USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume I > Part 8
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in the operations against Petersburg and Richmond, and was present at the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. Its list of battles fought comprises nearly all those of the Army of the Potomac from December, 1862, to the end of the war.
27th New Jersey Regiment-In this regiment were the following com- panies from Morris county : Company B, from Randolph and Washington, Capt. John T. Alexander; Company C, from Roxbury, Capt. Nelson H. Drake ; Company E, from Chatham and Hanover, Capt. August D. Blanchet ; Company G, from Pequannock, Capt. James Plant ; Company I, from Morris and Chester, Capt. Alfred H. Condict; Company L, from Rockaway, Capt. Henry F. Willis. The regiment was mustered into service September 19, 1862, and left for the field October roth. After a brief stay at Washington City, it was sent to the Army of the Potomac ,and assigned to the Ninth Corps. It was engaged at Fredericksburg, and was afterward sent west, serving in Kentucky and Tennessee. An incident of this service was a serious accident suffered in crossing the Cumberland river in small boat loads, when thirty-two men were drowned. The regiment was mustered out at Newark, July 2d, 1863.
33d New Jersey Regiment-Company I of this regiment, Capt. Samuel F. Waldron, entered the service in September, 1863. After brief service in Virginia, the regiment was transferred to Sherman's army, in the west, and under him fought its way from Chattanooga (where Capt. Waldron was killed) to Atlanta, made the "March to the Sea," and the ensuing campaign of the Carolinas, winding up with the defeat and capture of Gen. Johnston's army.
30th New Jersey Regiment-In this regiment was Capt. D. S. Allen's Company K, formed in Morris county, which entered service in the fall of 1864, and remained until the close of the war, its career beginning in front of Petersburg, and being identified with all the subsequent operations of the Army of the Potomac.
Miscellaneous-In August, 1863, under the draft law then in force, Morris county was called upon for 3,127 men, but credits allowed reduced the number to 611. In February, 1865, 333 drafted men were called for, but before they were drawn the call was rescinded on account of the victory at Petersburg. In March, 1864, Capt. D. H. Ayers recruited a company for the 5th New Jersey Regiment. In May of the same year a company of Home Guards was organized in Morristown, officered as follows: Capt. Fred. Dellicker, Ist Lieut. Horace Ayers, 2d Lieut. D. D. Craig.
When Lee's army invaded the north in June, 1863, Capt. George Gage recruited a company which went to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to aid in the defense of that city, the State capital. It was mustered out after the glorious victory of Gettysburg rendered its longer stay unnecessary. While the company was absent, a "peace meeting" was held on "The Green" in Morristown. While its speakers were criticizing the administration and the conduct of the war, news was received of the victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, and the affair collapsed. An enthusiastic meeting celebrated the great victories in the evening, on the same spot.
About the same time, Capts. Edward Bishop and Richard Foster re- cruited two companies for the Ist New Jersey Regiment. They did not enter the service, but from them was formed what became Company K (Capt. Foster), of that regiment. The men saw severe service in the Wilderness campaign, and all the subsequent battles and operations in Vir- ginia, culminating in the surrender of Lee at Appomattox.
CHAPTER VII.
BENCH AND BAR OF MORRIS COUNTY
Morris county has always been fortunate in the possession of distin- guished clergymen and able lawyers. Bushrod Washington, one of the ablest of the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, at the beginning of the last century, had the very highest opinion of the bar of New Jersey, and very frequently expressed his appreciation of their learning and ability. The legal profession of Morris county, since the year 1800, has given two Governors to New Jersey; a Secretary of the Navy, and two Judges of the United States Court to the Republic; a Chief Justice and several Asso- ciate Justices to the Supreme Court of this State; and it has sent several Senators and Representatives to the Congress of the United States. It has been represented many times in the Senate and General Assembly of New Jersey, and has always had among its members some of the brightest names in the profession. It need not therefore fear a comparison with the lawyers of any other part of this State. It is probable that when Judge Washington passed his encomium on the bar of New Jersey he did not forget the gentlemen who practiced in his court, and who came from Morris county, and that these gentlemen aided him in forming the favorable opinion he so frequently expressed.
