USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > A History of the city of Newark, New Jersey : embracing practically two and a half centuries, 1666-1913 Volume III > Part 31
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thirty-second degree Mason of Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Valley of Jersey City; Washington Chapter No. 1 of Connecticut, Royal Arch Masons; Salaam Temple of the Mystic Shrine; Essex Forest' No. 8, Tall Cedars of Lebanon; a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 21; Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Union Club of Newark.
Mr. Harding married, 1901, Lillian M. Crawford, and has one son, Edward C. In his private character Mr. Harding has peculiarly fine traits, and he is hospitable and sincere as a friend. As a citizen, as well as an educator and a business man, he has earned the highest commendation from those who are best able to judge, and he stands in the foremost ranks of the city.
MISS CLARA ZAHN
The growth and progress of the cause of education in the city of Newark compares more than favorably with that of other cities of the country. Its standard is a high one, and among the excellent corps of instructors at work in the educational field, Miss Clara Zahn holds a distin- guished position. She was born in Newark, daughter of George and Frances (Sommer) Zahn, the former settling in Newark in the early fifties and establishing himself in the then extensive field of manufacture (saddlery hardware).
Miss Zahn acquired her education in the Newark public schools, grad- uating from the Newark Normal School, and later receiving an appointment as assistant teacher. Passing through the various grades and positions of the primary and grammar schools, she qualified for principalship, received a position in the Normal and Training School, and later the principalship of Summer place.
At the time the project of building a school in the Forest Hill district was first spoken of, the late Elias Heller, who had done a great deal to further the cause of education, urged the Board of Education to erect a building for the convenience of the younger children, who were seriously handicapped, especially in the winter, by the long walk to the Elliot Street School. The board decided not to comply with the request, and Mr. Heller determined to build the school himself. He accordingly set aside twelve building lots on his extensive property, choosing a site on Ridge street, with a frontage of 150 feet and a depth of 200 feet. Here, in a grove of chestnut and oak trees, he erected at his own expense a frame structure containing four class rooms. On September 10, 1894, the school was opened, with Miss Amelia Young as head assistant. In 1895 the Board of Education arranged to purchase this property, which, in accordance with the original agreement made at the time of rental, was obtained at cost price, approxi- mately $8,750. In August, 1895, the Ridge Street School was made an annex to the Elliot Street Grammar School, and from that time was subject to the jurisdiction of the Elliot street principal until the erection of the new building, when it became an independent grammar school with a principal of its own.
It became apparent in 1910 that the old building had outgrown the purposes for which it had been erected, and the board decided to erect more commodious and modern quarters, better suited to the times and needs of the section. The present fine building is the result of this decision. It is modern in every respect, being equipped with a first class gymnasium, a spacious and well lighted assembly room, manual training, cooking room,
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room for medical inspection, teachers' and principal's rooms, and fifteen class rooms. Twelve of these are at present (1912) in constant use, with an enrollment of 550 pupils. The new school, designated as the "Ridge School," was formally opened in September, 1911, Miss Clara Zahn being selected as principal.
On Lincoln's Birthday, 1912, a memorial tablet was presented to the school by the three sons of the late Elias Heller, the ceremony being under the auspices of the Lincoln Post, No. 11, Grand Army of the Republic, Department of New Jersey. This beautiful bronze tablet containing the immortal Lincoln's Gettysburg speech is a fitting memorial to Mr. Heller, whose patriotic, generous and noble public spirit did so much to endear him to the people and to develop this residential section into its present high standing.
While much may be said concerning the improved condition of the appliances and surroundings of this institution, they would be of compara- tively little value were it not for the able leadership of the principal. She is the sympathizing friend and confidant of every pupil, large and small, and under her able leadership the school has gained much in prestige. She has the honor of being the first woman appointed to the position of principal of a grammar school in Newark.
JOHN EDWARD SMITH, JR.
Among the men of exceptional devotion to duty in the city of Newark, New Jersey, of inflexible determination to do that which is right and just despite criticism, the name of John Edward Smith, Jr., lawyer and counsellor, stands in the foremost ranks. Patriotism is one of the fine qualities he has inherited from a distinguished ancestry, and were the occasion to arise he would undoubtedly be one of the first to tender his services in defence of the rights of his country.
