Genealogical and personal memorial of Mercer County, New Jersey, Part 1

Author: Lee, Francis Bazley, 1869-1914
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 698

USA > New Jersey > Mercer County > Genealogical and personal memorial of Mercer County, New Jersey > Part 1

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.

Rutgers University LIBRARY

TEM.

LUSTRA

LUM.

AREA

Purchased by the ROBERT H. PRUYN LIBRARY FUND

N.J. F142

79210

MSL4 V. 2

Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Lyrasis Members and Sloan Foundation

http://www.archive.org/details/genealogicalpers02leef

Es un Clanlund

Genealogical and Personal Memorial

MERCER COUNTY

NEW JERSEY

Under the Editorial Supervision of

FRANCIS BAZLEY LEE

"And so it is, too, with family recollections. To have had forefathers renowned for honorable deeds, to belong by nature to those who have bravely borne their part in life and refreshed the world with migbty houghts and healthy admiration, is a privilege which it were mean and self-willed to despise. It is as a security given for us of old, which it were falsehearted not to redeem; and in virtues bred of a noble stock, mellowed as they are by reverence, there is often a grace and ripeness wanting to self- made and brand-new excellence. Of like value to a people are heroic national traditions, giving them a determinate character to sustain among the tribes of men, making them familiar with images of great and strenuous life, and kindling them with faith in glorious possibilities."-Martineau,

ILLUSTRATED.

VOLUME II.

THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY NEW YORK CHICAGO

1907

N.J. F142. . M5L4 V. 2

THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY

MERCER COUNTY.

GROVER CLEVELAND, former president of the United States, is a native of New Jersey, born in Caldwell, Essex county, March 18, 1837, and comes of a notable ancestry. In their vari- ous generations several of his ancestors were distinguished in military and professional life, and four Clevelands were governors of states- Chauncey Fitch Cleveland, of Connecticut ; Jesse F. Cleveland, of North Carolina ; Alvin P. Hovey, of Indiana; and Grover Cleveland, the subject of this narrative, of New York.

The Cleveland family traces its descent from one Thorkil, in all probability a Saxon land- lord, who about the time of the Norman con- quest assumed the surname De Cliveland, call- ing himself Thorkil De Cliveland, maintaining his family seat in the county of York, England. From him was descended the progenitor of the American branch of the family, Moses (or Moy- ses) Cleveland (or Cleaveland), who was born probably in Ipswich, Suffolk county, England, whence he came to America about 1635, when a lad about twelve years of age. He landed at either Plymouth or Boston, about fifteen years after the coming of the Pilgrims. He died in Woburn, January 9, 1701-2. He married, at that place, 7 mo. 26, 1648, Ann Winn, born about 1626, died prior to May 6, 1682. One family tradition makes her a native of England, and another of Wales. Moses and Ann Cleve- land were the parents of twelve children.

(II) Aaron, son of Moses and Ann (Winn) Cleveland, was born in Woburn, Massachusetts, January 10, 1654-5, and died there September 14, 1716. He married there, 7 mo. 26, 1675, Dorcas Wilson, born January 29, 1657, died in Cambridge, November 29, 1714, daughter of John and Hannah (James) Wilson. He mar- ried (second), 1714-15, Prudence

Aaron Cleveland served in King Philip's war, as did his brothers Moses and Samuel. He was made a freeman in 1680, and became a man of

wealth and distinction, prominent in all public affairs. He gave to his children the best educa- tional advantages of that day.

(III) Captain Aaron Cleveland, son of Aaron Cleveland, was born in Woburn, July 9, 1680, and died in that part of Cambridge called Mys- tic (now Medford), or at Norwich, Connecti- cut, about December 1, 1755. He lived in Wo- burn to 1704, in Medford to 1710, in Charles- town to 1713, in Cambridge to 1716, in Medford again, in Charlestown again in 1738, and after- ward in East Haddam, Connecticut. He was admitted by profession and baptism to the church at Cambridge, October 7, 1711, and transferred to Medford church, and to East Haddam church August 10, 1755. He was made con- stable March I, 1707-8. He was an innkeeper at Cambridge, and was a builder and contractor, and a man of business ability. He held one slave, to whom he willed freedom "after the dc- cease of my beloved wife." He was a man of great stature and strength, and was prominent in military affairs, and was cornet, lieutenant and captain. He married, at Woburn, January I, 1701-2, Abigail Waters, born there Novem- ber 29, 1683, died January 6, 1761, daughter of Samuel and Mary (Hudson) Waters. They had eight children.