In 1889 the late Hon. John Whitehead wrote for The True Demo- cratic Banner of Morristown an excellent series of reminiscent articles relating to the legal and judicial worthies of the past, and which he ex- panded in his monumental "Judicial and Civil History of New Jersey." From files of the newspaper before mentioned, the present writer derives much of the information contained in the following pages, and it is only an honest rendering unto Caesar that some mention be here made of the hightly endowed and useful man to whose memory this appreciation is due.
John Whitehead was a native of Ohio, born in 1819. Left fatherless when a lad, he was reared by his uncle, Hon. Asa Whitehead, then a lead- ing lawyer in Newark, New Jersey, and under whose office tutorship he prepared for the law. In 1840 he was admitted to the bar, and practiced in association with his uncle for three years, and afterward alone. In 1856 he was appointed a United States Circuit Court Commissioner, and in dis- charge of the onerous duties of investigating complaints for violation of Federal statutes his skill in practice and breadth of legal knowledge and his judicial temperament commanded general admiration.
Mr. Whitehead was wholly destitute of political ambition, and aside from his profession he gave himself almost entirely to literature and kin- dred subjects. He made valuable contributions to the legal literature of the State, and his lectures on history and philology were of much merit. His largest work was the history beforementioned-one of enduring value. He was an earnest and persistent advocate of education in a day when this important subject was largely neglected and herculean effort was needed to arouse and maintain interest. As early as 1845 he was a member of the Newark School Committee, the meetings of which were held in his office. This body became the Board of Education in 1851, and Mr. Whitehead was secretary and treasurer until 1855. He was for years secretary of the State Society of Teachers and Friends of Education,
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in behalf of which he spent much time visiting different parts of the State, arousing the people to a deeper interest in the schooling of their children. He was also a prominent member of the American Association for the Advancement of Education, comprising many of the most distinguished educators and men of learning throughout the country. Although not a pronounced Abolitionist, he had a deep sympathy for the colored race and labored earnestly and intelligently for its advancement.
In 1861, Mr. Whitehead took up his residence in Morristown, where he continued until his death. He devoted years of patient labor and unflag- ging zeal to the establishment of the Morristown Library, which he had the great satisfaction of seeing opened to the public on August 14, 1876. In 1891 Mr. Whitehead was elected president of the New Jersey Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and during the several years he held that position he largely increased its membership. In 1893 he was elected a vice-president of the National Society of the same order. His entire life was marked by intelligent devotion to the best interests of the community.
GABRIEL H. FORD
The name which first presents itself to the memory when reference is made to the bar of Morris county and those who were here about seventy- five years ago, is that of Hon. Gabriel H. Ford. He was not in practice for several years before his death, but was a prominent figure in this locality from the beginning to the middle of the last century. Independent of all other considerations, he would have been entitled to respect for his descent from a remarkable and distinguished ancestry. His grandfather, Jacob Ford, came to Morristown from Woodbridge, New Jersey, where he was born in 1704. He was one of the first to embark in the iron business in Morris county, and was very largely engaged in that and other business until the time of his death. From the frequency with which his name appears on the public records of his day, it would seem that he was one of the fore- most men of his time. He was a Judge of the County Court, which at one time met at his house. He was the proprietor of the ground on which is situate the mansion which he built for his son, Jacob Ford Jr., now called "Washington's Headquarters." In addition to the many local offices held by him, he was at the very outset of the Revolution a member of the Provincial Congress of New Jersey. He died in 1777.
His son, Jacob Ford Jr., was also a very remarkable man. He seems to have succeeded his father in business, and to have inherited his public spirit. He was an ardent patriot, a friend of General Washington, and rose to the rank of colonel in the Revolutionary army. His widow re- ceived General Washington at the "Headquarters" and entertained him there during the years 1779-80. Colonel Ford died early, however, in January, 1777, a few days before his father, and in his thirty-eighth year. General Washington directed that he should be buried with military honors.
