intelligence, and he has ever been ready and willing to promote any enterprise that had for its object the advancement of the city's welfare. The marriage of Mr. Kelly was solemnized on the loth of July, 1895, when he was united to Mrs. Ella M. Verser, of Washington, D. C, HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 611 a daughter of Jacob and Geneva L. (Goddard) Von der I,ehr. Mr. Kelly has a daughter, Julia, by a former marriage, his first wife being Miss Mary McL,aughlin, a child of James and Julia (Cream) McLaugh- lin. In his religious faith our subject is a devout adherent of the Catholic church. In his social relations Mr. Kelly is a prominent and useful member of the Newark Press Club, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, No. 289, of Elizabeth, and he is a member of the Summit fire depart- ment, and of the New Jersey State Detective Bureau. JOSEPH ORAM CHRYSTAL, a well known and highly respected citizen of Summit, New Jersey, was born in Dover, Morris county, this state, on the 22d of October, 1868, and he is a son of George and Lovedy (Oram) Chrystal. He is of Irish-English extraction, his paternal grandparents being Patrick Chrystal and Martha (Weir) Chrystal, while his maternal grandparents were Thomas and Ann (Gundry) Oram. Joseph O. Chrystal passed the early part of his life in the city of his nativity, acquiring his literary education in the public schools, after leaving which he began to learn the trade of plumbing and gas fitting, serving an apprenticeship at Dover. In the following year he engaged in business in that city, and then moved to Grand River, Kentucky, following his vocation there for a period of some two years, at the conclusion of the same removing to Summit, and for the past four years he has been conducting a pros- perous and successful plumbing, steam and gas-fitting establishment, under the name of M. Chrystal, and is one of the progressive, energetic merchants of his home city, where, by his industry, honorable methods and intrinsic worth, he has gained the confidence of his fellow citizens and richly merits the distinct regard in which he is held. In 1892 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Chrystal to Miss Martha Baker, a daughter of Andrew A. and Mary (Kanouse) Baker. Mr. and Mrs. Chrystal are well and favorably known in Summit, where they enjoy the kind regard and high esteem of a large number of friends. GEORGE WELLINGTON DILLINGHAM, the well known publisher, was born in 1841, in Bangor, Maine, where his father, Nathaniel H. Dillingham, still lives. He died at his home in Summit, New Jersey, on Friday evening, December 27, 1896, aged fifty-four years. In the fall of 1858, he went to Boston, and became clerk in the store of Crosby, Nichols & Company, afterward Crosby, Nichols, Lee & Company, at that time one of the leading firms in New England. In 612 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 1861 he entered the employ of A. K. Loring, then at 319 Washington street, Boston, with whom he remained until 1864, when he entered the publishing house of G. W. Carleton. On Mr. Carlton's retirement, in 1886, Mr. Dillingham became sole proprietor, and added to the business prosperity which had followed the firm from the time of its establishment by Rudd & Carleton, in 1857. Mr. Dillingham married, in 1867, Miss Helena W. Ayer, of Bangor, Maine, whose father is president of the Second National Bank, of that place. His wife, a son, and two daughters survive him. Frank Ayer Dillingham, the son, was born in New York city, December 31, 1869. He received his preliminary education at Dr. Collisen's school, New York city, and when thirteen years of age came with his parents to Summit, New Jersey, where he now resides. In 1887 he entered Yale College and was graduated from that institution in 1891, with the degree of A. B., and in 1894 he was graduated from Columbia Law School, with the degree of LL/. B. After his graduation he continued the study of law in the office of Cravath & Houston, New York city, and in 1895 formed a partnership with Ralph S. Rounds, of the New York bar, with offices at No. 96 Broadway, New York city. On January 23, 1896, Mr. Dillingham was married to lyouise G. Bukley, daughter of Charles E. Bukley of Summit, New Jersey. NEWTON WOODRUFF, a well known resident of Summit, New Jersey, was born in Westfield township, on the 15th of August, 1858, and is a son of James Marsh and Margaret Cleveland (Darby) Woodruff. His paternal grandparents were David C. and Sarah (Marsh) Woodruff, of Springfield, New Jersey, while his maternal grandparents were Captain John Darby and Hannah (Hand) Darby, of Scotch Plains. His preliminary education was received in the private schools of Summit, which was further added to by a course of study in the Peddie Institute, at Hightstown, New Jersey. Upon leaving school he took up the vocation of journalism, and in 1883 established the Summit Record, at Summit, conducting the same until 1885. In 1886 he moved to Chicago, and there continued in the newspaper business until 1893. Returning to Summit, the subject of this review was, in March, 1896, elected justice of the peace for the county of Union, and has con- tinued to fill that office to the satisfaction of his constituents. His marriage took place on April 26, 1882, when he was united to Miss Lyda May Smith, a daughter of Thaddeus C. and Elizabeth C. (McKirgan) Smith. The two children of this union are: Ilka Eloise, born at Summit on March 27, 1885, and Ralph DeWitt, born on Feb- ruary 26, 1892, at Chicago, Illinois. '~z:7 l^-Oy^^'^^^ ^J3-"^^ T.'?^ //-/ / ^V/ ■ ..__ - -//'/>:'"/. ///y/ // AT THE AUE OF 35 _ CHAPTER XXX. FANWOOD TOWNSHIP. HIS township was set off from Westfield in 1887. The first election took place in 1878, and the officers chosen were as follows : Town clerks,— Thomas J. Nicholl, 1878-9 ; J. A. Baker, 1880-82. Chosen freeholders,— C. W. L. Martine, 1878, 1880-82 ; Stites M. Parse, 1879. Assessors,— John I^. Darby, 1878, 1881 ; Samuel M. Ball, 1877 ; Tappan Townsend, appointed in 1879, in Ball's place ; John Robison, 1880-82. Collectors,— Joseph Clark, 1878 ; C. A. Smith, 1872 ; George R. Nicholl, 1880. Inspectors of election,— Benjamin Connett, 1878-80; William Thorn, 1878; Daniel H. Terry, 1879-81 ; Charles H. French, 1881-2 ; Edward Miller, 1882. Town Committee,— Levi Darby, 1878; Jacob D. French, 1878; Joseph A. Patterson, 1878 ; Isaac Lambert, 1878 ; Lewis W. Miller, 1879-81 ; Stites M. Parse, 1878 ; Henry C. Randolph, 1879-80 ; John J. Marsh, 1879-81 ; Daniel S. Scudder, 1882 ; William C. Stanbery ; John L. Darby, 1880. Judges of election, — Richard H. Nodyne, 1878 ; W. D. Johnston, 1879-80 ; George R. Nicholl, 1881-2. » EARLY SETTLERS. The name of Scotch Plains is derived from the nationality of its original settlers. In the year 1684 a number of Scotch emigrants, chiefly persons of education and distinction at home, landed at Amboy, and went into the wilderness to select a suitable location for a new settlement. Arriving at the foot of the First mountain, they proceeded to take possession of the tract of land including the whole of what is now occupied by Scotch Plains and Plainfield. Some of these pioneers, among whom we find the names of Barclay, Gordon, Forbes and Fullerton, were interested as proprietors of the province, and became afterward well known as officers connected with the government. Attracted by the inviting character of both soil and climate, the associates of Elizabethtown, on the east, and the residents of Piscataway, on the south, began, before many years, to push out their settlement in this direction. In or about the year 1689 came the families of William Darby, Recompense Stanbery, John Lambert, John Dennis, John Stanbery, Henry Crosby, Michael Parse or Pierce, John Sutton, Jr., Isaac Manning, Mary Brodwell, Sarah DeCamp, Samuel Doty or Doughty, Joseph Drake, Jeames Miller, Abraham Hampton, John 614 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Blackford, Joseph Randolph, William Cole, Peter Willcoxsie or Willcox, and a few others who came afterward, and whose names are now known in this township at the present time, are Mash or Marsh, Dolbear, Terry, Terrill, Squires, Hunter, Miller, Pearson, Roll, Frazer or Frazee, and Maxwell. William Cole, or " Master Cole, " was a surveyor and schoolmaster. He organized one of the first schools in the township and taught for a number of years. His school was in Scotch Plains. The Jackson school, on the Terral road, and the Willow Grove school, in the neighborhood of Lambert's Mills, established in 1814, were among the earlier schools of the town. THE BAPTIST CHURCH. The first movement on record for the dissemination of Baptist views was made in 1743. A subscription paper for the building of a " First-Day Baptist Meeting House" on the east side of Green river, bearing date 4th day of August in that year, is still in possession of the church. This movement originated with members of the Piscata- way church living at Scotch Plains, and the next year the first church edifice was erected. The first members appear to have been John Dennis, William Darby, John L/ambert, Recompense Stanbery, John Stanbery, John Sutton, Jr., Henry Crosby, Isaac Manning, Mary Brodwell, Mary Dennis, Tibiah Sutton, Mary Green, Catharine Man- ning, Sarah DeCamp and Sarah Perce or Pierce. Soon after the organization of this church, Benjamin Miller, a licentiate, was called to the pastorate, and ordained February 13, 1748. Mr. Miller was born in the neighborhood of Piscataway, about the year 1715, and during his connection with this church nearly three hundred members were added. His pastorate extended over thirty-four years, and ended only with his life. He died November 14, 1781, in the sixty-sixth year of his age. A plain brown-stone tablet, a few feet north of where the old church stood, covers his remains. The inscrip- tion on the stone is as follows: In Memory of Rev. Bemjamin Miller, Died Nov. 14, 1781, After a pastorate of thirty-four years of this church. If grace and worth and usefulness Could mortals screen from death's arrest, Miller had never lain in dust, Though characters inferior must. The next pastor. Rev. William Van Home, came November 7, 1784, but it was not until December 15, 1785, that he entered fully upon his labors, his salary being fixed at two hundred and fifty dollars, HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 615 with firewood and the use of parsonage and lot of fifteen acres. He remained until September, 1807,— nearly twenty-two years,— resigning on account of failing health. July I, 1808, Rev. Thomas Brown took charge of the church. He remained its pastor for more than twenty years, and during this time, as a testimony to his faithfulness, nearly two hundred were added to its number of members. He died January 17, 1831. The Rev. John Rogers succeeded to the vacant cTiarge about the middle of August, 1829. He was a native of Ireland, where he was born in 1783. He remained until June, 1841, when he resigned to take charge of the feeble church at Perth Amboy. The church regretted his removal, as he had been an excellent pastor, nearly two hundred having been baptized into the fellowship of this church during his ministry. The fifth pastor was the Rev. John Wivel, who was born in England, and came to New York in 1840. He assumed the pastorate in March, 1842, and remained about a year and a half, within which time the membership rose to two hundred. May 2, 1844, Rev. William E. Locke became the pastor. He remained at Scotch Plains until September i, 1849, when he accepted a call and removed to Amenia, New York, and after- ward joined the Presbyterian denomination. In 1844 this church withdrew from the New York Association and united with the East New Jersey Association, where it has since remained. In 1850 the Rev. Joshua E. Rue, from Sandy Ridge, New Jersey, removed to Scotch Plains. He continued as pastor of this church four years, and was very successful in his work. The number of members in 1854 was one hundred and forty-six. Rev. James P. Brown, D. D., was the next pastor. He was born in Scotch Plains, July 4, 1819, and in April, 1854, became pastor of this church. He was in charge six years, and during his stay continuous revivals added many to the church. Rev. William L,uke, a graduate of Rochester University, in 1854, came to Scotch Plains in December, i860. During his pastorate the Westfield Baptist Society was organized and a number were dismissed to that infant church. Mr. I/uke's pastorate was a successful one. He retired from this church in 1867, and died at Wappingers Falls, New York, May 16, 1869. His last words were: "The victory is mine." The Rev. Joseph C. Buchanan, D. D., entered upon his work in Scotch Plains, July i, 1867. During his active, earnest pastorate many were baptized, and the erection of the new church was commenced and completed. He resigned September i, 1878, to accept the call of the Pemberton Baptist church, where he still remains. Upon the completion of this brick church edifice, in 1871, the old church was sold, a portico was added and the building internally altered to meet the requirements of the district public school, a view of which 616 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY as such is here given. Subsequent!)' a handsome and commodious brick school building was erected by the district, and the old church passed, by purchase, into the possession of Dr. J. Ackerman Coles, a grandson of Dennis Coles, Esq., who was one of its original trustees and a liberal contributor toward its erection, in 1817. Dr. Coles, whose father. Dr. Abraham Coles, was largely instrumental in the erection of the present church edifice, has had the old building thoroughly repaired for the benefit of the Young Men's Christian Association of Scotch Plains. The Scotch Plains Baptist church seems to have been a pioneer in the cause of temperance, as well as foreign and home missionary work. The one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of this mother of the first Baptist church OLD SCOTCH PLAINS BAPTIST CHURCH in New York and of other churches, was appropriately celebrated on the 5th of August, 1897. Rev. Uriah B. Guiscard was called to the pastorate of this church April 29, 1879, and accepted the position early in August of the same year. During his pastorate the church lost by death three tried and honored deacons, viz. : Jared S. Stout, Henry Hetfield and L. H. K. Smalley. He resigned his charge March 26, 1882. During his admin- istration a fine-toned bell was placed in the