(IV) Rev. Aaron Cleveland, son of Captain Aaron and Abigail (Waters) Cleveland, was one of the most distinguished clergymen of his day. He was born October 19-29, 1715, and died in Philadelphia, August II, 1757, in the prime of his life. While Medford is generally given as his birthplace, both Charleston and Cambridge contend for the honor. He entered Harvard College at the age of sixteen, and grad- uated at the age of twenty. Where he studied theology is not known. He settled in 1739 at Haddam, and probably delivered his first sermon there, being the third regular pastor. In 1750 he became a resident of Halifax, Nova Scotia,

Vol. II-433

434

MERCER COUNTY.

where he established "Mather's Church," as it was known after the church division in New England, and this is notable as the first Presby- terian church in the British lower province. In the third year of his ministry his brother, Cap- tain Samuel Cleveland, was killed by Indians. In 1754 he terminated his ministry, having be- came an adherent of the Church of England, and went to Norwich, Connecticut, where his wid- owed mother died. He was invited to preach to Church of England congregations in Norwich and Groton alternately, and consented to do so in the event of his procuring ordination. There being no bishop in America, he sailed for Eng- land in 1754 to take holy orders, and was or- dained priest by Bishop Sherlock, of London, July 28. 1755. In August following he sailed on his return voyage, and his vessel narrowly escaped loss by shipwreck on Nantucket Shoals. He landed at Halifax, whence he went to Boston and Norwich, and finally to Delaware. Finding a promising field at Newcastle, in the latter col- ony, he was assigned to that parish. He preached there once, and left to bring thither his family, passing through Philadelphia, where he was en- tertained at the home of Benjamin Franklin, whose esteem and friendship he enjoyed. His death occurred in that home a few days later, August 11, 1757, due to a fever and an under- mined constitution ascribable to injuries received in a fall on board ship at the time that ship- wreck was imminent, as before narrated. He was buried in Christ Church graveyard, Phila- delphia. He was an able and zealous preacher, and (to quote from Franklin's Pennsylvania Ga- cette) "a gentleman of humane and pious dispo- sition, indefatigable in his ministry, easy and affable in his conversation, open and sincere in his friendships, and above every species of mean- ness and dissimulation." He married, at Med- ford, August 4, 1739, Susannah Porter, born there April 26, 1716, died at Salem, Massachu- setts, March 28, 1788, daughter of Rev. Aaron and Susanna (Sewall) Porter. When her hus- band died she was left with ten children.

(V) Rev. Aaron Cleveland, son of Rev. Aaron and Susannah (Porter) Cleveland, was a man of remarkable gifts, and his career was of phenomenal usefulness. He was born in Med- ford, Massachusetts, 1738, and died in New Haven, Connecticut. September 21, 1815. In early boyhood he gave evidence of more than ordinary mental endowments, and was intended

for college. His father dying and leaving but little means to his family, the lad was appren- ticed to a hatter at Haddam. During his ap- prenticeship he devoted himself closely to study during his leisure hours, and at the age of mine- teen wrote a poem, "The Philosopher and the Boy," which was published in the Everest's "Poets of Connecticut," 1843. In August, 1764, he was drafted for military service in the Brit- ish army, and served for six months. After coming of age he worked as a journeyman hat- ter at Norwich, in 1768 went into the business on his own account, at Bean Hill, Norwich, and was subsequently in business at Guilford, Con- necticut, for twenty-five years. He was a ready writer and strong controversialist, and early antagonized human slavery. In 1773 he deliv- ered a strong discourse upon the subject, based upon the scriptural passage, "Touch not mine annointed," being the first in Connecticut to publicly espouse the cause, and contributed copi- ously to the newspapers in advocacy of his views, and in 1780 wrote his "Poem Against Slavery," of which his descendants may be justly proud. In 1779 he was elected to the legislature, and introduced a bill for the abolition of slavery. He declined a re-election. An attendant of the Congregational church, he became a leader among the Universalists, but in 1792 changed his views as to religion, connected himself with the Orthodox Congregational Church, studied theology with Walter King, of Norwich. He was chosen deacon in 1794, was licensed to preach in 1797, and went as a missionary to the new settlement in Vermont. He preached at Canaan, New Hampshire, 1799; in 1800 settled at Braintree, Vermont; was minister at Royal- ton, Vermont, for a year or two; and was pas- tor at Wethersfield, Connecticut, November, 1803, to October, 1804. In March of the year of his death, he delivered two sermons which attracted marked attention, and were published both in the United States and England. His chief characteristics were ardent piety, great ear- nestness, sincere love of the truth, exuberant animal spirits, and a most ready wit. He married, at Norwich, Connecticut, April 12, 1768, Abiah Hyde, born in Norwich, December 27, 1749, or January 9, 1750, died at Norwich, August 23, 1788, only daughter of Captain James and Sarah Marshall. He married (second), in Norwich, October 23, 1788, Mrs. Elizabeth Clement Breed,

435

MERCER COUNTY.

widow of David Breed, and daughter of Jere- miah and Mary (Mosely) Clement.