Judge Ford was not born in the Headquarters, as they were built, as near as can be ascertained, in 1774. His birth was in 1765. His father married Theodosia, daughter of Rev. Timothy Johnes, for so many years the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Morristown, so that Judge Ford's ancestry through both father and mother was of the very best. He graduated from Princeton College in 1784, and entered the office of Abraham Ogden at Newark as a student-at-law. Here he met, as fellow students, several men who afterwards became eminent lawyers-Williamn
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Griffith, Richard Stockton, Alexander C. McWhorter, and Josiah Ogden Hoffman, afterwards of New York. Judge Ford was licensed as an at- torney in 1789, and became counselor in 1793. After he completed the term of his clerkship he began the practice of his profession at Morris- town, and became a successful practitioner. In the early part of the last century an attempt was made to obtain a better tribunal than was afforded by the Court of Common Pleas, where there was no lawyer on the bench. The State was divided into districts, and persons "skilled in the law" were appointed judges to preside over the county courts in these several districts. Judge Ford was appointed one of these judges, and Morris, Bergen, Essex and Sussex composed the district assigned to him. He held this position but a very short time and was soon transferred to the bench of the Supreme Court as an Associate Justice. He remained on the bench for twenty-one years, having been twice re-elected. He died at the "Headquarters," in 1849, eighty-five years of age. He was a gentleman of the old school, dignified and courteous in manner, and very precise in dress and conversation. He was exceedingly systematic, carrying his love of order into all his business, even to the planting of trees in his garden. While on the bench he was severe to criminals, whom it became his duty to punish. Before he was appointed judge he had acquired the reputation of being a successful lawyer and able advocate, especially before juries, and this ability as an advocate he carried with him on the bench in his charge to jurors. Judge Ford spent the years which remained to him after he retired from the bench in dignified retirement at his home in the "Head- quarters." Dr. Timothy Johnes in the records of the First Presbyterian Church spelled the family name with the initial letter duplicated, Fford, and by some the name was originally written Foard.
MAHLON DICKERSON
Mahlon Dickerson, one of New Jersey's most historic characters, was more particularly identified with the political affairs of the State and Nation than with his profession, although he practiced for a few years in Morristown. He was born at Hanover Neck, April 17, 1770, the oldest of five children. His father, Jonathan Dickerson, was a direct descendant from Philemon Dickerson, who came from England to Massachusetts early in the seventeenth century, settled at Salem in 1638, and in 1643 went to Southold, Long Island. His grandson Peter came to Morris county in 1741, married a Morris county woman, and lived in Morristown. He en- gaged early in the Revolution, and recruited and equipped at his own ex- pense a company of infantry. It is said that he was never reimbursed for this large outlay. One of his daughters became the wife of Colonel Jacob Drake, father of Hon. George K. Drake; and one of his sons, Jonathan, was the father of Mahlon Dickerson. Jonathan Dickerson, with one Le Fevre, purchased the iron mine at Succasunna, afterward famous as the Dickerson Mine, and which Mahlon, after his father's death, worked most successfully, reaping from it an abundant fortune.
Mahlon Dickerson was prepared for college probably at Morristown and graduated from Princeton in 1789. In 1793 he was admitted to the bar. In 1797 he "removed to foreign parts," as appears by a rule entered in a cause in which he was attorney. The "foreign parts" thus mentioned was none other than Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, whither he removed and engaged in practice. His tastes, however, inclined him to public life as more congenial. He was elected councilman soon after taking up his resi-
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dence in Philadelphia, in 1803 chosen recorder, and was also made com- missioner of bankruptcy. In 1805 he was appointed adjutant-general of Pennsylvania, the position giving him the title of general, which ever after adhered to him. In 1810 he returned to New Jersey and located at. Succasunna, for the purpose of developing his mines, but was almost im- mediately called to what was destined to be a brilliant and successful political career.