tower of the church, mainly by his efforts. The cemeter)' also was surrounded with a neat iron fence. Rev. James H. Parks, D. D. , was born in the city of New York, July 13, 1829. He settled with the Scotch Plains church the second HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 617 week ill January of the year 1883, and resigned the pastorate December 31, in the year 1893. In the year 188S Matthias Frazee :^'ee, an old member of the chjirch, died, and by his will made her the residuary legatee of an estate estimated to be worth one hundred and fifty thousand dollars or more. This will was drawn up by Mr. Lee's legal adviser, and was made and executed absolutely without the knowledge of the church or any of its members, except only the testator himself. He was a bachelor, and had no one dependent upon him. He was imder no obligation to any of his relatives, but, notwithstanding this fact, his will was contested, and the small portion of the original estate which finally came to the church, enabled the trustees to obey the first condition of the legacy, by paying the debt of the church. The balance of the fund is held by the terms of the will " to be used by said church in spreading the gospel. ' ' Another event which marked the pastorate of Dr. Parks, and seemed to characterize it as the era of legacies, was that of the death of James C. Lyon, which took place July 7, 1890. He was a former member of the church, and he made the church the residuary legatee under his last will; and so, in due season, and in conformity with the will of the testator, his executor turned over to the church the residue of the estate, valued at about ten thousand dollars. This legacy came as a free gift, untrammeled by any restrictions or limitations. The present pastor. Rev. James S. Braker, entered upon his pastor- ate in 1894. He was born in Camden, New Jersey, in 1863, and was educated at Bucknell University and Crozer Theological Seminar)-. He accepted the call of this church in April, 1894. By hearty coopera- tion and helpful generosity, the beneficences of the church under his pastorate have materially increased. The benevolences of the anniver- sary year have been the largest in its history. The present membership of the Scotch Plains church is one hundred and sixty-eight. One year ago a Christian Endeavor Society was formed, with one hundred and one members. The Sunday school is in a flourishing condition. The present officers of the church are as follows: Pastor, Rev. J. S. Braker; deacons, William Archbold, Dr. J. Ackerman Coles, David Hand; church clerk, George L,. Dunn; treasurer, George E. Hall; trustees, James D. Cleaver, president; Dr. F. W. Westcott, Norman Dunn, Alfred D. Beeken, W. T. Banks, J. P. Bornman and F. W. Hap])le. The first house of worship was erected in 1743, its site being the same as that of the second edifice. The congregation having increased rapidly under Mr. Miller's preaching, it was soon found necessary to secure more ample accommodations. Accordingly, in the early part of 1759, the house was much enlarged, and the roof and sides covered with 618 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY cedar shingles, and other improvements made. The seats were sold to pay the cost of these repairs. This house stood without further import- ant alteration until the winter of 1816-17, when it was totally destroyed by fire. Subscription papers were at once circulated, most of the neces- sary funds were easily secured, and a contract signed for the building of a new house, to be finished by December ist of that year. This house was built in the best manner, is thirty-nine feet by forty-eight feet in size, with galleries on three sides; roof and sides, like the former building. THE SCOTCH PLAINS BAPTIST CHURCH covered with cedar shingles, and cost two thousand four hundred and ninety-two dollars. Some twenty years ago the large windows on either side of the pulpit were closed up and a vestibule cut off from the main room in front. In 1866 a belfry and bell were added. The growing wants of the congregation called for the renovation of the old house or the building of a new one. Several attempts were made in that direction, but, owing to the war and other causes, nothing was accomplished until a number of years had passed. In 1870 it was HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 619 decided to build anew. In 1871 the present beautiful house was erected. The house stands on a fine corner near the old one, is Gothic in style, with clear story and transept, and corner tower and spire. The size is fifty feet by one hundred and ten feet, including the lecture room in the rear^ the main room fifty feet by seventy feet, with recess pulpit; spire, one hundred and twenty feet in height; seating capacity, five hundred. The material is pressed brick, with Ohio stone and white-brick trim- mings, slated roof and spire. The cost, including furniture and organ, exclusive of grounds, was about thirty thousand dollars. Opposite the church is the old brown-stone manse, one hundred and eleven years old, intact as it was when first built. BURIAIv GROUND. There are a few private plots, but these have, for a number of years, been closed, no more burials being made in them. The public burying ground surroiinding the Baptist church was opened at an early day. Here rests generation after generation. Here lies the dust of the pioneers who cut the timber and cleared the land in this beautiful valley. The ground comprises some three acires. Many of the graves are without headstones, and they may be those of the first laid away. A few of the stones are broken, and the inscriptions on the earliest cannot now be copied. The following inscriptions are from some of the old stones : Here lye ye body of Joseph Lambert, who died Nove'm the 8th, 1756, in the 26th year of his age. Here lies Entr'd ye Body of Recompense Stanbery, Esq., who died May the 20th, A. D., 1777, in the 67th year of his age. * Here lies our friend in mouldering dust. Whom Christ will raise to life we trust ; But mourning say his loss how great To Family, to church, and state. This stone is erected to the memory of Margaret, formerly the Wife of Recompense Stanbery, Esq., Late wife of Captain John Darby, who died Janu'y i8th, 1812, in the 83 year of her age. Here lies ye body of Deac'n William Darby, deceased Febru'y ye 26, 1775, in ye 82 year of his age. Here lies ye body of Mary, wife of Deac'n William Darby, deceased April ye 13th, A.D. 1761, in ye 62 year of her age. In memory of Joseph Searing, who departed this life June the 7th, 1790, in the 77th year of his age. Here on earth I have sojourned This 3 score year and ten, and 7 years I have drank the cup Of sorrow, grief, and pain. But oh the joy that may appear, The messenger draws nigh, Cries friend I '11 aid you too of Blest eternity. In memory of Anna, Wife of Joseph Searing, who died June ye 30th, 1761, in ye 47th year of her age. 620 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Here rest the remains of Caesar, an African, who died Febru'y 7th, 1806. Aged 104 years. He was for more than half a century a worthy member of the church in this Place, and closed his life in the confidence of a Christian. His numerous friends have erected this stone as a tribute of respect to his numerous virtues and piety. When the last trump shall bid the dead arise. When flames shall roll away the earth and skies, While atheists, kings, and infidels turn pale, And every hope but Christ mankind shall fail, Caesar will soar from nature's funeral pile To bask forever in his Saviour's smile. Here lies ye Body of Peter Wilcocks, jun'r, who departed this life Febru'y ye 27, Anno Domini, 1764, In ye 45th year of his age. E. P. Here lye ye Body of Abigail, Wife of Joseph Halsey, Junr, who died March ye i6th, 1777, Aged 21, i mon's, And 4 dys. A tablet erected to the memory of Emily, wife of Rev. I. E. Rue, Pastor. She died Nov. 8, 1853. Age 30 years, 8 mo., 23 dys. THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. The early Methodists of this township were accustomed to worship at the surrounding towns, with occasional "supplies" who came from those churches and preached at the Jackson school house or at private dwellings. In the fall of 1867 the Rev. William Day, of Plainfield, organized a class of sixteen members. Efforts were made during the following year to secure regular services, and a supply was sent from Drew Seminary, Madison, New Jersey. In 1871-2, a building, costing about six thousand dollars, with sittings for about three hundred and fifty, was erected on the Springfield road, — afterward called Mountain avenue, — the Rev. J. A. Kingsbury being at that time in charge of the society. The Rev. G. H. Winans is the present incumbent as pastor of the church, whicli is in a flourishing condition. ALT, SAINTS' CHURCH. The services of the Protestant Episcopal church were commenced in the village of Scotch Plains by the Rev. E. M. Rodman, rector of Grace church, Plainfield, in the year 1873. There was a small but influential band of church people, at whose head was Mr. Charles Kyte and his family, who were firm and unwearied supporters of the move- ment. The enterprise was known at first as All Saints' mission, organized with trustees, under the law of the state, and received financial help from the convocation of New Brunswick, in the diocese of New Jersey. The Rev. Charles L. Sykes was the officiating clergy- man until his death, and he was succeeded by the Rev. William M. Reilly, who resigned in March, 1892. By vote of the people connected with the church, there was a parish organized, under the laws of the state and the canons of the Protestant Episcopal church, in 1892, and the Rev. Edward Hyde True was chosen the first rector of the new parish organization, which position he has since retained. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY (;21 The church building, erected in 1882, is of brown-stone, with terra cotta trimmings, is about eighty feet in length and thirty in breadth, and is one of the Romanesque style of architecture and consid: ered to be a fine specimen of that order and an ornament to the village. The cost of the edifice was nine thousand six hundred dollars, and it is furnished tastefully and with churchly consistency, has a seating capacity of two hundred, and is lighted by electricity. The land on which the church stands is one hundred by two hundred feet in extent, and was given by Christopher M. Bell, M. D. , of New York city. It is sufficiently large to permit of the erection in the future of other buildings for parish use. The situation of the entire property, midway between the villages of Scotch Plains and Fan- wood, is advantageous for the gathering to- gether of a good con- gregation as these two communities increase in population. The number of families re- ported by the rector on October 31, 1897, being the fifteenth anniver- sary of the opening of the church for worship, is over sixty, with ninety-three communi- cants in their member- ship. The Sunday school is small, but M., through all the months of the ALL SAINTS' CHURCH held regularly, at ten o'clock, A year except August. The officers of the parish are as follows : Rector, Rev. Edward Hyde True, M. A. ; Wardens, Harry Robinson and William Henry Carter ; vestrymen, Augustus Frentz, Thomas G. Reynolds, Earl H. Smith and Charles Kellaway. INNS AND INN-KEEPERS. The two public houses were early called stage houses, and one of them was afterward called Sutton's hotel,— this being one of thepopular resorts one hundred years ago. John Sutton was one of the early set- tlers on the Plains, as it was called, and opened this house of entertain- ment for man and beast. After his death Samuel Rope, in 1814, kept it as a stage house, about 1825. James Frazer kept the house for a short time in 1826. After he left, others took charge of it. The old 622 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY a z HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 623 tavern, standing at the forks of the road, dates back over one hundred years. Some of the first who settled in this village had charge of this public house, which was one of the popular inns, and was well known throughout the country. It was a resort in the summer for many desiring to live for a few weeks in the country, and it eventually became known as a summer boarding house and inn. The following is a list of former keepers : J. Stanbery, 1799; J. Miller, 1818; Sanford Hicks, 1819; Thomas Burlochs, 1820; — — Crane, 1824; Jonathan Hetfield, 1827; P- B. Davis, 1829; W. H. Cleaver, 1830; Thomas T. Barr, 1841; Abraham Nelson, 1844; Antone De Bou, 1853; Thomas Paff, 1879. SEELEY PAPER MILLS. About the year 1763 a grist mill was established about two miles from Fanwood station, and on the line of the two counties, Somerset and Union, and this was for many years known as the Fall mill. The mill was in the notch, above Scotch Plains, and was owned by a man by the name of Wilcox, who did a large business for the farmers here for many years. In 1851 Edwards & Clark became the proprietors, and in 1853 Edmond A. Seeley, from Troy, New York, became pro- prietor, and founded the extensive paper mills which have since been operated on a large scale at this place. The Green brook, fed by springs, passing through the gorge of the mountain, together with steam power, gives abundant facilities for turning out hundreds of tons of pasteboard per annum. Mr. Seeley erected his homestead dwelling in 1876. WARREN ACKERMAN, son of Jonathan Combs Ackerman and Maria Smith Ackerman, was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, November 27,^827. His father, a prominent financier and merchant, sent him to private schools in his native city, where he acquired a thorough preparatory education for mercantile life. Upon the marriage of his eldest sister, Caroline E. , to Dr. Abraham Coles, he left New Brunswick to make his home with them in Newark, New Jersey. Having received from his father, who was one of the founders of the India-rubber industry in New Jersey, some shares of the capital stock of the Newark India Rubber Company, he at once took an active interest in the de\relopment and success of this compau)*, soon being elected to its board of directors. Owing largely to his individual efforts, the company was very successful until about the year 1850, when, in opposition to his advice and that of others, an inferior article of rubber was purchased and manufactured into goods which proved worthless, and nearly ruined the credit and business of the