His grandfather, John Ludowick Smith, was a publisher of note in Washington, D. C., then took up the study of law, and practiced in Wash- ington, D. C., for upwards of forty years, occupying the same office in Ford's Law Building that Daniel Webster occupied before him. He was a native of Washington and died in his country home at Jessups Cut, Maryland, in 1872. For many years he was associated in partnership with Judge Alex- ander, of Baltimore. He served as a member of the Legislature, was presi- dent of the Board of Aldermen of Washington, and was ex-officio mayor of the city of Washington. He married Miss Cecelia Clarke, of Baltimore. Her ancestors on her father's side came over to Maryland with Lord Balti- more. Her brothers were the late Rev. Father Francis Clarke, S. J., pro- fessor of St. Ignatius' College, Baltimore, and Professor Joseph Clarke, also of Baltimore. His second wife was Miss Jane Rebecca Lowndes, of Baltimore, the late Governor Lowndes, of Maryland, being a nephew. One cousin of John L. Smith was Augustus Sheppard, who served and was killed in the Mexican War, and another cousin became a judge in San Francisco, and another, James Matthews, became Governor of New Mexico.
The maternal grandfather of the subject was Edward L. Andrews, of New York City. He was an Englishman, and was a manufacturer of steel pens and professor of music, with an office in the old Knox Building, New York City. He married the daughter of Michael Carr, of Belfast, Ireland. Archbishop Hughes, of New York, was a great uncle of Mr. Smith.
John Edward Smith, father of the subject of this sketch, was grad-
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uated from Georgetown University with the degrees of Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Laws. For more than forty years he was engaged in the practice of law in the city of Washington, until his death in 1906. During the Civil War he was in active service for a period of four years, bearing the rank of brigade surgeon; was aide-de-camp on General McCook's staff; was with Grant; was major-general in organization of Union Veteran Army; member Loyal Legion, Society of the Cincinnati, etc. He mar- ried, in 1864, Mary F., daughter of Professor Andrews, well known in the musical circles of New York and other important musical centers. They had thirteen children, of whom our subject is one, and another son, Charles E., is a dentist in Newark.
John Edward Smith, Jr., was born in Washington, D. C., August 23, 1868, and received his preparatory education in the public schools of that city. He then matriculated at the Georgetown College, Washington, from which institution he was graduated in 1889 with the degree of civil engineer, and in 1892 the further degree of Doctor of Medicine was conferred upon him. For about six years he followed the profession of pharmacy, then commenced reading law in the office of his father, and was admitted as an attorney to the bar in 1898. In 1901 he was admitted
as a counsellor. Immediately after his admission as an attorney he estab- lished himself in the practice of his profession. As a student he had already shown qualities which especially fitted him for this line of work, and he soon gained the confidence of those with whom he was associated, as well as that of a large clientele. His present offices are at No. 22 Clinton street, Newark, where he has been located for a considerable period of time. His cases are prepared for trial with exceptional care and exactitude, and as a pleader he is forceful and convincing. The cause of pure politics has had his stead- fast support as a representative of the Democratic party, and his entire career has been marked by an admirable sincerity and steadfastness of purpose. In educational affairs he has also taken an active part, greatly to their benefit, and he served as school commissioner in 1906.
Mr. Smith married, November 17, 1904, Grace M., daughter of Eugene and Henrietta A. Johnson. Mr. Smith has the happy faculty of rising above the prejudices of the hour, and entertains broad and liberal minded views. Ilis scholarly attainments make him a fluent and interesting conversational- ist, and his keen insight into character make him an excellent judge of human nature.
GUSTAVE WILLIAM GEHIN
The characteristic energy of the French nation is in evidence in Gustave William Gehin, a descendant of the Del Gehins, of France, who number many military officers and clergymen among the members of their family. 1 Gustavus Adolphus Gehin, a son of John Del Gehin, and father of Gustave William Gehin, was engaged in business as a manufacturing jeweler in the city of Newark, New Jersey. He married Mary Isabelle La Valla, also of French parentage.