(VI) William Cleveland, son of Rev. Aaron and Abiah (Hyde) Cleveland, was born in Nor- wich, Connecticut, December 20, 1770, and died at Black Rock, near Buffalo, New York, August 18, 1837. He was a master silversmith, watch and clock maker. He manufactured silver spoons of much beauty, each bearing upon the back the name "Cleveland," in bold handsome letters. Specimens still exist, and one was presented to his great-granddaughter Ruth, a daughter of former President Grover Cleveland. Soon after his marriage, Mr. Cleveland set up in business in Worthington, Massachusetts, whence he removed to Salem, and then to New York state. He was deacon in the Norwich church for twenty-five years. He married, in Westfield, Massachusetts December 19, 1793, Margaret Falley, born in Westfield, November 15, 1766, died at Black Rock, New York, August 10, 1850, daughter of Richard and Margaret ( Hitchcock) Falley. They had six children.

(VII) Rev. Richard Falley Cleveland, son of William and Margaret (Falley) Cleveland, was born in Norwich, Connecticut, June 19, 1804, and died at Holland Patent, New York, October I, 1853. He graduated from Yale College in 1824, and studied theology at Baltimore, Maryland, with Rev. William Nivin, D. D., and afterward at Princeton Theological Seminary. In 1827 he was chosen as supply at Pomfret, Connecticut. He was ordained in 1828 minister of the First Con- gregational Church at Windham, Connecticut, and remained there until 1833 ; minister at Ports- mouth, Virginia, 1833-35; pastor First Presby- terian Church, Caldwell, New Jersey, 1835-41 ; pastor First Presbyterian Church, Fayetteville, New York, 1841-47, In the latter year he was chosen district secretary and agent for the Pres- byterian Board of Home Missions in New York State, residing in Clinton, Oneida county, and also preaching in that vicinity. After three years he was called to a church at Holland Patent, New York, where, after preaching one month, he died without an hour's warning, leaving his fam- ily in reduced circumstances, having throughout his life devoted his means to the education of his children. He was a man of more than ordinary ability, fine voice, bright mind and liberal ideas. He married, September 10, 1829, Ann Neal, in all respects a superior woman, born in Baltimore. Maryland, February 4, 1806, died at Holland

Patent, New York, July 19, 1882, daughter of Abner and Barbara (Reel) Neal. Her father was born in Ireland, and was a law book publisher ; her mother was a German Quakeress. To Rev. and Mrs. Cleveland were born nine children. One of the daughters, Rose Elizabeth, is a well known author and educator. She was educated at Houghton Seminary, Clinton, New York, and became a teacher in that institution; and later had charge of a collegiate institution in Lafayette, Indiana. For a short time she was editor of Literary Life, a Chicago journal, and is author of "George Eliot's Poetry, and other Studies," and a novel, "The Long Run."

(VIII) Grover Cleveland, son of Rev. Richard Falley and Ann (Neal) Cleveland, was born March 18, 1837, in Caldwell, New Jersey, in a small two-story building which was the parson- age of the Presbyterian church of which his father was then pastor, and which is yet stand- ing. He was named Stephen Grover, for his father's predecessor in the pastorate, but in child- hood the first name was dropped. In 1841, when he was three years old, his parents removed to Fayetteville, Onondaga county, New York, where he lived until he was fourtcen, attending the dist- rict school and academy. He was of studious habits, and his frank open disposition made him a favorite with both his teachers and fellows. He left the academy before he could complete the course, and took employment in a village store, his wage being fifty dollars for the first and one hundred dollars for the second year, but soon after the beginning of the latter period he re- moved to Clinton, New York, whither his parents had preceded him, and resumed studies at the academy in that village, with the intention of preparing himself for admission to Hamilton Col- lege. The death of his father, however, disap- pointed this expectation, and made it necessary to enter upon self-support. He accordingly ac- cepted a position as bookkeeper and assistant teacher in the New York Institution for the Blind, which he filled acceptably for a year. Starting west in search of more lucrative employment, with twenty-five dollars to defray his expenses, he stopped on the way at Buffalo, New York, to make a farewell visit to his uncle, Lewis F. Allen, a stock farmer, who induced him to re- main and aid him in the compilation of "Allen's American, Shorthorn Herd Book." In return he received the sum of fifty dollars, and with this aid he entered the law offices of Rogers, Bowen

436

MERCER COUNTY.