company. (?24 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 625 Warren Ackermaii, as soon as practicable thereafter, secured enough of the capital stock of the company to give him the entire con- trol of its management, and its manufactured goods thenceforth bore a reputation for uniform excellence. In January, 1852, Daniel Web- ster, representing- the Newark and other India-rubber companies, argued at Trenton the important India-rubber patent cause, which proved to be the last great forensic effort of this eminent American statesman and jurist. Mr. Ackerman subsequently bouglft the con- trolling interest in other rubber companies, and during the late civil war supplied the United States government with a large portion of its best rubber goods. While thus prospering in business, he gave liberally of his means for philanthropic objects. At one time, while a member of the Collegiate Dutch church. New York city, he paid off the entire indebtedness of its board of foreign missions, and gave it an additional large sum with which to begin its work afresh. In 1879 he sold out all his rubber interests and turned his attention to the development of the cement industry, especially that of the Lawrence Cement Companj^, of Ulster county, New York, some shares of which he had'receiv^d froni his father in the year 1853. He secured as rapidly as possible a. controlling interest in this company, and was made its president. Und^his management additional territory was purchased, new buildings were ei;-ected, the most approved machinery was introduced, and the annual output increased from one hundr^ and forty thousand barrels to over one million bstrrels a year. Besides the Lawrence Cement Company, Mr. Ackerman cdutyolled the, Rosendale Cement Company, of Ulster county, New York ;; tJlie Cumberland Hydraulic Cement and Manufacturing Company, of Cumberland, Maryland ; and he also owned, in Pennsylvania, extensive qiiarties froiff which is produced the finest quality of Portland»cement. In i860 Warren Ackerman purchased a farm of about fifty acres, in Scotch Plains, Union county. New Jersey. Later he bought many other farms, including the " Deserted Village," originally called Feltville, now the well known and popular summer resort named Glenside Park. Upon these he expended large sums of money. Perhaps to no one is the public in general more indebted for the present system of good roads in New Jersey than to Warren Ackerman. In 1876 he married Lydid P., the youngest daughter of the late Isaac L. Piatt, Esq., of New York city. After his marriage Warren Ackerman made his home at Lyde Park, which name he gave, in honor of his wife, to his first purchase at Scotch Plains, adjoining the residence property of his brother-in-law. Dr. Abraham Coles. Here, with the exception of brief sojourns in the south, in Europe, or at the seaside or in New York city, he passed the remainder of his busy yet unostentatious life. The most prominent banking, industrial, educational and charitable 40 626 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY uIjL\ HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 627 institutions of New York and New Jersey knew him as a wise counselor and also as a reliable friend. To the efficient help rendered by Warren Ackerman and others was due the prevention of the foreclosure of the mortgages on the Central Railroad of New Jersey, in 1877. After a short illness, Mr. Ackerman died at his home, August 30, 1893. Mrs. Ackerman survives him. GEORGE C. MILLER. The glory of our republic is in the perpetuation of individuality and in the according of the utmost scope for individual accomplishment. The record of accomplishment in this individual sense is the record which the true and loyal American holds in deepest regard and highest honor. In tracing the career of the subject of this review we find revealed not only a personal potentiality, but that it has been his to stand representative of an ancestry long and honorably associated with the annals of American history. George Clinton Miller was born on the loth of January, 1855, in the eighth ward of the city of New York, being the son of Michael and Catharine V. G. Miller. He is descended from an old line of honored patriots who came to America on the ship " Mary and John," disembarking at the Isle of Nantucket, on the 30th of May, 1630. In the maternal line the original American ancestor, of the colonial epoch, was Elder John Strong, who was born in England in 1605. Mr. Miller's maternal grandfather was General William Kerby Strong, who served with marked distinction in the war of the Rebellion and who was the personal friend of Lincoln and Clay. The General was the son of Joseph Strong, who rendered valiant service as a soldier in the conti- nental army during the war of the Revolution. He was with General Washington in the memorable crossing of the Delaware, on the 8th of December, 1776, and also in the recrossing, on the 25th of the same month, at which time was compassed the successful surprise on the Tory forces occupying the city of Trenton. He also participated in the battles of Princeton, Brandywine and Germantown, and he received in his right leg a wound of such severity as to necessitate the amputa- tion of the member. Mr. Miller is related in a collateral way to many families of national prominence, — ^the Twombly, Van Giesen, Van Blarcom, Post, DeBevoise, Duryea, DeBorn, Conselyea, Colyer, Thurs- ton, etc. George C. Miller received his preliminary educational discipline in the city of his nativity, attending grammar school, No. 35, in West Thirteenth street, until his tenth year, when he entered Lawrenceville high school, at Lawrenceville, New Jersey, where he graduated, with the highest honors, in 1870. Among his schoolmates were included many who have since become quite well known in the state of New Jersey,-^ 628 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY the Gummeres, Parkers, Ritchies, Potts, Cooks and Roeblings. After leaving lyawrenceville Mr. Miller devoted three years to the study of law, then making a brief trip to the Pacific coast, returning to New York in August, 1880, and entering the employ of the celebrated corset manufacturers, Thomson, Langdon & Company. By strict attention to the details of the business and by reason of the distinctive executive ability which he brought to bear, he was admitted to membership in the firm, on the ist of January, 1889, whereupon the title of the concern was changed to Ivangdon, Batcheller & Company. Since 1892 he has had entire charge of the manufacturing and marketing of the firm's produc- tions, being recognized as an able and representative business man of the metropolis. He is a prominent member of the Merchants' and the Colonial Clubs, of New York; is a member of the advisory com- mittee of the Merchants' Association, and is also identified with several social and military clubs. On the nth of March, 1873, Mr. Miller became a member of the National Guard of New York, serving until March 31, 1882, in the Seventy-first regiment, and being then transferred to the Twenty- second regiment. From private he served in every grade to com- manding officer. He resigned March 2, 1888, to accept the lieuten- ancy of the Twenty-third regiment, in Brooklyn. On the 19th of December, 1889, he retired from the National Guard, having served continuously for sixteen years and nine months. Mr. Miller has maintained his residence in Fanwood, New Jersey, since July, 1890, and he has been closely and prominently identified with local affairs, having been called upon to serve in public positions of trust and responsibility. He was one of the founders and the first -president of the Fanwood fire department. He was elected a member of the township committee, and was the incumbent as its chairman for one term. On December 7, 1893, he was elected a member of the board of chosen freeholders of Union county, to serve an unexpired term. In March, 1897, he was honored in being elected to the chief municipal office, that of mayor of Fanwood borough. In politics he renders stanch allegiance to the principles and policies advanced by the Citi- zens' party. He is an active member of the Society of the Founders and Patriots of America. On the 6th of March, 1884, Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Clarita Caroline Schlesenger, and they have one son, Clinton Van Giesen Miller, who was born September 21, 1893. LEWIS W. MILLER was born in New York city, January 11, 1839. He is the son of Lewis W. and Priscilla (Jones) Miller. He received his education at Ferguson's College, Delaware county, New York. After leaving school he engaged, HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 629 with his father, in the manufacture of carpets. In 1854 he removed to Scotch Plains, New Jersey, but continued doing business in New York until 1874, when he settled on the farm where he still lives. Mr. Miller has been treasurer of the town committee since the organization of the township, — from 1878 to 1897, inclusive. He served under ex-Sheriff Kyte four years, from 1893 to 1897. Mr. Miller was married in 1894 to Jennie Wygant, daughter of Miles C. and Elizabeth (Mc Henry) Wygant. His stepson, Edward F. Miller, is fourteen years of age. CHAPTER XXXI. UNION TOWNSHIP. NION township was set off from the borough of Elizabeth- town, November 23, 1808. The surface of the township is nearly level, the soil is a clay loam with occasional out- cropping of red shale, but it is generally rich and produces excellent crops. It is said that when General Washington was passing through this section he pronounced it the "garden of New Jersey," on account of its beauty and fertility. During the summer and autumn of 1667 the settlement of this part of the county began to be made. Hardships incident to the settlement of a new plantation in the midst of savage tribes can only be imagined. " It is not safe " says an early writer, " and had not been to the time of the conquest of the English, in 1664, to venture far into the interior. It would have been exceedingly hazardous for a few families to plant themselves on these outskirts of civilization as residents and occupants of the land, unprotected." In the year of 1667 the Rev. Abraham Pierson, with the families of Bonnel, Meeker, Crane, Headley, Wade, Townley and others from Branford and Guilford, Connecticut, settled in that portion of the township known as Connecticut Farms. We also find the names of Ball, Bonnell, Meeker, Headley, Crane, Wade, Miller, Woodruff, Potter, Jaggers, Ivittell, Searing, Earls, Mulford, Terrill, Winans, Hays, Williams, Thompson, Bond and a few others in this part of the township in an early day. The name Ball is a common one in Union. Nathaniel Bonnel was one of the first company of Elizabeth Associates. Mrs. Nathaniel Bonnel had an allotment of one hundred and twenty acres, " lying upon the south branch of Elizabeth Town creek (Wade Farms), and ye plaine which said above mentioned creek passeth through," also twelve acres of meadow lying in the great meadows, (salt meadows) " upon John Woodruffe's creek." There was a constable by the name of Woodruff in this town in 1674. In 1684 he was sheriff of the coimty. He was the owner of a large tract of land in the town. The Meeker family came, at an early date, from New Haven, Connecticut, the record having the date July i, 1644. William Meeker, constable of the town, owned one hundred and fifty acres of land in the town. He died in December, 1690. His sons, Benjamin and Joseph, are , HISTORY OP UNION COUNTY 631 numbered among the Elizabethtown Associates. Joseph Meeker was probably one of the first merchants in the township. His store was near the church at Connecticut Farms. Part of his family .settled in Turkey (New Providence) in 1720. The Headley family was here in 1665. Leonard Headley had surveyed, in the right of himself, one hundred and fifty acres, October 14, 1678, and must have been one of the associates. He owned other lands by the Elizabethtown creek. He was a weaver also and is said to have owned a saw mill. He died in February, 1683. Headley Town, situated on the Springfield road, is named from the family. The Wade family had representatives here as early as 1675. Benjamin Wade, probably a son of Robert Wade, was a clothier. He died in 1698. Richard Townley took up his abode in this settlement in 1684. His lineage can be traced back to the time of William the Conqueror. Samuel Potter owned a large amount of real estate here. He was a justice of the peace and one of the elders of the Presbyterian church at Connecticut Farms. The family of Jaggers came from Long Island and settled at what is now known as Lyons Farms. Their tract of land was allotted to them by the Elizabethtown Associates. Of the other early settlers should be mentioned Thomas Terrill, a blacksmith, who died in 1725; and Samuel Hays, who came with other colonists and settled first in Newark and afterward near the Elizabethtown creek. Samuel Williams, one of the memorialists of 1700, together with his son Joseph, gave the name of Williams Farm, on the Westfield road. Thompson, one of the deputies of Elizabeth- town, was spoken of in the legislature of 1672. He was active in opposing the arbitrary measures of Governor Cartaret and was renowned for his patriotism. He owned lands on the Rawack meadows, also on Morris creek. His three sons were among the original settlers. Their names were Moses, Aaron, and Hur. Aaron came into possession of the homestead at his father's death, September, 1676. The Bond family settled at Lyons Farms at an early date. They came originally from Lynn, Massachusetts. Robert and John Bond are spoken of as early as 1662. Robert was appointed justice of the peace March 13, 1676. His first wife was Hannah, a sister of John Ogden. They owned a large tract of land in the eastern part of the township. The Winans owned lands at Rawack river and Elizabethtown creek, in all two hundred acres. John Winans died in 1694. His estate was valued at two hundred and seventy-one pounds, fifteen shillings, eight pence. There are many fine villas, with well laid out grounds, the residences of many doing business in adjacent cities, the place having always been noted for being a healthy location, and most attractive for those desiring a quiet country neighborhood. In this township there are many small settlements which at an early date took the names of the first settler. 