USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume I > Part 9
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 (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73
Mr. Ford late in life acquired a slight stoop of the shoulders, probably ascribable in some degree to the effects of a brutal assault made upon hiin while he was serving as prosecutor of the pleas, and from which he never entirely recovered. He was handsome in face and form, and of good stature, nearly six feet in height; and graceful in manner.
GEORGE K. DRAKE
George K. Drake, a contemporary of Henry A. Ford, and his senior by five years, was born at Drakesville, Morris county, September 16, 1788. His father, Colonel Jacob Drake, had removed about the middle of the eighteenth century from Middlesex county to Drakesville. The country in the immediate vicinity was covered with virgin forest, in which were many Indians. Mr. (afterward General) Woodhull, living at Chester, six miles distant, was his nearest white neighbor. Colonel Drake was known for his activity, excellent business qualities, regularity of habits, and personal neatness. At the beginning of the troubles between the colonies and the Mother Country, he took a leading part on the patriot side, and was appointed a member of the committee of correspondence. Later the same year he was made a delegate-one of a body of nine men vested with almost unlimited power as directors and legislators. Their power came directly from the people, and none could have held so important a post who did not command general confidence in the highest degree. He was afterward, and at the same time with Jacob Ford Jr., made a colonel of militia, Colonel Drake com- manding the Eastern and Colonel Ford the Western Battalion. His elec- tion to the legislature obliged Colonel Drake to resign his military commis- sion.
Colonel Drake was twice married. His second wife was the widow of George King, uncle of William L. King, and George King Drake was named for his mother's first husband.
George K. Drake had for an early tutor the Rev. Amzi Armstrong, of Mendham, a distinguished scholar and clergyman, who also fitted him for college. He graduated from Princeton in 1808. He then entered the office of Sylvester Russell, a leading lawyer of Morristown; in 1812 he was licensed as an attorney, and in 1815 as a counsellor. In 1834 he re- ceived from the Supreme Court the honorary title of Sergeant. He soon enjoyed a handsome practice, having as clients many of the leading men of the county. He was a man of sterling integrity, and much ability. He was elected to the Assembly in 1823, was re-elected three times, and was speaker during the last two years of his final term. In 1824 he was ap-
*This stone church edifice has been removed (about 1890) and replaced by a still larger church edifice, one of the most costly and handsome church buildings in the State of New Jersey.
1
61
MORRIS COUNTY
pointed prosecutor of the pleas for Morris county, and was reappointed the following year.
While a member of the legislature, in 1826, he was appointed an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and removed to Burlington, and soon afterward to Trenton, where he remained during this his only term of office. While he was on the bench, was brought before the Chancery Court a cause celebre, that of Hendrickson vs. Shotwell and that of Shot- well vs. Hendrickson and Decow (reported in New Jersey Equity Reports, Vol. I, Saxton, 577-685), involving the questions growing out of the divi- sion of the Quakers (Friends) into the two sects, Orthodox and Hicksite. The chancellor, having been counsel for one of the parties to the suit, could not hear the cause, and therefore referred it to Chief Justice Ewing and Judge Drake, who were to sit as advisory masters and advise the court as to the decree which should be rendered. The two judges were in agree- ment, but Judge Drake's opinion was much more elaborate than was that of the Chief Justice. The decision aroused great enmity against Judge Drake. He strongly expressed himself as of opinion that the decision be- longed with that sect which could most clearly establish its unison with the true doctrine of the Society of Friends; i. e., the Orthodox sect. The "Kicksites," as they were opprobriously termed, carried their resentment into the election of the legislature which would select Judge Drake's suc- cessor, and they were successful, in defeating his re-election, and securing the election of Thomas C. Ryerson, of Sussex county.
Mr. Drake then resumed practice in Morristown. He had become afflicted with rheumatism and, imprudently making a journey without ad- equate clothing, succumbed to an attack of pleurisy, and died at the home of his brother-in-law, Dr. Woodruff, in the spring of 1837, in his forty- eighth year.