& Rogers, at Buffalo, as a clerk and law student. His student life was one of arduous labor and rigorous economy and self-denial. For a few months he served without compensation, as a copyist, and then received a wage of four dollars a week. He lived at a modest hotel, took break- fast by candlelight, worked in the office the entire day, and did most of his law reading at night. He was admitted to the bar in 1859. Meantime his employers, recognizing his ability and fidelity, advanced him to a position of confidential and managing clerk, and in three years he had saved from his salary a thousand dollars.

Mr. Cleveland's public life began in 1863, when he was appointed assistant district attorney for Erie County. A stanch Democrat from his first studies of American history and politics, he had been a sturdy supporter of his party and an in- dustrious party worker from the day in 1858 when he cast his first vote. In his first term in the office to which he was chosen, the Democrats were extremely desirous of carrying the board of supervisors, and looked to him as their promising candidate in the second ward of the city of Buf- falo, which was Republican by a plurality of two hundred and fifty. He consented to accept the candidacy, made a vigorous canvass, and came within thirteen votes of election. He acquitted himself so well in his office, that at the expiration of his term he received the unanimous nomination for district attorney. He had for his Republican opponent a warm personal friend, Lyman K. Bass, who was elected by a plurality of five hun- dred; Mr. Cleveland, however, polled more than his party vote in all the city wards. Retiring from office in January, 1866, he formed a law partnership with Isaac V. Vanderpoel, former state treasurer, under the firm name of Vander- poel & Cleveland. In 1869 he became a member of the law firm of Laning, Cleveland & Folsom, his partners being Albert P. Laning, former state senator, and for years attorney for the Canada Southern and the Lake Shore railways, and Oscar Folsom, former United States district attorney. During these, as in previous years, he sent the large portion of his earnings to his mother, to aid her in support of her family. In 1870 at the earn- est solicitation of his party friends, and against his own earnestly expressed desire, he consented to become candidate for sheriff, and was elected after a stubbornly contested canvass. His official con- duct was warmly approved by the people. At the

expiration of his term of office he resumed the practice of law, in association with Lyman K. Bass and Wilson S. Bissell. Mr. Bass re- tired in 1879, on account of ill health, the firm becoming Cleveland & Bissell. In 1881 George J. Sicard was admitted to partnership. During all these changes Mr. Cleveland shared in a large and lucrative business, while he had attracted the admiration of bench and bar for the care with which he prepared his cases and the ability and industry with which he contested them.

In 1881 Mr. Cleveland was nominated for mayor of Buffalo on a platform advocating ad- ministrative reform and economy in municipal expenditures, and was elected by a plurality of more than thirty-five hundred, the largest majority ever given a candidate for that office, and at an election where, although the Democrats carried their local ticket to success, the Republicans car- ried the city for their state ticket by more than one thousand plurality. His administration com- manded unstinted approval, for his courageous devotion to the interests of the people, and his success in checking unwise, illegal and ex- travagant expenditures, saving to the city a million dollars in the first six months of his term, and he was a popular favorite as "The Veto Mayor." He was now a state celebrity, and the convention of his party, held September 22, 1882, at Syracuse, nominated him for governor. He was elected over the Republican nominee, Charles J. Folger, by the tremendous plurality of 192,- 854-the largest plurality ever given a guber- natorial candidate in any state in the Union. Among the chief acts of his administration were his approval of a bill to submit to the people a proposition to abolish contract prison labor ; his veto of a bill permitting wide latitude to savings bank directors in investment of deposits ; his veto of a similar bill respecting insurance companies ; and his veto of a bill to establish a monopoly by limiting the right to construct certain street rail- ways to companies heretofore organized, to the exclusion of such as should hereafter obtain the consent of property owners and local authorities.

Mr. Cleveland was nominated for President by the Democratic national convention in Chicago, in July, 1884, receiving 683 votes out of a total of 820. His Republican opponent was Hon. James G. Blaine. The campaign was remarkable for the discussion of the personal characters and qual- ifications of the candidates, rather than political

437

MERCER COUNTY.

principles. At the election Mr. Cleveland received a majority of thirty-seven in the electoral col- lege, and a majority in the popular vote of 23,005, out of a total of 10,067,610. At his inauguration, March 4, 1885, he delivered an admirable in- augural address, with flowing ease, and his mod- esty and sincerity impressed all hearers. He took his official oath upon a small morocco bound gilt-edged Bible, a gift from his mother when as a lad he first left home. Among the most im- portant acts of his administration was his pro- clamation of March 13, 1885, for the removal of white intruders from Oklahoma, Indian Ter- ritory ; and, after the burning of Aspinwall, Pan- ama, by the revolutionists, March 31, 1885, his ordering a naval expedition to protect American persons and property.