Gustave William Gehin was born in Newark, New Jersey, January 1, 1875, his education being acquired in public and private schools. His first business position was in the home office of the Prudential Insurance Com- pany in Newark, this connection continuing for a period of fifteen years, ending in December, 1906, upon the organization of the Ward-Gehin Com- pany, his associate being Edgar Percy Ward, a son of one of the vice-
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presidents of the Prudential Insurance Company. The Ward-Gehin Company has been in successful operation since its organization, and is engaged in the promotion and management of office buildings and other large realty interests. Mr. Gehin also organized the Firemen's Pharmacy Company, and has since remained its president. This corporation owns and operates drug stores in various locations, one of these being the largest of its kind in the State.
Mr. Gehin married, at Islip, Long Island, December 19, 1900, Eloise Frazer. They have no children. His political affiliations are with the Republican party, to which he gives his strong support. He is interested in a number of other business enterprises, and is a member of the Union Club, Lake Hopatcong Yacht Club and the Down Town Club, being secretary and a trustee of the latter, as well as one of its organizers. Mr. Gehin is indeed representative of the younger element that is doing much for the advancement of Newark's prosperity.
EDWIN ALLEN KIRCH
While educational advantages are by no means to be despised, and while they tend to render smooth and pleasant the path of a business man so equipped for his life work, there are some men so generously endowed by nature that they rise superior to many difficulties to which those less gifted easily succumb. Edwin Allen Kirch, prominent in the furniture trade of Newark, and well known as an exceptionally fine business man, was one of those who have many difficulties to contend with, and whose courage and fine qualities seem to grow with the struggles in which they engage and in which their true worth meets with well deserved success ultimately.
Born in Summit, New Jersey, May 27, 1862, he was one of the ten children of Sebastian and Appalonia (Scheller) Kirch, and was three years of age when his parents took up their residence in the city of Newark. It was there he received his scholastic education, attending the sessions in the school under the supervision of a principal, Joseph E. Haynes, familiarly known as "Pop Haynes," in the old Thirteenth Ward. Earnest and thor- ough in all he undertook from his earliest years, Mr. Kirch acquired a very fair education under this preceptorship.
At the outset of his business career Mr. Kirch encountered the usual obstacles to be met with in a path which is not paved with worldly wealth, but these very obstacles served to develop the fine qualities of patience, perseverance and business acumen, with which he was so richly and natur- ally endowed. Commencing in an inferior position, he was enabled to learn all the intricacies and details of business life in a most thorough and prac- tical manner, a fact which has served him in good stead throughout his carcer.
Mr. Kirch started in his present business in 1888 and it has been increased from time to time until it has attained its present growth, and the future holds great possibilities for its further enlargement. His business interests are many and diversified. He is the vice-president of the Goerke & Kirch Company, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, and has large interests in the real estate field, having constructed a number of fine apartment houses in the Roseville section of the city. He has not, however, allowed his business interests to absorb all of his time and attention, and has taken an activo interest in the politics of the community, being at one time mentioned for
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the office of mayor of the city. In religious affairs, also, his influence has been most beneficially felt. It was largely owing to the efforts of Mr. Kirch that the first Methodist Protestant Church, at the corner of Clinton avenue and Tracy avenue, was erected. The fraternal affiliations of Mr. Kirch are with Franklin Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons.
Mr. Kirch married Martha Dow Harrison, and this union has been blessed with two sons, Roy Harrison and Edwin Allen, Jr., who died at the age of seven. Roy, the surviving son, who is associated in business with his father, bids fair to follow successfully the excellent example set him by his father. Genial and companionable, Mr. Kirch is a well known figure in the social life of the city, and has the esteem and confidence of the entire 'community, as has been evidenced on numerous occasions. His slogan in business is, "What We Say Is So"; he is a stickler for the truth.
SIMON COHEN
One of the leading architects of the city of Newark, New Jersey, who is equally well known in the professional and social circles, is Simon Cohen, who has not yet reached the prime of life, yet has already accomplished a mass of work, the quality of which might well be envied by many of far greater experience and by far his senior in point of years. He is well qualified by nature and education for his chosen field of labor, and it is not expecting too much to think that the future has still greater honors for him than the past has already bestowed.