Judge Drake, whether as lawyer or judge, displayed more than or- dinary ability. Even at the present day, his decisions are held in respect. He wanted in brilliancy, but he had the substantial qualities of close in- dustry, honesty, and fearlessness. He was of most equable temperament, serious in manner, courteous and kind. He was a devout Christian, and in 1826 was made a ruling elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Morristown. It is mentioned as a curious fact, that it was charged against him that his orthodox Christianity colored his judgment in the celebrated Quaker case before referred to. He was tall, rather slender, with a long neck, and what was called a scholarly stoop.
JACOB W. MILLER
Hon. Jacob W. Miller was born at German Valley, in November, 1800. He received the best educational advantages this part of the country then afforded, and when his academic course was finished he entered the office of his elder brother, William W. Miller, who was then a practitioner in Morris county. He was licensed as an attorney at the September term, 1823, of the Supreme Court, and as a counsellor in September, 1826. He began the practice of his profession in Morristown, and soon acquired an excellent clientage. In 1832 he was elected to the Assembly by the Whig party, with which he was then connected. In 1838 he was elected State Senator by the same political party, and held this office for two years, when he was elected United States Senator. He took his seat March 4, 1841, and at the end of his first term was re-elected, his last term expiring in 1853. During these twelve years he met in the Senate some of the first
62
NEW JERSEY
men of the nation-Clay, Calhoun, Webster, Benton, Wright, McDuffie, Corwin, Grundy and others, illustrious for their services to the nation and famous for their talents. The contact with such minds afforded the sever- est possible test to the young senator's capacity, yet he stood among the foremost, never failing, when occasion demanded, to make his voice heard, and always on the side of right. He measured swords more than once with some of the keenest minds in the Senate, and his State took no shame from the result of the encounter. There were threatenings of secession of the Southern States even at that early day, but he never quailed and never allowed his self-respect nor his manhood to desert him. In him the South- erner found no craven coward, nor truckling, subservient spirit. He com- manded the respect and confidence of all, both friend and foe.
In 1845, when the proposed annexation of Texas was presented to the Senate, Senator Miller opposed the measure with all the forceful energy of his nature, and made one of the ablest speeches in opposition that were delivered on the floor of the Senate. Some of his utterances were most impassioned, and rose to the highest eloquence. He based his op- position upon the ground that the acquisition of Texas was unjust, un- constitutional, dishonorable, and injurious to the national character.
During his second term was brought up for consideration, what was called the "Omnibus Bill," which embraced many issues involved in the slavery question. These compromises at first were grouped together and presented as a whole. Mr. Miller objected to such presentation; he was prepared to give his consent in a qualified form to some of the measures, but not to all. The several propositions were presented separately but were all passed. Mr. Miller was consistent with himself and voted his convictions. When, however, the whole body of compromises received the assent of a majority of his fellow Senators, he gave his affirmative vote on the passage of the bill as a whole. There was intense excitement throughout the country. The Slave States openly threatened secession; the passage of the bill seemed to be the only means of suppressing agita- tion and allaying Southern discontent. His action, under the circumstances and at the time, seemed the wisest course to pursue. He was opposed to agitation; it was fondly hoped that the country would be at peace after the passage of the "Omnibus Bill."
Mr. Miller did not often speak in the Senate, and only on important occasions. When he did, he was listened to with profound respect. He was untiring in the discharge of his duties, whether as member of com- mittees or as an individual. New Jersey never had a more alert or a more industrious representative. He was in all respects a worthy successor of the great men who had preceded him. He was ardently attached to the Whig party, and struggled most strenuously to con- tinue its existence. He was the last Whig Senator from New Jersey, and manfully fought with the many antagonisms arrayed against the party of his love. When he learned that the contest must cease and that defeat was certain, he submitted to the inevitable and cast in his lot with the Re -- publican party, then in its youth and needing strong minds and judicious counsels to guide its steps. He adhered to it during the remainder of his life, and strove with great assiduity to establish it on a sure and patriotic foundation.