Mr. Cleveland was unanimously re-nominated for President in 1888, but was defeated by Ben- jamin Harrison, Republican, although his plu- rality in the popular vote was more than 100,000. He then located in the city of New York and again took up his profession. In June, 1892, he was nominated a third time, by the Democratic national convention in Chicago, receiving on the first ballot 6171/3 votes out of 910, the nomination then being made unanimous. At the election he defeated Benjamin Harrison by a plurality of 110 in the electoral college, and a plurality of 379.150 in the popular vote. He was inaugurated March 4, 1893, in the presence of a vast multitude, in midst of a blinding snowstorm. The military and civic parade was more imposing than on any other similar occasion. His administration was marked by some most unusual features. His first important act was to call a special session of congress, August 7. 1893, and in pursuance of his recommendation was repealed the act of 1890 calling for the monthly purchase of $4,500,- 000 of silver bullion. In this he was opposed by the silver wing of his party. Elected as he was on a tariff-reform platform. both houses of con- gress were in accord with him on that issue. and in 1894 was passed the Wilson bill, a tariff-for- revenue-only measure. The industrial and finan- cial stagnation of that period was ascribed by the Republicans as to this measure, while the free- silver Democrats attributed it in large degree to the repeal of the silver-purchase measure, and in November of the same year the Republicans won a protective tariff victorv, with the result that during the latter half of President Cleveland's administration he had to deal with a Republican

congress. He performed an invaluable service to law and order and protection to property by his firm stand with reference to the railroad riots in July, 1894, ordering United States troops to Chicago and other railroad centers to enforce the orders and processes of the federal courts, and to prevent interference with inter-state com- merce and the transmission of the United States mails. On January 1, 1895, he appointed, with the consent of the senate, the commission to in- quire into the Venezuelan boundary. During the insurrection in Cuba he took strong measures against the violation of the neutrality laws. In February, in order to preserve the national credit, he ordered an issue of four per cent. thirty year bonds to the amount of $62,000,000. May 29th he vetoed the river and harbor bill calling for an immediate expenditure of $17,000,000, and authorizing contracts for the further sum of $62,- 000,000, but the bill was passed over his veto. In summer of the same year he received the signal compliment of being chosen as arbitrator in the dispute between Italy and Colombia, in which the former claimed large pecuniary damages for in- juries sustained by Italians during the revolution of 1885. Late in 1895, in his annual message he recommended a general reform of banking and currency laws, and accomplished the settlement of the Venezuelan boundary question, the treaty being signed February 2, 1896. In the latter year he issued an order under which thirty thousand additional posts in the civil service were placed under restrictions formulated by the board of civil service commissioners. In the same year he sent General Fitzhugh Lee to Havana as consul- general-an appointment which was approved by the great mass of Union veterans almost as heartily as it was by the ex-Confederates. On June 16, 1896, he issued an open letter condemn- ing the free-silver movement, and approving the principles of the Gold Wing of the Democratic party, a document which had a salutary and far- reaching effect. Before the expiration of his official term he had the great pleasure of witness- ing the execution of a treaty between the United States and Great Britain providing for the estab- lishment of an international tribunal of general arbitration.

One of President Cleveland's last public ap- pearances before retiring from his high office, was the delivery of an address at the sesquicen- tennial celebration of Princeton College, which then took on its more appropriate title of Uni-

438

MERCER COUNTY.

versity. Shortly afterward he purchased a home in the town of Princeton, and where his first son was born. Known as a polished and force- ful writer, Mr. Cleveland's most important pa- pers have been widely published. His Annual Message of 1887 was issued in a sumptuous edi- tion de luxe, illustrated by the famous artist, Thomas Nast. An important compilation of his utterances was made by Francis Gottsberger, of New York, under the title, "Principles and Pur- poses of Our Form of Government, as Set Forth in Public Papers of Grover Cleveland," and George F. Parker selected and edited a volume, "Writings and Speeches of Grover Cleveland.' In 1904 appeared "Presidential Problems," a volume of essays by Mr. Cleveland, two of which were originally delivered at Princeton Univer- sity, the others being articles which had their original appearance in leading magazines.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Genealogical and personal memorial of Mercer County, New Jersey, Part 1

Author: Lee, Francis Bazley, 1869-1914 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 698

Author: Lee, Francis Bazley, 1869-1914
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 698