633 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY The settlement generally comprised a dozen or more houses, and perhaps a schoolhouse. lyeonard Headley had surveyed, October 14, 1678, in the right of himself and his wife, one hundred and fifty acres, and from this branch a large number of the name have sprung, and Headley Town, on the road to Springfield, is now well known. Magietown was first settled by John Magie, (McGie) in 1 699-1 700. He was a blacksmith, and came over from Scotland during the period of persecution, 1685-7. He purchased land just west of the "town plot" (Elizabeth), which in great part his descendants have occupied until now. Wade's Farms take title from Benjamin Wade, who was a clothier. He settled in this township as early as the year 1675, and probably much earlier. He died about 1698. The family is still living in this township, and many of the branches have settled in the west. LYONS FARMS. This little hamlet is situated in the eastern part of Union town- ship, in the suburbs of Elizabeth, and has a depot on the Lehigh Railroad, which runs through the village. It was settled by Samuel Lyons who came to this part of the county in 1667. In 1807 there were many families by the name of Lyons in this township. Peter Sparks opened a store here in 1821, and kept it till 1830. It was then purchased by Jonathan Harrison who carried on the business for many years. Harrison was the first postmaster. He was appointed in 1836, and then his son Caleb was appointed postmaster, the store and office remaining in that family until about the year 1872, when the property was sold to Sylvester P. Looker, and moved to its present location. Mr. Horace G. Looker has the store and postoffice at the present time. The first school was taught, in a private dwelling, by Hannah Grumman, for two winters, and afterward by her daughter, Sarah Grumman, who taught in 1812-13. A meeting of inhabitants was called in the year 1817 to arrange for building a school house, when Elihu Bond offered them the land for their building and also ten dollars in money. It was called the Old Red School House. Mrs. Elizabeth Ogden taught school there in 1818 and after her came Sarah Grumman, Rev. Thomas Winter, a Baptist clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Knapp, a Methodist clergyman, Mr. Alcock, Mr. Stone, Miss Phebe Winans, Miss Ellen Tichenor and others. The old building was finally removed, and what was afterward known as the Hillside Academy was erected. Benjamin Lj'ons carried on a large shoe business here in 1793. David Lyons was one of the magistrates, and had an office until 1815. Moses Thompson opened tip the first blacksmith shop, in 1780, and afterward his son, Isaac Thompson, engaged in the birsiness. One other son was a wheelwright. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 633 James Williamson, one of the oldest living representatives of Lyons Farms, came to this place in 1838. He was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, in 1819, and is the eldest son of William and Mary (Parrot) Williamson of that city. The father was a blacksmith also. James Williamson learned the trade of John Greene at Clinton, New Jersey. After coming to Lyons Farms he worked at his trade for Mr. Meeker until 1846 and then began business on his own account, which he continued fifty-two years. His son, William H. Williamson, is his successor, and is carrying on a successful business. Mr. Williamson married Margaret Ann, daughter of William Lyons, of Lyons Farms. Her mother's maiden name was Thankful Rich. There were bom to this union the following children : Amanda, wife of C. C. Bailey ; Sarah E., wife of John Doremus ; Thankful A., wife of N. O. Woodruff ; Hettie ; Alice, wife of Lewis Butcher ; Mrs. Elsie Morris ; William H., who married Phoebe Tichenor and has one child, Lulu ; James; and Isaac. THE EVERGREEN CEMETERY. Prior to the year 1828 the early settlers were interred at Connecticut Farms and Elizabethtown churchyards. On March 10, 1853, the association for the interment of the dead at the Evergreen cemetery was organized under the general act of the legislature. The grounds are beautifully situated, near the village, on the road to Elizabeth, and are tastefully kept and ornamented. The following were the first officers of the board of trustees : Richard T. Haines, president ; Francis B. Chetwood, vice-president ; Josiah Q. Stearns,, treasurer ; and William F. Day, secretary. On the 13th of December, 1858, when the grounds were dedicated, the late Rev. David Magie, of Elizabeth, made the dedicatory remarks, and the Rev. Robert Street the prayer. The present officers are as follows : Charles Russ, president ; E. B. Woodruff, vice-president ; Edward S. Atwater, secretary and treasurer ; Henry M. Looker, superintendent. CONNECTICUT FARMS. This little village, now known by the name of Union, is situated near the centre of the township, and is a historic place. The village was settled by many from Connecticut, as before mentioned, and it is in the midst of a beautiful section of the country, with comfortable farm houses, well cultivated fields, fine orchards, etc. The place contains two or more stores, a few shops, an old tavern or inn, a good school and a church. THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. The first settlers of this township traveled four or five miles every Sabbath day, and back again, to worship in the church at Elizabeth- town. About the year 1730, or probably a few years before that date, they organized into a separate religious society, and built a little frame liU HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY house, that stood until the dark daj-s of the Revolution, when the building, witli some private residences, was burned to the ground by the British. Among the dwellings thus destroyed were those, east of the church, belonging to Benjamin Thompson, Moses Thompson, John Wade, and Robert Wade, and the house belonging to Caleb Wade, at the foot of the hill south of the church. The body of Mrs. Caldwell was conveyed to the house nearly opposite, belonging to Captain Henry Wade. The circumstances of this painful tragedy have been described in earlier portions of this history. At a meeting of the presbytery, in Morristown, May 7, 1783, the following record was made. A petition from the congregation of Connecticut Farms for the assistance of presbytery in building a meeting-house was brought in and read. The presbytery advise that congregation to send proper persons to their respective congregations under their care to solicit benefactions for the above purpose, and recommend to the ministers and elders of each of the congregations to take such methods as they shall think proper to promote this benevolent design. This was the second church, which has now been occupied for over a hundred years. Their first pastor was Rev. Simeon Horton, who was installed in the year 1734, and who continued for twelve years. After a vacancy of two years. Rev. James Davenport came, in 1748, and remained for a few years, when Rev. Daniel Thane, a native of Scotland, was appointed over this church, and remained until 1757. The fourth pastor was Rev. John Darby, who was a descendant of one of the old settlers at Elizabethtown (1758), and who remained for a few years. He died December, 1805, at the advanced age of ninety years. As to how the pulpit was supplied the next five or six years there is no account given, but in the winter of 1765 the Rev. Benjamin Hait (Hoyt) became their pastor. He was a native of Norwalk, Connecticut, and a graduate of the College of New Jersey. His ministry here from the beginning was in troublesome times, and terminated by his death, June 27, 1779. The church was without a pastor for eight years. We find that after the death, by the ruthless hand of the enemy, of Rev. Mr. Caldwell and his wife, a Mr. Noble Everett supplied for a year the scattered congre- gation, when the Rev. Peter Fish, of Newtown, Long Island, was called, and served for ten years, or until 1 799, when Rev. Samuel Smith was in- stalled. He was a graduate of Columbia College. He died of bilious fever one year and three days after his settlement, October 10, 1801, at the age of thirty-three years. His immediate successor, in 1802, and the eighth pastor of this church was Rev. Stephen Thompson, a native of Mendham, New Jersey. He continued his labors for thirty-three years. He was dismissed in 1834, and removed to Indiana, where he remained until his death, May 31, 1856, in his eighty-first year. The Rev. Robert Street was pastor from 1835 to 1886, and is still living in Roselle, this town. Mr. Street was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, June 12, HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 635 iSo6. His father, Robert Street, and mother, Rachael Sims, were members of the Societ\- of Friends. Mr. Street ha\'ing been dra\\m to the ministry as a profession, his preparation for preacliing was pursued first at the academy at Williams College, and finalh' at the tlieological seminary at Princeton, Xew Jersey. Rev. Charles S. Convers has had charge of the clmrch from iSSt> to the present time. The church has a membership of one hundred and fift}- souls. The Methodist societ\- in West Roselle ha^•e a flourishing church now, under tlie pastorate of Rev. Robert Elliott. The building is small, but sufficient for the present membership. CHAPTER XXXII. LINDEN TOWNSHIP. INDEN township was set off as a township in February, 1861. In area it embraces twenty-eight hundred and fifty-three acres ; it contains three school districts, and formerly comprised one of the finest farming sections in the country. Long since, however, the large farms were cut up into smaller ones, and more attention was paid to the raising of garden produce to supply the demand of the city market. The soil is a clay loam, with here and there a sandy loam. Roselle and L/inden are thriving villages, the former being a station on the Central Railroad of New Jersey, two miles from Elizabeth city. All the way trains from Newark and Elizabeth center here, making some one hundred and fifty-two connections daily. It has a population of nine hundred and ninety-six people, and is becoming a place of con- siderable importance. lyinden, situated on the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, about midway between Elizabeth and Rahway, contains a large number of fine dwellings, has three churches, factories, etc. The census report of this township in 1890 gives a population of two thousand and fifty-seven. Trembly Station, on the Long Branch Road, is also in this town- ship. A family by the name of Trembly settled here at an early date. One Jean Traubles (John Trembly), of this town, a Huguenot, married Marie (Mary), daughter of Peter Nue (Noe), a French refugee, in 1689. They resided on lands which run to Staten Island Sound. Pater (Peter) Trembly, son of John, owned a skiff, which was used in crossing the sound from a point in the meadow which jutted out and which was called Ferry Point. During the Revolutionary war the British soldiers used this point for crossing, and crossed and recrossed here many times during the night when on pillaging tours from Staten Island. On the night of December 14, 1780, a party of these royal horse thieves, under the command of the celebrated Lewis Robbins, came over and captured old David Miller, some of his sons, and his horses, but, because of the infirmities, paroled the old man, and then proceeded to Peter Trembly's, whom they seized and robbed of all his money and papers, but being frightened at the sound of a gun, paroled their prisoners and fled. EARLY SETTLERS. Linden township was first settled in common with Elizabeth town, of which it originally formed a part. Stephen Crane was among the . HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 637 early settlers of this town. He was born about 1640 and died in 1700. He owned one hundred and fifty-six acres of land on the borders of Union and Linden, the old homestead standing just over the line. The place is better known by the " Oak Tree Well." Joseph Halsey, son of Isaac and grandson of Thomas, of Lynn, Massachusetts, was born in Southhampton, Long Island, about 1668. He took up his residence near the Wheat Sheaf tavern. He was one of the associates and one of the memorialists in 1700. He married Elizabeth Haines, and the names of his children were Sarah, Abigail Rebecca, Joseph, Hannah, Phebe, Daniel, Isaac, Rachael, Deborah, Nancy. Joseph Halsey died in April, 1725. William Cramer came in 1665. He is one of those who took the oath of allegiance and fidelity February 19, 1665. He was from Southold, Long Island, where he married the sister of Caleb Carwithy. He owned large estates in Linden. He was appointed, April 27, 1670, an associate, as well as constable of the town, in place of William Piles. Thomas Terrill came here from Southold, Long Island, where, in 1675, he had a considerable estate. He was probably the son of Roger Terrill (Tyrrel), one of the founders of Mulford, Connecticut, in 1639. August 19, 1696, he bought of William Cramer a plot of land in this town, to which he removed. He died in 1725. The names of John, Josiah, Roger and Thomas are also mentioned. Robert Morse and his son Peter came to the town from Massachu- setts in an early day. Mr. Morse owned some sixty acres of land in this township. The homestead was on Thompson's creek (Morse's creek). He was a tailor as well as planter, and one of his sons was a surveyor. Peter died in May, 1702. William Meeker (frequently Meaker), John Hinds and William Johnson came here at an early date. Meeker was probably connected with the grist mill on Mill creek, in 1669. "He was appointed October 7, 1667, to be loader to mill for a twelvemonth to goe, in all seasons except in unreasonable weather." He was town constable in 1711. His son Joseph kept a country store. Benjamin, another son, was a carpenter, and both were planters. THE OLD WHEAT SHEAF INN. In Revolutionary times there were several famous stopping places in the town of Linden, for the accommodation of the traveling public. Of these inns Hurd's and Crane's were situated near the station of the New Jersey Central Railroad, " Elmora," but no trace of them can now be found. But the Old Wheat Sheaf Inn is a historic house still in good repair, and it was famous in its day. A gentleman by the name of Wilkinson kept it a long period before the battle of Connecticut Farms, and Ephraim Clark kept it at that time. It was built on lands owned by Louis Baker, and probably not far from 1745. John Halsey opened the house after Mr. Clark's death, and in 181 5 a grand celebration took 638 