In 18II he was elected to the legislature, and was twice re-elected. In 1813, William S. Pennington resigned as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and on October 30th of the same year Mr. Dicker- son was selected to fill the vacancy. At the same time he was appointed court reporter (a position which had been filled by his predecessor, Judge Pennington), but declined. In 1814 he was nominated for United States Senator, but his name was withdrawn. On October 26th, 1815, he was unanimously elected governor, at the joint session of the two houses of the legislature, which then had the power of filling that office. In the fol- lowing year he was re-elected without opposition. The governor was then also chancellor, and Governor Dickerson discharged the duties of both positions. None of his judicial decisions are reported. In February, 1817, he resigned the governorship, having been elected United States Senator, which high office he held for twelve years, Theodore Frelinghuysen being his fellow senator during his second term. His third senatorial election was in 1829, when a successor was chosen for the unexpired term of Senator Bateman, which ran to 1833. The choice of Dickerson was. the result of a union of Whigs and Democrats, he himself being a Demo- crat. The Whigs had a majority on joint ballot, but were divided between rival candidates, one of whom was Samuel L. Southard, then Secretary of the Navy under President Adams. After the tenth ballot a resolution was adopted declaring Mr. Southard ineligible by reason of non-residence. Some of the Whigs opposed to Mr. Southard voted for this resolution, which without their aid would have been defeated. In revenge, Southard's friends voted for Mr. Dickerson, resulting in his election. The fact testi- fies to his worthiness, otherwise it would have been impossible for him to receive the votes of his political opponents. Mr. Dickerson was a warin supporter of President Jackson. He was among the very earliest pro- tective tariff advocates, and rarely could the subject be mentioned in the- Senate without his voice being heard, and some of his speeches were widely disseminated through the press. His third senatorial term expired in 1833.
In 1832 Mr. Dickerson was frequently mentioned as a suitable candi- date for the vice-presidency, and in April of that year the Democratic mem- bers of the legislature unanimously adopted a resolution recommending his nomination. This would probably have resulted had it not been that Mr. Van Buren had been rejected as Minister to Russia, and his party thought it necessary to vindicate him before the people. After retiring from the senate, Mr. Dickerson returned to Succasunna, but in the fall of the same year he was again sent to the legislature. In 1834 he was nominated for the Russian ambassadorship, but declined. In the same year, President Jackson named him as Secretary of the Navy; he was confirmed without opposition, and continued in the secretaryship during the remainder of Jackson's term, and for two years of Van Buren's presidency, resigning in 1838 and again returning home, in the conviction that his political career was ended. But in 1840 President Van Buren appointed him Judge of the United States Court for the District of New Jersey, which position he
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resigned after six months, his brother, Philemon Dickerson, being appointed to succeed him. In 1844 he sat as a member of the convention called to revise the constitution of New Jersey, and this marked the end of his public service. After his retirement from political life, he became presi- dent of the American Institute, and delivered before that body two ad- dresses in which he unmistakably denounced free trade doctrines; these were printed, and exerted a wide influence.
Mr. Dickerson's characteristics as a lawyer and jurist can scarcely be measured, for the reason that he gave to his profession but few years of his long life. He was a man of remarkable personality and impressive appearance, standing over six feet in height, and well proportioned. He never married. He was an arduous student, and never undertook the ex- amination of any subject without mastering it. He was a man of the loftiest integrity, and his name was a synonym for all that is scrupulously just.
PHILEMON DICKERSON
Philemon Dickerson, youngest child of Jonathan Dickerson, and brother of Mahlon Dickerson, was born in 1790, in Morris county. He received his professional education in Philadelphia, mainly through the efforts of his brother Mahlon. He was licensed as an attorney in New Jersey in 1813, as a counsellor in 1817, and in 1834 was made sergeant. He resided and practised in Paterson, and in 1833 was elected to the legislature. In 1836 he was made governor, and held this position for one year. His decisions as chancellor, reported in volume 3 of H. W. Green's Reports, are much esteemed; one, in the case of Hulme vs. Shreve, was very elaborate. It is claimed for him that not one of his final decrees was ever reversed by the Court of Errors. Mr. Van Buren, at the very close of his administration, appointed him judge of the United States Dis- trict Court of New Jersey, which place he held for twenty years, and until his death. It was then almost a sinecure. Little opportunity was given him for the exhibition of legal learning and ability, but he filled the place to the satisfaction of the bar. He was one of the judges of the United States Circuit Court, of which court he was ex-officio a member, in the celebrated case of Goodyear and Day, in which Daniel Webster made his last great forensic effort. Governor Philemon Dickerson was one of the Democratic candidates for Congress in 1839, to whom a certificate of elec- tion was refused by Governor Pennington on account of alleged irregular- ities in returns of votes. He was, however, admitted to a seat by the majority of the House of Representatives, which was Democratic in poli- tics. From this political event there originated the contest which has been called the "Broad Seal War," and which at the time gave rise to the greatest excitement. Governor Dickerson died in 1862. He was not an orator, and did not gain his reputation in the trial of causes. He had a large and remunerative practice. He was a man of excellent judgment, of sound common sense, and deservedly held a high rank as a safe and discreet counsellor.