Before the breaking out of the Civil War, he had foreseen the awful convulsion. By precept and counsel he had striven to prepare the public mind for the event. He felt no misgivings as to the result. Even at the
63
MORRIS COUNTY
outset of the war, and to the time of his death, while defeat and disaster came thick and heavy, he never wavered in his faith in the people and in the final triumph of the Union cause. In 1860 one of the ablest efforts against secession ever made through the press came from his pen. His patriotism was pure, steadfast and enduring; his faith in the Republic never faltered; with prophetic eye he looked into the future and forecast the history of the country of his love. That history he saw would be filled with the record of a happy and again united people, when slavery, the cause of so much strife, of so much bitter antagonism between the two sections, was abolished. He prophesied that that would be the result of the war and then that the Republic would become the leading nation of the world.
Mr. Miller had his triumphs in his profession as well as in his political life. He was a successful lawyer, winning many a victory at the bar by his learning and his impassioned eloquent appeals to juries. He was equally successful in his arguments before judges, where the intellect and judgment must be reached and convinced. Almost at the outset of his practice he took a high stand as a counsellor and barrister. He was Prosecutor of the Pleas in 1827, and held that position for five years. At the trial of Le Blanc he assisted Mr. Ford, who was then the prosecutor. He settled several principles of law, both civil and criminal, in the higher courts of the State.
Senator Miller was of unblemished character and spotless integrity. One who knew him well and admired him greatly loves to dwell on this side of his character and on this phase of his life. In his life in the church, as a citizen in the private walks of the community, and in his family, were to be found the scenes where his virtues shone the brightest and where he was most worthy of love and esteem. He was foremost in his church, was warden for many years in St. Peter's, and was always willing and ready to aid in its welfare; as a citizen he ever heeded the call of the community to work in any cause of benevolence or of benefit to humanity; but it was in his family that those silent but ever enduring graces which so adorned his character and blessed those whom he loved were to be found. He had a large family of children and their influence in the communities where they have lived attest to the guiding hand, the loving heart, the prudent counsel, which fostered their youth and directed their ways. He was a most charming man as a companion in social life, simple and unconstrained in his manner, easy of access to all, but dignified in deportment, and always delighted to gather his friends around him and tender them a gracious and hospitable welcome.
WILLIAM: W. MILLER
William W. Miller, an elder brother of Senator Jacob W. Miller, was born in 1797, in Hunterdon county, and practised law for a short time at Morristown. Mr. Miller's residence here was short. He very soon re- moved to Newark, and there began to practice his profession, and it was not long before he acquired a reputation as an orator of uncommon ability. A speech which he delivered in 1824 in Trinity Church, Newark, in behalf of the Greeks, was remembered for more than a generation by the citizens of Newark as a specimen of the highest eloquence. He was so remarkable for his ability as a speaker that he was employed at home and abroad as counsel in the conduct of the most important causes. His last forensic effort was made in the City Hall of New York, on behalf of a clergyman of the Reformed Church, who had sued his son-in-law for a gross slander ..
¥64
NEW JERSEY
Thomas A. Emmett was the counsel for the defendant. The cause created intense excitement, and crowds daily attended the sessions of the court. Mr. Miller spoke three hours in the summing up of the cause. At the conclusion of his speech he was embraced by Mr. Emmett, and the de- fendant was sobbing aloud. But the effort, however much it might have increased his fame, proved his death blow. He was seized with a hem- orrhage of the lungs during the night of the day on which he made this, perhaps the greatest effort of his life, and was taken to France on advice of his physician. It was, however, too late. The young lawyer died in Paris, July 24, 1825, in his twenty-ninth year. A meeting of the New Jer- sey bar was called when the news of his death came to this country, at which Richard Stockton presided and Peter D. Vroom was secretary. Resolutions of the most complimentary character were adopted at this meeting.
FRANCIS L. MACCULLOCH
Francis L. Macculloch, a brother-in-law of Hon. Jacob W. Miller and son of George P. Macculloch, was born in 1801, in Scotland, and was a small child when his parents came to this country. He was licensed as an attorney in 1823, and as a counsellor in 1826. He began practice in Morris county, but soon removed to Salem county, where he died in 1859. He was little known outside that county, his practice being strictly locai. He was a man of good ability, and a safe counsellor. He served efficiently as prosecutor of the pleas for two or three terms. He was of counsel assigned for the defense of Le Blanc, which he conducted in the Morris Oyer and Terminer, and in which he acquitted himself most creditably.