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY place there, commemorative of the proclamation of peace at the close of the war. Mr. John Yates, in 1837, after the death of Mr. Halsey, became the landlord ; married widow Halsey, and kept the house until his death, in 1843. He was one of the first blacksmiths at the Wheat Sheaf It was next owned by Oliver Halsey, his son, from 1844 to 1849-,; and then by John Truax and his brother William. John B. Day took possession in 1857 and owned this " wayside inn " for over thirty years. The property is now owned by Mr. Banta. SCHOOLS. The first school house in this town was built, nearly opposite the Wheat Sheaf hotel, on the south side of King George's highway, or Rahway avenue. It was a wooden structure, sixteen by twenty feet, the ceiling being seven feet high, with a box stove in the center of the room. The Old Academy was presided over at one time by a Mrs. Dooley, and it is related of her, that whenever corporal punishment was administered she was accustomed to put her baby in the desk. Mr. Cotton, the first teacher, taught there nearly forty years. This school house, which was in district No. i, was occupied till 1820, when a new building was erected, about twenty rods north of the hotel, in the present limits of district No. 4. In 1837 a new school house was built, near the residence of Benjamin Tucker, and was occupied till 1871, when a more com- modious and pretentious structure, costing one thousand eight hundred dollars, was built. The first school known to have been held in district No. 2 was near the residence of S. O. Roll. The building was erected in 1786, and was occupied till 1825. ^^^ name of the first teacher was Samuel Vander- hoven. In 1825 ^ ^^'^ house was built, near the residence of Hampton Kddy, and was replaced, in 1870, by another costing two thousand dollars. LINDEN VILLAGE. The names of Wood, Winans, Roll, Marsh, Craig and Stiles represent the owners of the land where the village of I^inden now is. In the year 1864 the old homestead now occupied by Mr. Meeker Wood, and the Blancke homestead, on one side and the old house of Mr. S. J. Stimson on the other side of the railroad were about the only houses in the place. Following we give liberal extracts from a historical discourse delivered on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the dedication of the Reformed church, of Linden, New Jersey, by Rev. Oscar Gesner. In speaking of the early inhabitants of the village, Mr. Gesner says: Mr. Ferdinand Blancke is undoubtedly the father of the town, and at this writing he is still living. It was in the year 1865 that Mr. Blancke purchased a large tract of land, began to build a town, and called it Linden. Previous to this there was a station here, on the Pennsylvania Railroad, called Wheatsheaf. We have been told by some of HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 639 the first inhabitants of the place that the depot then consisted of an old box car, and it was the custom of those who were obliged to go to the city to have a pair of boots with which they could wade through the mud. When they arrived at the depot these were changed for city shoes, the mud boots left in the depot until the return, when another change was effected, the mud boots were donned and the city shoes were carried in the hand. Surely there has been some improvement since then. Among the very first settlers of the new town were Mr. William Toothe, Mr. A. E. Knopf, Mr. Waller Luttgen, Mr. S. J. Stimson, Mr. C. T. Warren, Mr. Herman Brahe, Mr. Albert Cole and Allan Cole, Colonel Rose and a few others ; and the first institution established was a school. A school-house association was formed, and by them a building was erected on the Forty- acre road, opposite Blancke street— the same building with some alterations and improve- ments is now the Methodist church. 1 first came to Linden in the spring of 1871. I came to preach as a candidate for a church about to be organized. There were at that time about forty houses within the bounds that I have mentioned. Now there are about one hundred and twenty within the same bounds. I can recall forty-five families who were here then, though some of them lived beyond the bounds we have given. In 1871 the depot was on this side of the railroad track. There were only two tracks, now there are four. There was a board walk on Wood avenue, from the depot to Henry street, and from Washington avenue to the Forty-acre road on Blancke street. Wood avenue was only just opened beyond Henry street. REFORMED CHURCH. One of the first buildings in I^inden was a school house. In this building religious services began to be held some time during the fall or winter of 1866. Ministers of all denominations were given a hearty welcome. The church record says that the first Sabbath school was established in May of the year 1867. The school record places the date of a union Sabbath school at June 14, 1868. After various vicissitudes and some tribulation, it was determined to organize a church under the auspices of the Reformed (Dutch) church in America. Accordingly, on the loth or nth day of May, a delegation from the south classis of Bergen met to lay the cornerstone. Rev. Mr. Gesner and several other speakers addressed the assemblage, and the stone was laid. The organization was made with only eleven members, of whom six are now dead. Soon after the organization Mr. Gesner received a formal call to become pastor of the church, on a salary of one thousand dollars per year and the parsonage. He took charge in June, holding services first in the school house, but only in the afternoons, the Epis- copal brethren using it on Sabbath mornings.^ In the latter part of June, 1 87 1, he tras installed as pastor, and at Christmas of the same year the church building was completed and dedicated, the venerable and ever-to-be revered Chancellor Ferris, ex-chancellor of the Univer- sity of New York, pronouncing the dedicatory service. In the evening of that same day a grand -wedding took place in the church. It was the first service after the dedication, the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. William H. Hood. By mutual agreement the first pastorate ended on the ist of March, 1875. Up to September 12, 1874, the church had raised from all sources $24,360.81. 640 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY There was a church property, which, with all the appurtenances, had cost, without the lot, 117,673.00, upon which there was a debt of 18,500. On the 22d of July, 1875, the classis of Newark ordained Howard H. Van Vranken, a licentiate of the classis of Michigan, and in the evening of the same day installed him as pastor of this church. Mr. Van Vranken was a good preacher, an earnest, hard worker and a faith- ful pastor. His resignation took effect October ist, 1877. He was here during the dark days of Linden, and when he left, the church was virtually disbanded, but twenty-one souls were added to the membership under his ministry. In October, 1877, the classis of Newark reorganized the church. A new consistory was elected and properly installed ; Rev. Mr. Gesner was again called to the pulpit, and at the reorganization it was agreed that the church should be a free church, supported entirely by the voluntary contributions of the people, and it has so remained to this day. Rev. Mr. Gesner had charge of the pulpit for about eight years, and, with the exception of about two years, when Mr. Kommers supplied the church, he has been the only resident minister of the place. The present incumbent is Rev. Mr. Sherwood. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. Members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Ivinden attended services in Rahway and other places until the year 1874, when the presiding elder granted a supply from Rahway. The Rev. H. D. Opdype, from Rahway, began preaching on Sabbath afternoons. In 1875 Rev. Alexander Craig, with the help of some students from Drew Theological Seminary, held regular services. The school house was purchased, seated and refitted, and a Sunday school was organized. In 1878 the building was erected. There is no pastor of the church at the present time. GRACE CHURCH, PROTESTENT EPISCOPAL, of I/inden, was organized in 1875. They had formerly attended service at Rahway and Roselle and have built a neat Gothic structure, east of the station, but have no regular rector. ST. LUKE'S CHURCH, PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL. No Episcopal society had been organized in Roselle until 1870, when Rev. H. B. S. Martin came to the aid of a few members who had moved from New York and were desirous to have a church in this place where they could attend without going to a distance. In the summer of that year ground was broken on Fourth avenue, which had been but lately opened in the village. The parish church stands on the highest elevation in this town- ship, and is built in the old style of English architecture, at a cost ^ HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 641 of about seven thousand dollars. Mr. Martin was succeeded by Rev. J. A. Dennison, in 1872, and he, in 1876, by Rev. Witt C. Byllesley. The present pastor, the Rev. Wyatt Hannah, came in 1874. Mr. Hannah is a graduate of Durham, England ; also of lyondon, England; also of Harvard, Massachusetts, and of the Eclectic Medical College, of New York. The church is in a flourishing condition at the present time, having a membership of three hundred. Mr. Richard Kipling, one of the founders of the society, has held the office of senior warden from the time of the organization. Mr. A. W. Patterson is junior warden and also Sabbath-school superintendent. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. The birthplace of the First Presbyterian church, of Roselle, was in the little school house on the side of North avenue, just west of Walnut- street bridge, and the birthday was June 12, 1868. Thirty -six persons united in mernbership under a covenant. John Seaton and Aaron D. Hope, elders. Trustees were David Mulford, Aaron W. Smith, N. D. Stiger, John W. Mulford, William S. Williams, Aaron Clark, 2d, and Rezeau Brown. The church building was erected by John Mulford, and subsequently a west wing was added, the total cost being $1,343.75. The corner stone was laid September 19, 1868. Edison's electric lights were introduced, and it was the first church in the world to be so lighted. October 27, 1871, the parsonage was purchased at a cost of $5,500. In 1891 the new building was erected at a cost of twenty-one thousand dollars, the old building being used as a chapel. The present member- ship is two hundred and forty. The pastors have been as follows : Rev. A. H. Sloat, Cranford, first pastor; Dr. John F. Pingry, called June 21, 1869, was succeeded June 13, 1870, by Rev. Charles A. Briggs, who occupied the pulpit until his appointment, in March, 1874, to a professor- ship in the Union Theological Seminary, New York, when he in turn was succeeded by the present pastor, J. Alstyne Blauvelt, in May, 1874. A healthy, vigorous Sabbath school, in keeping with the spiritual tone of the church work, is also maintained. BAPTIST CHURCH. This organization in Roselle grew out of a union Sabbath school which met at Wheat Sheaf. Accordingly, June 19, 1870, the Baptist Bible school was organized, and August 4, 1872, at the residence of Mr. George Marlor, another meeting was held, and in pursuance thereto, September i8th, at the home of Mr. George Sulton, nineteen Baptists enrolled as constitutent members as follows : James P. Hallett, Henry L. Dexter, George Marlor, George H. Sutton, R. M. Crane, Dennis C. Crane, William Crane, James Noxon ; Sisters Mary Crane, Sarah Hallett, Jane Dexter, Florence E. Sutton, Martha Marlor, Mary Ivanning, 41 642 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Helen Noxon, Mrs. Aaron Faitoute, Anna R. Crane, I^aura S. Crane, L,izzie J. Faitoute. October 14, 1872, a meeting was held in the hall of the school house. Rev. Franklin Johnson, D. D. , of Newark, was chosen mod- erator, and Rev. Joseph Buchanan, of Scotch Plains, clerk. Articles of faith were drawn up, and a regular Baptist church organized. Ser- vices were held first in the upper hall of the school house. July 30, 1874, a church building was authorized and on June 5, 1876, a new church edifice was dedicated, the sermon being preached by the Rev. Thomas Armitage, D. D. The building cost ten thousand six hundred and eighty-five dollars. Pastors, Rev. J. V. Stratton, January 5, 1873-7; Rev. R. F. McMichael, 1877-9; Rev. William Hump- stone, 1879-81; Rev. W. W. Pratt, supply, 1881-2; Rev. I. W. Brinkerhoff, supply, 1884-5; R^^. L. O. Grenelle, 1885-7; supplies until 1889; Rev. H. R. Goodchild, 1889-95 ; after which two supplies followed, when the present pastor, Rev. John Miller, of Wayne, Pennsylvania, commenced his labors the first Sabbath in May, 1896. The Bible school now numbers ninety-five. The church membership is seventy-one. BAPTIST CHURCH, ROSELLE JAMES W. HOPE, a prominent contractor of Roselle, was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey in 1849. ^^ '^^^ educated in Nazareth Hall, Nazareth, Pennsylvania, and at the age of nineteen years applied himself to the business of building. He came to Roselle in 1866 with the Roselle I/and & Improvement Company, and soon afterward engaged in contracting. Many of the best residences in Roselle are of his construc- tion, and his success has placed him among the solid men of the borough. His great interest in all matters relating to the welfare of Roselle led him to take a prominent part in securing the separation of this borough from lyinden township. In this matter all the politicians of the township were against him, but the quiet voter was with him, and Ivinden township lost an important part of her territory by refusing to do justice to Roselle. Within three months after the separation, the sewerage system of Roselle was under way. Mr. Hope has been prominentl}- connected with the Republican HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 643 Club, and has served long and well on the executive committee of his party. Mr. Hope is a son of William A. Hope, whose brother, A. D. Hope, was the founder of Roselle, where he still resides, and of the old Hope Express, which operated in New Jersey and Pennsylvania before the Rebellion, and which was bought by the proprietors of the Adams Express. A. D. Hope was born at Hunts Mills, New Jersey, December 14, 181 7. He was in early life a teacher, and subsequently started the above mentioned