OLIVER H. HENRY
Oliver H. Henry, familiarly known as Hill Henry, confined his prac- tice principally to trials before justices of the peace. He was licensed as an attorney in February, 1815. He was no mean antagonist in the branch of the profession in which he seemed to delight, and his services were in constant demand. He was a man of considerable wit. One instance, tradi-
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tionally preserved, will illustrate this characteristic: He was counsel for the defendant in a trial before a country justice. The opposing counsel had been successful in every motion he had made, and in every objection he had interposed in the cause to any motion from the counsel of the de- fendant. Mr. Henry became much provoked, but not thinking it good policy to vent his wrath on the justice, he began to torment his opponent. That worthy, in turn, grew wrathy and rather uncivilly asked Henry to go to a place not mentioned often even in a justice's court. Mr. Henry promptly declined the invitation, and as promptly suggested that, as the "Squire" had granted every motion that counsel of the plaintiff had made, he might go, if requested.
HENRY A. FORD
Henry A. Ford, son of Judge Gabriel H. Ford, was born at the Wash- ington Headquarters, Morristown, June 14, 1793. His father had pro- nounced views as to college life, believing it to be demoralizing, and he did not send any of his sons to such institutions. He did not, however, neglect their education. Henry was sent to the Morris Academy, in Morris- town, and also studied under his accomplished father, with most excellent results. He became known as a really learned man, with fine literary tastes. His love for the classics abided with him his life through, and to the last he was able to quote largely from the Latin poets. He was licensed as an attorney in 1816, and as a counsellor in 1820. He was a remarkably close cross-examiner; he was frank and clear in his address before a jury ; and his unquestioned honesty commanded the confidence of both bench and bar. He delivered the oration at the dedication of the new court house in 1827. The committee of arrangements for this occasion included George K. Drake, William Halsey, Theodore Frelinghuysen and Jacob W. Miller.
Mr. Ford was prosecutor of the pleas in Morris county for five years from March, 1832. During his term of office was committed the celebrated Sayre murder. Mr. Sayre lived at the lower end of South street, near the Seminary, his family consisting of himself, his wife, their two daughters and a servant. He had as a farm worker a Switzer, Antoine Le Blanc. One summer night in 1833, Le Blanc called Sayre and his wife to the barn, where he killed them both, then went to the house and murdered the servant ; fortunately, Sayre's daughters were away from home, and thus probably escaped a like fate. The murderer then put on his employer's clothes, ransacked the house, bundled up his plunder, stole a horse from the barn, and set out for New York. As soon as the horrible crime became known, Mr. Ford was called to take charge of the case. He at once directed the pursuit, with the result that on the afternoon of the same day of the crime the murderer was found at "Half-way House," on the salt meadows between Newark and New York. He was put on trial at the next term of court. The judge assigned him as counsel three of the most distinguished lawyers then at the bar-William Halsey, who was without a superior as a criminal lawyer; Francis L. Macculloch and Neitzer W. Weise. Mr. Ford, then in his second term as prosecutor of the pleas, conducted the prosecution with signal ability, and secured a conviction. The general opinion was that he had left no possible chance for any other result. After the execution of Le Blanc the famous Joseph Henry, then Professor of Physics in Prince- ton College, applied a galvanic current to the body of the criminal in the sheriff's room.
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Mr. Ford was without political ambition, and his delight was in his home. For many years he lived in a house at the corner of South and De Hart streets, Morristown, and there all his twelve children were born. After the death of his father he took up his residence in "the Headquar- ters," where he passed the remainder of his life in genteel quiet and comfort. He was for many years and until his death the senior warden of St. Peter's Protestant Episcopal Church, to which he was devotedly attached. He was mainly instrumental in the building of the handsome church edifice,* called "St. Peter's," which was standing until 1889, and almost entirely to him was due the donation of the ground by Mr. Boyken.
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