IRA CONDICT WHITEHEAD
Ira Condict Whitehead was born April 8, 1798, in Morris Township, near Washington Valley. He was fortunate in both his parentage and his friendships. His most intimate associates were Henry A. Ford and Judge Drake, who were both his seniors by a few years. His father, Ezekiel Whitehead, a native of Morris county and a resident of Morristown, was a man of strong character, and it was said of him that he feared "nothing but sin and the anger of Almighty God." The mother of Judge White -. head was a daughter of Jabez Condict, who was a cousin of Silas Condict, of Revolutionary fame. Her family gave to New Jersey some of its most distinguished citizens, among them: Silas Condict, before mentioned, one of the foremost at a time when real men were needed; Dr. Lewis Condict, for many years a member of Congress; Ira Condict, D.D., a distinguished Presbyterian divine, and for whom Judge Whitehead was named; John Condict, of Essex county, who sat in Congress through several terms; and Jonathan B. Condict, a professor in Auburn Theological Seminary.
From both parental sides, Judge Whitehead received a strong religious bias which shaped his entire career. He was prepared for college by Mr. James Johnson, a superior scholar and educator, at the Morris Academy, and from his early youth manifested such scholarly tastes that his parents destined him for a professional life. He entered the junior class of Prince- ton College in his seventeenth year, and was graduated at the age of nine- teen in the year 1816. Among his classmates were several who became eminent in the church and in public life, among them Rev. John MacLean, D.D., president of Princeton College; Rev. William J. Armstrong, D.D .; Rt. Rev. Charles P. McIlvaine, Bishop of Ohio, and president of Kenyon College; James McDowell, Governor of Virginia; Chester Butler, United
65
MORRIS COUNTY
States Senator ; and James S. Nevins, Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court.
After graduation, Mr. Whitehead taught for a time in the old Morris Academy. He then entered the office of Joseph C. Hornblower (afterward Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey), as a law student, at the same time defraying his expenses by giving his leisure hours to clerical duties in the office of his uncle, Silas Whitehead, who was then county clerk. In 1821 he was licensed as an attorney, and entered upon practice at Schooley's Mountain, with an office in the Heath building. After two years he accepted an offer of partnership with Judge George K. Drake, and removed to Morristown. Judge Drake was called to the Supreme Court bench shortly afterward, and this association necessarily ceased, and Mr. Whitehead conducted legal business alone until his election as Asso- ciate Justice of the Supreme Court in November, 1841. At the expiration of his term the gubernatorial office had passed to the opposition and he was succeeded by another. The county of Hudson had just been created, and Mr. Whitehead held one of his first circuits in that county. He was not brilliant, nor a great orator, but his deep knowledge of legal principles and his clear analytical mental processes enabled him to acquit himself most creditably, and his decisions are generally regarded with great respect. His opinion in the case of Den vs. Allaire, Spencer 6, was somewhat ques- tioned at the time, but time brought ample vindication, the legislative act concerning wills, of March 12, 1851, taking even more advanced grounds. His practice was extensive and lucrative. His systematic business habits and sterling integrity brought him much business as executor or counsel for ex- tensive estates. Among the most important of such interests entrusted to him was the William Gibbons estate, the largest in the county at that time that had ever been committed to a single individual.
Judge John Whitehead wrote of him, that it was in private life that Judge Ira Condict Whitehead's excellent characteristics were most ap- preciated. He was social in his tastes, devoted to his family and home, and delighted in gathering his friends about him. He married the eldest daughter of Silas Johnson, and their only child, a daughter, died in early womanhood. Her he never forgot, but went mourning for her all his days after she left him.
He early became a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Morristown, was frequently elected a trustee, and in 1846 became a ruling elder, which position he held until his death, August 27, 1867, in his seventieth year. He was deeply attached to his church. In 1841 there was a crisis in its history-a time when prudence and wisdom were needed as never before. The trustees had resigned, and a new board was called to direct affairs-Judge Ira C. Whitehead, Dr. Lewis Condict, William Sayre Jr., Abraham Tappen and John F. Voorhees. It was a time of deep feeling; families were divided. The old church went apart, and a new congregation was formed, now known as the South Street Church. In spite of all, under the wise leadership of Judge Whitehead peace was es- tablished. It was the verdict of all that in all he exhibited the rarest pru- dence, the greatest patience, and the most masterly wisdom-in short, that his was the guiding and ruling mind.