Leon Cohen, his father, is a man of wide learning in Russia, where he conducted a private school. He was also a private instructor in a number of the best families of that country. He is now holding the position of bookkeeper in Kremenchug-Poltava. He married Kuna Kroll and they became the parents of: Samuel, a photographer, of Rochester, New York; Simon, the subject of this review; Beeny and Alta, now living in Russia.
Simon Cohen was born in the town of Orsha, province of Mohilev, Russia, December 6, 1880. Ile attended the elementary and high schools. in his native country, receiving his diploma from the latter institution in 1902 at Tzarskoye-Selo. He served in the Russian army at Tavasgus- Finland for a period of two years, being a member of the army during the Russo-Japanese war. Upon the termination of his term of military service, Mr. Cohen decided to come to the United States, feeling that in this country he would find better opportunities than in his native land. He arrived here in 1904, after a passage of eighteen days on the steamship "Maine," from Bremen, Germany. His stay in the city of New York, where he was landed, was but a short one, and he located in Newark, New Jersey, in the same year. He at once became a student at the Newark Public High School, and at the same time taught Hebrew, science, and the languages, and was also a teacher in the Hebrew Alliance Institute of the city. He then took a course in architecture at an International Correspondence School, from which he was graduated, March 27, 1909. Having successfully passed his examina- tion before the State Board of Architects for the State of New Jersey, he was awarded his certificate as a practical architect, July 6, 1909. His next step was to associate himself in a partnership with Samuel P. Bessman, which business was successfully continued up to September, 1912, when the partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Cohen is doing business at present (1913) under his own name at the same place, Nos. 89-91 Mercer street. Among the numerous fine structures which have been erected according to the plans
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which have come from this office, and which have added greatly to the beauty of the city, may be mentioned: Two brick apartments, at Nos. 204-206 Broad street, Newark, for Bessmer & Krieger, at a cost of $81,000; the corner of Bloomfield avenue and Parker street, for Jacob Kirschner; a four-story brick apartment house, at a cost of $25,000; an apartment building, at Second avenue and Prospect street, for Columbia Construction Realty Company; a twenty-five family apartment building, at a cost of $35,000; a four-story brick apartment building at No. 23 Broome street, at a cost of $14,000; a four-story brick apartment building, at No. 240 West Kinney street; a four-story brick apartment building, at No. 9 South Orange avenue, at a cost of $15,000; a three-story brick apartment house, at Nos. 572-574 Springfield avenue; and another of the same style, at No. 200 Prince street.
Mr. Cohen married, in 1904, Lilly, a daughter of Abraham and Ida (Kroll) Blumstein. They have had children: Esther, born in 1906, and Alex- ander, in 1909. At the proper time Mr. Cohen took out his naturalization papers, and was admitted to citizenship in 1909. His religious affiliations are with the Congregation Ansche Russia, and he is a member of the Hebrew Technical School Association, the Hebrew Sheltering House, and the Hebrew Home for the Aged. Mr. Cohen is a man of very liberal ideas, and is in hearty sympathy with any movement which tends to better existing con- ditions. In these ideas, however, he is of a conservative nature, and believes that changes should be made gradually to ensure their permanence and the approval of the masses. In his especial field of work he has very original ideas, and these he combines with the studies he has made of the accepted standards of the old world, and has achieved results which have been gratifying in the extreme.
ANTHONY Q. KEASBEY
Anthony Q. Keasbey, one of the leading lawyers of Essex County, engaged in practice in Newark for more than forty years, was born in Salem County, and began his practice there in 1847. He was the son of Edward Quinton and Mary Parry (Aertsen) Keasbey, and was a descendant on his father's side of early settlers in West New Jersey. His mother was a descendant of Goneral Caleb Parry, who was killed in the Battle of Long Island.