express, which was operated most successfully. About this date, 1864, he aided in establishing the New York Safe Deposit Company of New York, the first in the world. Mr. Hope fixed his residence in Somerset, New Jersey, just before the war, and was a large stockholder in the bank of that city. Party lines were a sharply drawn on the war issues about this time, and, as many of the stockholders of the bank were opposed to converting the institution into a national bank in aid of the government, which Mr. Hope was most anxious to do, the latter withdrew from the old bank, and established a national bank, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars. He also established a Union paper, and employed an able man to preach loyalty and mould sentiment for the Union. These acts brought him prominently into notice over the state, and he was urged to become a candidate for governor. James W. Hope was married in 1885 to Cornelia Quackenbush, daughter of a retired New York merchant. CHAPTER XXXIIl. TOWNSHIP OF CRANFORD. HE act of creating the township of Cranford was passed by the senate and general assembly of New Jersey on March 14, 1871. The territory lying within the boundaries of this town was taken from the townships of Westfield, Springfield, Union, Linden and Clark. The surface is generally level; soil clay loam, mixed more or less with sand, and generally productive in wheat, oats, rye and grass. This township is well watered. It is nearly cut in two parts by the Rahway river, which empties into Staten Island Sound. There are six substantial bridges built over this river, and perhaps no other town- ship in the state can count as many. There are large forest trees lining the banks of the stream, and most of the farms have a large number of acres of heavy timber, and there are also many orchards of choice fruit. EARIvY SETTLEMENTS. The Cranes of this township are descendants of Stephen Crane, one of the first Elizabethtown Associates. He was born in 1673. John Crane (son of John and Huldah Grant Crane) married Phebe Ross, daughter of David Ross, of Westfield. They had eight children: (1) Rebecca, who married Major Jotham Potter (of Revolutionary fame), son of John. Both are dead. They left three children. (2) John Grant Crane, married Sally Pierson, daughter of William, son of William, and had two children, — ^John Davis Crane, who married Catharine Potter, daughter of William B. Potter; and William, who married Keziah, daughter of John Miller, of Westfield. They are both dead. (3) Elizabeth, married Thomas Moore, son of Robert, of Woodbridge, and had five children, — David, Robert, John, Israel, and Phebe. (4) Phebe, married Benjamin Potter, brother of Major Jotham Potter. (5) Elias, born April 24, 1789, married Esther Maxwell, daughter of John, and lived in Union township, and had six children, — ^John, who married Sarah Cutter, daughter of William Cutter, of Woodbridge; Mary Anne, who married Nathan Winans, son of Aaron, of Elizabethtown; Phebe, who married Silas Miller, son of Abraham; Susan, who married Isaac Williams, of New York, son of Matthias; Elias Maxwell Crane; and *This sketch was written by C. A. Leveridge for the History of Union and Middlesex Counties, New Jersey, published by Everts Si Peck, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1882, and is inserted here by permission. I HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 645 Amzi Armstrong Crane. (6) Josiah, married Electa Ross, daughter of John, of Union township (now Cranford), and lived where Colonel Jacob Crane formerly did, and had four children, — Mary, married Hampton Cutter, son of William Cutter; John Grant Crane, married Abby Miller (who is now deceased), daughter of John O. Miller, and lived on the old John Crane homestead, near the Rahway river, on the road to Springfield; Anne Elizabeth, married Job Williams, son of Moses Williams, of Union township ; Josiah, married Sarah Jane Miller, daughter of Jacob Miller. (7) Huldah, married John Potter, also a brother of Major Jotham Potter, and had a daughter, Mary Hannah Potter. (8) Sarah, who was unmarried. Mr. Josiah Crane was one of the first who were instrumental in building the Presbyterian church in Cranford, and resided on the same farm which he had occupied from the first, living to see a large town and population surrounding him, and in a few years selling his farm, which was needed for lots and building purposes, and purchasing a residence, formerly occupied by Mr. Anderson, where he died a few years since. Mrs. Crane died in November, 1879. Benjamin Crane (third son of Benjamin, second son of Benjamin, first son of John, son of Stephen Crane) married Sarah Thompson, and lived on the road to Westfield, near Vreeland's mills. They had eleven children, who are of the sixth generation from Stephen Crane: (1) John, married Mary Clark, daugh- ter of Robert, of Rahway; (2) Abigail, married David Keyt, son of James; (3) Esther, died at about eighteen or twenty years, unmarried; (4) Hezekiah Thompson, married, first, Amanda Osborn; (5) Phebe, married, first, Francis Randolph, son of Dr. Robert Randolph, and, second, she married George R. King, of Warren county, and lived there ; (6) Charlotte King, married Hedges Baker; (7) Norris, who went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and married there; (8) Jacob Thompson, who went to Cincinnati, and died thereat thirty-five years, unmarried; (9) Benjamin (4th), married Electa Baker (as her second husband), daughter of Daniel; (10) David Johnson, married Ann Eliza Roll, daughter of Isaac, son of John Roll; (11) Moses Thompson, married Anna Eliza Scudder (Mrs. Crane died December 13, 1881). They had two children, — Theodore Augustus and Sarah Anne, who died. Moses T. Crane has built himself a fine residence upon Walnut avenue, the old Westfield road to Elizabeth; William Crane (son of John Grant Crane and Sally Pierson, daughter of William Pierson) married Keziah, daughter of John Miller, of Westfield. He owned and lived on a farm on the road from Cranford to Branch Mills. He died a few years ago. His son is John Henry Crane, now engaged in the general grocery and merchandise business in the village of Cranford. William Darbie, or Darby, was an early settler; he came in 1688. In that year, April i6th, the widow Agatha White sold all the lands of Richard Beach, in Elizabeth Town, bought of him in March of the 646 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY same year, to William Darbie, or Darby, of Elizabeth Town. A William Darby was one of the respondents, in 1752, to a bill in chan- cery. Rev. John Darby was the pastor of the Connecticut Farms Presbyterian church in 1758. He had one son and two daughters by his first wife, and the eldest daughter, Hester, married a British officer named Fox. His second wife was Hester White Hunting, a widow lady from East Hampton, Long Island. They had one son, Henry White Darby, M. D., and also two daughters, — Helen, the wife of General O'Hara, and Lucinda, the wife of Christian De Wint. Rev. Mr. Darby was probably a son or grandson of William Darby. The family of Darbys are from the same stock who are residents of this township. Marsh Darby, who died December 27, 1881, was the son of William Darby. He died on the farm, in the year 1815. The farm is now occupied by Benjamin Westervillt (1882). John O. Miller, son of Abner ist, who married Betsey Kyte, was the son of John 3d, son of John Miller, Jr., son of John ist, and married Sarah L/Udlow, daughter of Benjamin and Keziah Ludlow. He lives on the old Miller homestead, about a mile from Cranford depot, on the old road to Elizabethtown. The family are amongst the earliest settlers in this township. His ancestor came from Long Island about the year 1668, and was one of the first associates of Elizabethtown. William, his son, was an alderman of the borough of Elizabeth, and his name is in the second list of the associates of 1699. Andrew, his second son, married Mary Andrus, of Newark, New Jersey. Enoch, who married Hannah Baker, had nine children, Enoch, Jr., Andrew, Moses, Jacob, Jedediah, Lydia, Elizabeth, Josiah and Hannah. The fourth son of John ist was John, whose wife was Martha. His fifth son, Aaron, who mar- ried and had first Aaron, Jr., was a noted clock-maker in Elizabethtown. The following advertisement is from a newspaper called the New York Post Boy, November 23, 1747 : Aaron Miller, Clock Maker, In Elizabeth Town, East New Jersey, Makes and sells all sorts of Clocks after the best Manner with Expedition. He likewise makes Com- passes and chains for Surveyors; as also Church Bells of any size, he having a foundry for that Purpose, and has cast several which have been approved good, and will supply any Persons on a Timely Notice with any of the above Articles at very reasonable Rates. We give this quaint old notice, showing the enterprise and business tact of one born in this township. He had a daughter, Betsey, who married Isaac Brokaw, who was a noted maker of these old family clocks which are in so much demand by relic-hunters, and who resided in Somerville, New Jersey. He has two older son, Cornelius and Robert. John Miller also has two daughters, Hannah, who married, first, Nathaniel Bonnel ist, and for her second husband Deacon Whitehead ; his other child was Susannah, who married first a Mr. Crane, and for her second husband John Ross ist, being his third wife. John O. Miller is still living on the old homestead at an advanced age (1882). His wife, Sarah Ludlow, died a few years since. His HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 647 children are : Abigail, who married John Grant Crane, son of Josiah Crane ; Louisa, who married Elias M. Crane, son of Elias, of Union ; James, who married Sarah Jane Marsh, daughter of Eli Marsh, of West- field ; John Alfred Miller ; and Benjamin Ludlow Miller, who lives with his father. James Keyt's family homestead was on the back road leading from where the late Gideon Ross resided to Rahway. His property adjoined that of the late Samuel Headley, on the west, and that of Moses T. Crane on the south. Mr. Keyt had a number of children. David Keyt married Abigail Crane, daughter of Benjamin Crane 3d ; they removed to Ohio. Abner Miller married Betsey Keyt, daughter of James Keyt and Betsey Jessup. The family on the male side went to the west, and James Keyt's grandchildren are found in the Coriell family of New Market, New Jersey ; the Searing family, in Union township ; Ichabod Ross' family, in Westfield, and the Miller family, in Cranford township. New Jersey. The Denman family were early settlers here. John Denman, the first of that name, is mentioned in the early records as one of the asso- ciates, and, in 1668, resided upon his allotment in the borough. The family is quite numerous in the township, and they are mentioned among the first settlers. John Denman lived on his homestead, where he died in 1849, ^^ ^^ advanced age. He was engaged much in the purchase of timber for ship-building. The homestead is sit- uated on the corner of the Westfield road and the road leading to the Stephenson homestead, Cranford. The Tooker (sometimes spelled Tucker) family owned a small place nearly opposite to the Headley farm, where Mr. Tucker died a few years ago (1882). John Winans (sometimes spelled Wynes, Waynes, Winons, Win- nons, Wynons, Wynens, Wynans, Wynnings and Wynants) was doubtless of the company that came from the east end of Long Island. It is quite likely that he was of the same family with Barnabas Wines, their names being frequently spelled alike. He was bred a weaver, a handicraft in great request at that early day. He had a house lot con- taining five acres ten chains, bounded north by Jacob Melyen, west by Humphrey Spinage, or Spinning, and south and east by highways. He had also sixteen acres of upland "on the Neck," between Matthias Hatfield and Samuel Marsh, Sr. ; also one hundred and twenty acres of upland "on Peach Garden brook," bounded by Robert Morse, Matthias Hatfield, Robert White, and unsurveyed land; also forty acres of land "on the south branch of Elizabeth creek or river," bounded by Hum- phrey Spinage, Matthias Hatfield, and the plain; also four acres of meadow "at Rawack," and six aCres on Elizabeth creek, in all two hundred acres. When his next neighbor, Melyen, had removed to New York, Winans bought, February 8, 1678, his house lot, house, barn, orchard, etc. He died at the close of 1694. His estate was 648 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY valued at two hundred and seventy-one pounds, fifteen shillings, eight pence. The names of Winans as early settlers are found in the records of this and adjoining townships. In the civil list the name is met with frequently. Jonathan Dayton Winans is owner of lands on the forks of roads leading from Westfield to Rahway and Elizabeth, in this town- ship, and has carried on the wheelwright and blacksmith business, his stand being well known all over the country. Alfred Winans, living on the farm south on the Rahway road, is the son of 'Squire Ross Winans, of Lyons Farms. William Garthwaite, the father of a numerous family, was born 1677, in England ; married, as early as 1702, Ann, the daughter of Maximilian I^aulon, of France. He came here as early as 1703, his son Henry having been born in this borough. It is supposed from family tradition that he came at an earlier date, 1695, but his name appears in one of the early documents in 1806. He or his son located on what has since been known as the Roberts property, on the west side of the town. He died December 11, 1738, leaving at least two sons, Henry and James. The family have long been residents of this township, and still own property by the Rahway river. The family here is now repre- sented by Edwin B. Garthwaite, who resides upon the old homestead. The Faitouts were early settlers, and came from France during the persecutions there. They were known as the Huguenot refugees. The family has been represented in the East Jersey allotments of lands in first division, 1667. Aaron Faitout resided in Perth Amboy. He was an owner of a pew in St. Peter's Episcopal church. No. 16, at a yearly rental of five pounds, seven shillings. The family have been owners of large tracts of land in this and Union townships. The names of Edward, Aaron, Jonathan, Clark, and Moses Faitout (sometimes spelled Fatout) have been represented among the early families. Henry B. Faitout married Rebecca Davis, daughter of John Davis, of Westfield, who resided just outside of the boundary line of this township. Among the early family