He practiced but a short time after his retirement from the bench, and soon, at the urgent request of the county bar, accepted the judgeship of the Court of Common Pleas, which he held for one term. He was long expectant of his death. Honored by the entire community, troops of
66
NEW JERSEY
strongly attached friends and relatives gathered about him. With entire confidence in his religion, his hope for the future never faltered. and calmly he awaited the summons and, when it came, he peacefully sank into rest. Then came the popular verdict-that as a lawyer he was untiring in his devotion to the trusts committed to him; that as a counsellor he was care- ful, correct and wise; that as a judge he was industrious, patient and con- siderate; that in business affairs he was a man of spotless integrity; that as a husband and father he was all affectionate; that as a Christian he was humble, exemplary and consistent; and that, in all the relations of life, he never failed in fullest discharge of his duty.
Judge Whitehead was a man of striking appearance, fully six feet in height, rather robust, with a full dark eye, and a kindliness of manner which was most attractive, particularly to young people.
JOHN R. BROWN
John R. Brown was one whose many attainments, great learning and brilliant talents added lustre to the bar of Morris county, His connection with the profession here extended over quite a number of years, but un- fortunately little can be learned about him. He was licensed as an attorney in May, 1822. By virtue of his ability he was entitled to a high place among the lawyers of his time. He did at first in a measure attain that rank, but, as narrated by Judge Whitehead, his life was embittered in its early manhood by a cruel, and so far as is known, an entirely unmerited blow given to him in the most tender and susceptible part of his nature. The woman whom he was to wed, without warning and apparently without excuse, on the very eve of the wedding day, refused to see or hold any further communication with him. This made him wretched. He lived alone, and his last few days of sickness and gloom would have been more miserable had it not been for the kind ministrations of a benevolent lady, the wife of one of his neighbors, who attended to his wants and alleviated the distress of a lingering illness, from which he died about 1842. He was a man of courtly habits, never lost his self-respect nor his gentlemanly bearing, even in his worst moments. He was an excellent trial lawyer, most industrious in the preparation of cases, and had a wonderful aptness in the preparation of briefs. He was associated in the celebrated case of Le Blanc, who was indicted for murder of the Sayre family, with Mr. Ford, the Prosecutor of the Pleas. At his death there was found a manu- script which he had prepared for publication on a subject of the utmost importance to the profession, the adjudications of courts on words and phrases. It came into the possession, after Mr. Brown's death, of the late James J. Scofield, Esq., who proposed its publication, but unfortunately it has been lost. Mr. Brown's great learning and diligent research fully entitled this work to a high place in legal literature and its loss worked a serious misfortune to the profession.
JAMES JONES SCOFIELD
James Jones Scofield has been written of as a very remarkable man, entirely self-made, entirely without the advantages of early education. He was born in Stamford, Connecticut, in 1803. His father, a man of small means, in 1819 removed with his family to New Jersey, and made his home on a small rented farm near Madison. The son, familiarly known by his middle name, "Jones," was of age to give his father substantial aid on the farm, and his only time for self-improvement was after dark. As a
67
MORRIS COUNTY
rule, he passed the nights until early morning hours in unintermitted study, and succeeded to such a degree as to justify his entrance upon study for liis chosen profession. Arriving at legal age and released from parental control, he entered the office of Hon. J. W. Miller, and was licensed as an attorney in 1830 and as a counsellor in May, 1834. Entering upon practice in Morristown, success attended him from the outset. It was said of him that no more industrious painstaking lawyer ever labored for a client. His habits of close study clung to him his life through. Were he entrusted with a case involving legal knowledge of which he was destitute, he never relaxed his labor until he had literally mastered it in all its de- tails of both principle and fact. He was made prosecutor of the pleas in 1837, and served in that position until 1855. During the events leading up to the Civil War, he was a devoted Unionist. His last illness came in the darkest days for the nation. He died in 1863, a comparatively young man, only longing to live long enough to witness what he never despaired of -- the triumphant vindication of the national authority.
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.