Edward Keasbey, the first of the family who came from England, settled in Salem in about 1694. He was a member of the Society of Friends, and took an active part in their affairs. There is a record of his contribution to the erection of the Friends' Meeting House on Broadway street, which was completed in 1701. On December 11, in that year, he married Eliza- beth Smart, widow of Isaac Smart, and daughter of Andrew and Isabella Thompson. His second child, Edward Keasbey, born in 1705, married Elizabeth Bradway, in 1725. She was the daughter of Edward Bradway, Jr., and granddaughter of Edward Bradway, a judge of the first Supreme Court of West Jersey in March, 1680. Their son, Edward Keasbey, born in 1726, became one of the most prominent men of his day. He served as repre- sentative of Salem and Cumberland Counties in the General Assembly from November, 1763, to 1769; was elected deputy from Salem to the Provincial Congress which met in October, 1775, in Trenton, and he attended its session in 1776 at New Brunswick, where this Congress adopted a State Constitution for New Jersey and ratified its place in the newly formed federation of the
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colonies. On April 4, 1778, he was appointed chairman of the Council of Safety, and he proved his faithfulness in this capacity until the end of the Revolutionary War. He married (first) Prudence, and (second) Sarah, daughters of Edward Quinton, son of Tobias Quinton, one of the settlers in the village of Quinton, in Salem County, West New Jersey. His son, Anthony Keasbey, was for a long time county clerk at Salem. He was a member of the General Assembly from 1798 to 1801, and was later a judge of the Court of Common Pleas. His son, Edward Quinton Keasbey, was born in 1793. After a medical course in Philadelphia, he practiced in Salem until his death in 1847. In 1840 he was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and in 1844 was chosen a Presidential elector by the Whig party to vote for Henry Clay. All his life he was a resident of Salem. He married Mary Parry Aertsen, a daughter of Gilliaem Aertsen, of Charles- ton, South Carolina, who came from the Dutch West Indies. She was then living with her brothers, Robert, John and James Aertsen, in Philadelphia. Of his two sons, one, Anthony Quinton, is the subject of this sketch; the other, Edward Keasbey, born August, 1827, became president of the Raritan Hollow and Porous Brick Company at Perth Amboy. His daughter, Annie Aertsen, is the widow of Wheeler H. Peckham, late of New York.
Anthony Quinton Keasbey was brought up in his father's home and became an ambitious student in the Salem Academy, where he was the first youth prepared for college. He entered the sophomore class at Yale, and was graduated in 1843, at the age of nineteen. While he was in college he and Theodore Runyon were among the founders of the Scroll and Keys Society in 1842. They were both present at the celebration of its fiftieth anniversary in 1892, and delivered addresses. Mr. Keasbey studied law for a while in Salem with Francis Law Macculloch, son of George Parrott Mac- culloch, of Morristown, and finished his study for the bar in Newark under Cortlandt Parker. After his admission as attorney in 1846, he returned to Salem, where he practiced law until 1852, attending the circuit also in Cumberland and Cape May. He married, October 18, 1848, Elizabeth, second daughter of Jacob W. Miller, of Morristown, then United States Senator from New Jersey. Three children were born to them in .Salem-Edward Quinton, mentioned below; George Macculloch, and Elizabeth Miller. His wife died there. Mr. Keasbey, after a trip to Europe with his sister Annie, removed to Newark.
On September 30, 1854, he married Edwina Louisa Miller, eldest daugh- ter of Jacob W. Miller, and by her he had eight children, six of whom are now living.
He and Cortlandt Parker formed the first law partnership under Section 2 of the Practice Act of March 17, 1855. The firm of Parker & Keasbey continued to exist until March 1, 1876, when both formed partner- ships with their sons by the names of Cortlandt & Wayne Parker, and A. Q. Keasbey & Sons. While beginning his practice in Essex County, Mr. Keasbey kept his clients in West New Jersey, and had suits for insurance in connec- tion with the burning of the Mount Vernon Hotel. In 1859, when New Jersey had no Chancellor, Mr. Keasbey, while spending a summer at Cape May, invoked the jurisdiction of the United States Court for clients from Philadelphia, going with the bill and affidavits to Judge Dickerson, who was fishing on Jamaica Bay, and returning with an injunction to Cape May.
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