names was that of Meeker, in. which line there are numerous descendants. One of them lived on the old road to Elizabeth Town, just easterly of where Philip Johns now resides. William Meeker was one of the Elizabeth Town associates. He came from New Haven, Connecticut, where he took the oath of fidelity July I, 1644. He was "propounded, October 7, 1646, to be loader to Mill for a 12 month, to goe in all seasons except unreasonable weather." Frequently he appears in the records as " Meaker " and " Mecar." He was appointed a constable of the borough on the 13th of October, 1671. He had sons, Joseph and Benjamin, also numbered among the eighty associates. The name of Benjamin Meeker is in the second generation of associates, admitted in 1699. In this township we find such names as Aker, Badgley, Baker, Brooks, Crane, Clark, Craig, Cory, Connet, Davis, Denman, Dunham, HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 649 Frazee, Faitout, Frost, Gennings or Jennings, Garthwaite, Hendricks, Hinds, High, Hetfield, Hole, Kyet or Keyt, Lambert, Littell, Ludlum, Meeker, Miller, Mash or Marsh, Pierson, Robinson, Lilley, Robins, or Robinson, Morris or Norris, Ross, Sinnago, Scudder, Tooker or Tucker, Terry, Williams, Freeland or Vreeland, Darby, Woodruff, Winans, Wilcox, and Yoemans, but many of them are only known now in old deeds and records. CRANEVILLE. In the \-ear 1849 the residence of Mr. Josiah Crane, Sr., was visited, on the 4th of July, by some Sabbath school children from Westfield. They spent a pleasant day rambling along the river banks, fishing, etc., Mr. Crane, in his hospitable manner, doing all in his power to make it pleasant for them. He owned lands on both sides of the Rahway river, and his homestead was on the main road, now called Union avenue, near the railroad track. A few trains occasionally stopped on signal, there being no regular station built. Before the children left for their homes some of them marked with some chalk on an old building near the tract in large letters the name of " Craneville," and such it remained for years, until the present commodious depot was built in 1869, and the name was changed to Cranford. POST OFFICES. Until 1867 the residents of this then scattered village, Crane- ville, as it was called, depended upon Westfield and Connecticut Farms post offices for their mail, and the religious weekly papers were taken to church on Sabbath morning by one appointed, who distributed the Christian Advocate and the New York Observer, while letters were brought that during the week had accumulated at the post office. When Saturday evening came and ' ' chores ' ' for the week were done up, the custom was to go to the store where the office was kept, and there meet neighbors, and, returning home, bring all the mail for the neighbors at Craneville. This was the practice up to the time when John Baldwin built his store and also took charge of the station at Cranford. For a time he also acted as postmaster. By the explosion of a barrel of kerosene he was burnt to death, with the store and con- tents, hardly anything being saved. It is related that he went in the cellar where the barrel was kept, about half-past nine o'clock in the evening, to draw some of the oil for a customer. George O. Totten was appointed postmaster in 1870, and continued until he removed from Cranford, when John L- Derby was appointed, and he is still post- master. CRANFORD. [by JOHN ALFRED POTTER.] Cranford is located seventeen miles from New York city, in the most beautiful and healthful section of New Jersey. Its rich, roll- 650 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY ing soil is especially adapted to the growth of shade trees, and in this respect it is not surpassed even by the world-famed City of Elms. The river is beautiful beyond description. Its natural attractiveness has been heightened by the hand of man, who has constructed across its course a dam that underlies a musical cascade and makes navigation possible for a mile up stream. Upon its high banks are located the homes of well-to-do business men, who take pride in keeping their lawns and houses attractive. The healthfulness of Cranford is a matter, not of speculation, but of record. During the years 1886 to 1891, inclu- sive, forty persons died, — the average annual death rate being 5.32 per one thousand. Malaria, the bane of many suburban towns, is almost un- known. Two railroads, the Jersey Central and the lychigh Valley, pass through the town and convey its residents to or from the metrop- olis in less than forty minutes. Their charges for transportation are low, and the train service is admirable. The cost of living in Cranford is moderate, when the convenience it affords is taken into account. Property is assessed at but one-fourth of its market value, yet the tax rate this year is only two and a half per cent. The town is well lighted; its streets are kept in good condition; its buildings are protected by an efficient fire department, and private schools are admirably conducted. Pure water, gas, electric light, per- fect drainage, — all are within the reach of the Cranford villagers. The business portion of the town will compare favorably with that of any other community of twice our population. Large stores, stocked with all the necessaries and most of the luxuries of life, cluster around the station. In the opera house block and the Rath building are some offices adapted to the needs of professional men. Cranford has five churches, four protestant and one Roman Catholic. The clergymen are eloquent and faithful workers, who, by precept and example, keep the religious life of the community vigorous and aggressive. Socially Cranford occupies a pre-eminent position. Its Country Club, Athletic Club, Wednesday Morning Club, fraternal, dramatic, charitable and church societies, keep up an almost constant round of recreative and beneficial entertainments. A VINE OF THE lord's PLANTING.* 'J'hou hast brought a vine out of Egypt. Thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadows of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. — Psalm 80 : 10. There are those who attribute every event to a strictly natural cause, and who make no exception of the church and sacred history. But those who accept revealed truth, and acknowledge the fatherhood of God, believe that the church is, as our text declares, a vine of the Lord's planting. The period of the healthful and expanding life of the church, described in our verses is the period from Abraham to Solomon — the golden age of Jewish history. Of the vine planted in Egypt by the divine fingers, and trans- * The article here incorporated is from a historical sermon, preached in the First Presbyterian church, of Cranford, New Jersey, April 9, 1893, by the pastor, the Rev. George Francis Greene. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 651 planted to the soil of Caanan, the following assertions may be made. Its original environment was unfriendly. It roots nevertheless struck deeply. Its growth was healthful. And it finally revealed an expulsive power that destroyed every other growth opposed to its own. Surely the Lord is the husbandman who, in every age, shields and nurtures the organism of which Christ is the vine and his people the branches. And the same is true of every individual church of the Master. In looking backward through the forty-two years of the life of the particular church to which we belong we find constant proofs that its continued and enlarging strength and fruitfulness have been due to the wisdom and love of the everlasting Father. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, for the continuous prosperity which has been enjoyed by our beloved church from its birth until this day! There are those here who remember the Old Red School House which stood for many years on the corner of Union avenue and the old Westfield road, not far from the present residence of Mr. S. J. Cox. For more than a century a school house stood on that spot. Mrs. John E. Mathews, now of Newark, who was born in the Denman homestead, but a stone's throw away from the site, has informed me that records are in her possession showing that a school house stood there prior to the Revolution. This ancient building was succeeded by a second, and that in turn by a third, all on the same corner. From the beginning, religious services were held from time to time on the Sabbath in these school houses. Once the eccentric though renowned Methodist itinerant, Lorenzo Dow, passed through the place and preached in the school house. It was about 1820, before the most of us arrived in Cranford. Mrs. Mathews' father entertained the preacher; and after service, as the door was thronged with people, Dow sprang nimbly through the open window. Mr. Denman, a man weighing about two hundred pounds, with some difiSculty followed through the same avenue. Then Dow mounted his horse and disappeared. The Red School House with which we are concerned was the third and last of the series we have mentioned. In that little building our church had its birth. There, from 1832 until 1851, a Sunday school met weekly, its principal superintendents being, in succession during that period, Andrew H. Clark, Isaac Miller, Josiah Crane, Patrick Clark, Isaac H. Pierson and S. W. Thompson. Occasionally on the Sabbath a preaching service would be held in connection with the Sabbath school, the same being conducted by the pastor of some neighboring church. On the 24th of January, 1850, an agreement was entered into by fifty persons, under the leadership of Josiah Crane, to build a house of public worship in Craneville, as our village was then called, various sums of money being pledged for the work. A public meeting followed, July 6, 1850, at the house of John Denman, at which nine persons were present, ^ — John C. Denman in the chair, John E. Mathews, secretarj'. A second meeting occured in the Red School House, July 13th following, when a building committee of the following parties was appointed : David Miller, John G. Crane, Jacob Miller, Jr., Josiah Crane and S. W. Thompson. The work of building was prosecuted with promptness, and on March 3, 1851, the little congregation met for the first time in the new church. Though the seating capacity of the new building was hardly greater than that of our present infant-class room, there was doubtless as much pride felt in it by the people who built it as we shall feel in our proposed new church. The comfort of the birds does not depend always upon the size of the nest. Out of the several events connected with the origin of our church I have selected that of the dedication of the first edifice, in the spring of 1851, as the one from which to date our history. The organization of the church was not completed, however, until June 26, 1851. With strict accuracy, that was the birthday of the First Presbyterian church of Cranford. The original title of the church was "The First Presbyterian church of Craneville, Essex County, New Jersey." After the name of the village was changed to Cranford, in 1869, the church assumed its present title. On the day just mentioned, at 10:30 a. m., the first meeting of the session of the new church was held in Craneville, the Rev. Samuel H. Cox, D. D., then pastor of the First Presbyterian church 652 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY of Brooklyn, being moderator, on invitation. The organization of the church was then effected, under the direction of a commission of Samuel T. Spear, chairman. Rev. Messrs. Lane and Cox, and A. B. Conger, Esq. The following were elected ruling elders : Sam- uel W. Thompson, Josiah Crane and William Crane. John G. Crane and David Miller were elected deacons. These were elected trustees r John Miller, president; Josiah Crane, Jr., secretary; David Miller, Jr., John Dunham, John G. Crane, Jacob Miller, Jr., and Moses T. Crane. The following twenty-two persons composed the membership of the new church, all being received by letter from the Presbyterian church of Westfield : Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Thompson, Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Crane, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. John G. Crane, Mr. and Mrs. David Miller, Mrs. G. Baker, Mrs. John R. Miller, Miss Ariana Thompson, Miss Sophia C. Thompson, John Miller, Simeon Frazee, Mrs. Francis Pease, Charles Clark, Mr. and Mrs. Otis Woodruff. Of these original members not one is now connected with the church. The most of them have joined the church trium- phant. One, and only one, of the original officers of the church is yet with us, — the venerable Moses T. Crane. May the Lord long spare him to us! The original modest little church edifice which I have described stood in the centre of what is now Alden street, midway between Union avenue and North avenue. It was occupied for church services and Sunday school from 185 1 until the erection of our present edifice, in 1868. Subsequently the original building was moved to the rear of the new edifice, where it continued to be used as a chapel. Later, two wings were added to it. It was replaced by the new chapel in 1888. A part of this original building yet remains, — the portion of our chapel which shelters the infant class of the Sunday school. We now proceed to describe the building of the second house of worship used by this church, the structure which is probably soon to be replaced by a third. The first step toward the erection of this building was the adoption of a resolution by the session, in favor of a new church, January 12, 1867. The land for the beautiful site on which our church is happily located was purchased in 1868, the coriler-stone service of this edifice was held in the church on the 25th of May, 1869, the sermon of the occasion being preached by the Rev. James P^ Wilson, D. D., of Newark. The cost of the building, exclusive of the organ, was about thirteen thousand dollars. The organ was paid for by private subscriptions, secured through the enterprise of our fellow townsman, Mr. A. B. Bigelow. It was built in the spring of 1869, and cost about one thousand six hundred dollars. It was first used at the dedication of the church, May 25, 1869. The bell in our tower was a gift to the church by Josiah Crane, Sr. Its cost was five hundred and seventy-six dollars. It was at first placed in a bell tower built for the purpose, on the southeast side of the old church grounds, in 1868. The following year it was placed in its present position. We have remarked that the first edifice began to be used solely as a chapel on the completion of this building in 1869. In 1870 it was removed to the rear of this building. In 1873 it was enlarged. In 1888, to meet the growing demands of the Sunday school and church, a new chapel was built upon the site of the old, at a cost of two thousand seven hundred dollars. It was dedicated January 27, 1889. Strictly speak- ing this was an enlargement of the old chapel, though in the process only a small portion of the old building was left to be incorporated into the new. The first manse of this church was erected in 1854, at a cost of about two thousand dollars. It was situated directly east of the first church edifice. It was afterwards sold, and the present manse was built in 1871, at a cost of four thousand, six hundred dollars. At the completion of the present edifice, iu 1869, a debt of about seven thousand five hundred dollars rested upon the church. So far as I can learn that was the largest amount of debt the church has ever borne at any one time. The debt was reduced to about one thousand nine hundred dollars in 1888. In that year it was increased to four thousand four hundred dollars by the erection of the new chapel. On the morning of Sunday, February g, 1890, the entire amount of the above named indebtedness was sub- scribed by the congregation, and one year later, for the first time in the church's history, the society was entirely out of debt. That Sabbath morning, in February, 1890, was a day long to be remembered by all who were present, and who contributed to the joy it brought to the church. It marked a decided step forward for our beloved Zion, in its HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 653 temporal aud in its spiritual growth. That day's work taught us not to be dismayed, as a church, by small difiSculties, aud to expect large things and to undertake large things, under the divine blessing in the direction of our development. The church has had eleven pastors or stated supplies during the forty-two years of its existence. The Rev. A. H. Lilly was stated supply from the date of organization until April 6, 1853, and remained until April 30, 1854. The Rev. William R. Durnett succeeded Mr. Brittan, June 12, 1854, but after a ministry of about three months his labors terminated by death, September 10, 1854. The Rev. William Whittaker was pastor from October 23, 1854, to January, 1855. On July i, 1855, the Rev. Hollis Read, a returned missionary, and an author of some note, became stated supply, and continued in that relation until April i, 1864. The Rev. Samuel Murdock was the next pastor. He was stated supply for one year, from April 23, 1864, and pastor from June, 1865, until Sep- tember 13, 1867. The Rev. A. H. Sloat was pastor from January 23, 1868, until October 18, 186S. The Rev. A. A. MacCounell was pastor from December 30, 1868, until his death, in 1873. The Rev. W. H. Roberts was pastor from October, 1878, until Septem- ber, 1S84. The present pastor was ordained and installed May 14, 1885. Of my predecessors I believe that only the Rev. Mr. Murdock, now of Virginia, the Rev. Dr. Riggs, now professor in the theological seminary of the Reformed church. New Bruns- wick, and the Rev. Dr. Roberts, of Cincinnati, Ohio, are among the living. The Sunday school of the church has always been, of course, au important element of its life. It has grown with the church, from very humble proportions. The follow- ing is believed to be an accurate list of its superintendents from the beginning: Samuel W. Thompson, William Craue, Josiah Crane, Jr., Ebenezer Hart, James A. Baldwin, N. G. Foster, Fisher A. Fisher,* and William D. Wood. The present superintendent, Mr. Wood, who is exceedingly well adapted to his work, and who has held the confidence and affection of children and parents, has been superintendent since 1872. The only unhappy note in our rejoicing to-day is the fact that he is unable to be with us. ^May the kind Father be gracious to him, and give him abundance of health and blessing, and enable the school to profit by his experience and ability for many happy years to come ! The number of scholars in 1851 was twenty-nine. Our present number of officers, teachers and scholars is three hundred and four. The school not only pays its own running expenses, but also contributes regularly to all the benevolent boards of the denomination. Besides this, it contributed, in 1889, five hundred dollars toward the new chapel, and, in 1S91, five hundred dollars toward the payment of the church's debt. Thus the Sunday school has grown steadily and healthfully from 1851 to this hour. A few words should be spoken to those who have served the church in connection with the service of song. The choir was organized in 185 1, and first sang at the dedica- tion of the first edifice. The chorister then, aud for many years, was Mr. Charles Clark. He was succeeded by Mrs. David Miller and Mrs. Josiah Crane, Jr. Instrumental music was first used in the church's worship about i860. The following I believe to be a complete list of the organists, in their order : J. W. Wagner, Miss S. J. Crane, Miss Mary A. (Crane, A. B. Bigelow, Miss Fannie Butler, C. C. Sprague, F. W. Wagner, D. L. Elmendorf, Miss Addie Bigelow (now Mrs. William Drysdale,) and Miss Minnie Vreeland. It is with extreme pleasure that we proceed to bear testimony to the excellent work wrought in behalf of our church by its faithful women. Toward the close of the year 1850 a Ladies' Sewing Circle was formed. Its presidents in order were Mrs. Eliza A. Millar, Mrs. Peninah Miller and Mrs. Mary B.Cahill. This organization was merged into the Ladies' Aid Society, organized in 1874, with Mrs. Cahill president. The latter society dissolved in 18S4, and was succeeded in 1886 by the Willing Workers, a society composed of 3II the young ladies of the congregation. The Ladies' Aid Society was reorganized in 1889, and has continued in a flourishing condition to the present time. The presidents since 1889 have been,— Mrs. C. N. Fowler, Mrs. P. D. \'an Saun, and Mrs. J. K. Mac- Coiinell. During the past year the society has earned for the church's building fund the magnificent sum of nine hundred and thirty-eight dollars and fifteen cents. It is not * Mr. Fisher has within a few weeks passed to his reward. A man of integrity and genuine worth. 654 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY too much to say that without the service rendered by the Ladies' Aid Society the church would not now be in a financial condition to warrant the erection of a new house of worship. When the debt was paid, in 1890, the society contributed six hundred dollars of that amount. The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor was organized in December, 1888, with ten members. It now numbers fifty-nine active, and forty-two associate mem- bers. It is now decidedly one of the most useful and promising elements in the Hfe of the church. Its presidents have been N. R. Foster, F. E. Woodruff, C. T. Bingham, Miss Lizzie J. Herron and F. H. Valentine (the present incumbent). A flourishing Junior Society is also in existence, organized last year, which is under the superintend- ency of Mrs. C. T. Bingham. If any have feared that the enthusiasm of the young people for this society would flag, their fears have certainly not been realized thus far, as the attendance, interest and spiritual fruits of the society have steadily increased from the beginning. The Woman's Missionary Society of the church, Mrs. George G. Ely, president, has been steadily growing, for several years past, in numbers and efficiency, and gives promise of accomplishing yet greater things in future days. We have also a busy and happy circle of King's Daughters, the "earnest workers," of which Miss Lizzie E. Herron is the president and Mrs. G. Lyons the vice-president. In making brief reference to the prominent members of the church during its history we shall confine attention to those who have gone to their reward. Josiah Crane, Sr., and Samuel W. Thompson, were the strongest pillars of the church in its early years. It is probably just to say that the church could never have lived through its infancy without the assistance these two noble Christian men rendered. They were faithful to the church in its every crisis and need, — faithful in their presence, their counsel, their money and their prayers. Other prominent workers in the church, from the date of its founding were William Crane, John Miller, and David Miller. Later in its history John R. Miller, Ebenezer Hart, J. A. Baldwin, Job Williams, John Seaton, C. D. Bigelow, Ira Canfield and Alexander Stewart, as well as many others, were men of sterling character, who were unfailing in their devotion to the church. Nor must we forget to give honor- able mention to the lady workers of the church, the Priscillas and Dorcasses, to whom an infinite debt of gratitude is due, and who are in heaven's brightest mansions. These include among others, Mrs. Josiah Crane, Mrs. Phebe Garthwait, Mrs. Mary Bigelow, Mrs. John R. Miller ; and, of those belonging to a somewhat later period, Mrs. Cahill, Mrs. Partridge, Mrs. Foster, Mrs. Adams, Mrs. Wagner and Mrs. Stewart. We have said that the church was organized by the presbytery of Brooklyn. It was founded as a " new-school" church. The members of the commission of presbytery, which organized the church were all distinguished " new-school " leaders. The " new- school " movement can hardly be thought of apart from such names as Dr. Cox and Dr. Spear. The synod of New Jersey, in session at Orange, transferred the church from the bounds of the presbytery of Brooklyn to the presbytery of Newark, October 17, 1865. When the reunion occurred, in 1870, the church naturally connected with the presbytery of Elizabeth. While our church in 1885 had but one hundred and twenty-five members, it now has two hundred and forty-one. During the year closing the first of this month there were added to the church on profession of faith, ten; by certificate, eleven; dismission to other churches, six. During the year the church contributed to its own support $3,315.18, and to outside benevolent objects, $1,283.24, — a total of $4,598.42. This completes the brief outline which we have endeavored to present of the history of our church. Now a new era appears about to dawn for us. A new event appears imminent, which will appear the most momentous and glorious of all in future annals of our church's life. Well may we echo the Psalmist's exultant song, "The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. ' ' May the universal Father and Head of the Church grant, in his wisdom and good^ ness, that the future years may be as prolific for our church in growth and victory as HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 655 have been the years that are gone ! On April 9, 1893, fourteen thousand, two hundred dollars was subscribed for a new church. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. A mission Sabbath school was organized by William W. Mendell, in the district school house, in the fall of 1857, and this was the starting point of the church in Cranford. In the spring of 1859 two lots, belonging to Peter B. Johnson, Esq., on the Westfield road, were donated, and in a short time a commodious chapel was erected, at a cost of about three thousand five hundred dollars, the neighorhood lending their help and giving of their means to further the cause. In 1864-5 ^ movement was made to erect a church edifice, and for several months the matter was in contemplation. The trustees, Matthew Flynn, George W. Mendell, Thomas Cloyd, Thomas Falyn, Charles I^ittell, Moses Mendell, and others, decided to secure lots on Walnut avenue, remove the chapel from the Westfield road, and build the new church adjoining it, which was carried into eflFect, and in a few months a fine edifice was completed, thirty-six by seventy feet, with tower, bell, alcoves, etc., at an expense of some sixteen thousand dollars. The following clergymen have served as pastors: R. B. Collins, Henry M. Simpson, J. W. Marshall, James Harris, E. S. Jameison, W. Christopher, F. S. Cookman, lyawrence Reeves, George Benson, Mr. Compton. Rev. Alfred Evans is pastor of the church at the present time. TRINITY CHURCH, PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL. This beautiful church was erected by the faithful labors of a number of residents of this town and clergymen from neighboring parishes. The organization was formed April 18, 1872, and for some months prior to the building of the church, service was held upon North avenue, easterly from the station, near the residences of a number of its members. The cost when it was completed, in 1875, amounted to seven thousand dollars, and it is now free from incum- brance. The number of families connected with the parish is thirty- seven. The Rev. E. M. Reilly was the first rector, in 1875, and remained for nearly three years. The Rev. J. H. Young was the next. Rev. John Edgecumbe, the present rector came to Cranford from Montreal, Canada, in 1890. He is a graduate of Plymouth Theological Seminary, London, and his pastorate has been a successful one here. ST. MICHAEL'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. A few Catholic families residing in this township in 187 1 had, with Westfield, occasional mass every two or three Sabbaths. In the year 1874 efforts were put forth for the building of a church which would accommodate all the families within two or three miles around, 656 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY and material was purchased, but not until the fall of 1875 and the spring of 1876 was much done towards building, but in the summer of the latter year they had completed a neat building, at a cost of about two thousand dollars, which will accommodate some two hundred and fifty. Rev. J. P. Smith is the present father in charge of the flock, and his rectorship over this congregation has made of it a pros- perous church. SCHOOLS. In the year 1805 the " Old Red School House " was built. The neighbors drew the stones for the foundation, and the frame was cut from the near timber land. The building had four windows on a side, and was a model school house for its day. It was sixteen by twenty-four feet in dimensions, and was furnished with slab benches. This site was occupied for school purposes until 1866-67, when a small building was provided on the north side of the Central Railroad, near the residence of Mr. Purves. The name of the teacher was Fred Searing. In 1869 a new and imposing structure was erected and a graded school organized.