USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume II > Part 2
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Outside of his profession and the efficient and faithful doing of his duties, Mr. Platt's supreme enjoyment has been poetry, of which he has been an extensive writer. He has published two volumes of poetry-the first in 1896, entitled "Ballads of New Jersey in the Revolution ;" the second in 1901, a collection of short pieces, expressing moods and emotions manifold. A few words may be said about these books. It has been a surprise to the writer of this article and to others who have long recognized the genuine poetry of these Ballads, that they have not been accorded a more generous appreciation by the people of New Jersey, dealing, as they do, with events within our own bounds in the great battle for freedom. Perhaps Mr. Platt's own humble, I had almost said timid, presentation of them to the public is in some degree responsible for this. His very elaborate and conscientious presentation of the sources from which the material in them has been derived has been regarded as a disclaimer on his part of anything original or new in the Ballads-which is very emphatically untrue. The material as derived, and the material as it is presented after having passed through the soul of the writer are very different things. There is very little originality in literature or poetry beyond the shape which a new and vigorous soul gives to old facts. And this is what Mr. Platt has done in these Ballads; the old incidents have been reborn, and his creative soul has transfigured them and invested them with new and ideal dignity and meaning. Let me give you an illustration of what I mean. Parson Caldwell and his hymn-books is certainly as hackneyed an incident as any of tlie stories of our revolutionary history. And, after Bret Harte's exquisite and stirring telling of it, does certainly appear to have come to the stage where all that is possible to say or to sing of it has passed. Well, don't be too sure of that till you have read these lines of Mr. Platt :
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Who's that riding on the gallop, Stopping by the meetin'-house door ? In he goes-comes out with arms full, Piled with hymn-books by the score.
Parson Caldwell !- will he sing now, While the bullets round him hum? Will he hold another meetin', Set the hymns to fife and drum?
Hear him shouting, "Give 'em Watts, boys! Put Watts into 'em, my men !" Ah! I see,-they're out of wadding : That's the tune! We'll all join in!
Then the worn old hymn-books fluttered, And their pages wildly flew, Hither, thither, torn and dirty, On an errand strange and new.
Making Short Partic-lar Meter Parson Caldwell pitched the tunes; Jersey farmers joined the chorus, Put to flight those red dragoons !
The rendering of Bret Harte has neither more spirit nor poetry than these lines express. And this is only one out of a hundred illustrations that might be given of how Mr. Platt has gripped the meaning and expressed the spirit of other and similar incidents. Some day New Jersey will recognize what Mr. Platt has done for the heroes and heroines of the Revolution belonging to our own soil and history, and will place the laurel on his brow.
With regard to the Ballads as a whole, the writer of this article had this to say of them at the time of their publication, and the years since then have brought no inclination to change a line of what was then written :-
"Great liberality has always been accorded to the ballad in the matter of its rhymes. It is the spirit of the ballad rather than its form that has determined its right to permanence. The quaintness of its rhythm has always been one of its charms. I think Mr. Platt has shown himself to be a master in this matter. The ballads are conspicuous in their historical realism, but they are not for that wanting in poetic insight. The movement of almost every incident presented is most pleasing, many of them exceptionally fine poetry. The book should be widely read, as it brings out those little incidents that illustrate the spirit of the patriotism of those old days more conspicuously than the story of many a battle. It is in the life of the people, in the spirit that animates them more than in the histories of armies, where the real temper of an age is to be discovered. In this respect Mr. Platt has made a real con- tribution to our knowledge, to say nothing of the charming way in which so many of these incidents are presented."
The second volume of Mr. Platt's poems, published in 1901, is a book of an entirely different kind of poetry from that of the Ballads. It contains the poetry of the heart touched by earth and sky, mountains and meadows, lake and river, the flowers and the birds, the joys and sorrows of home and the family. In the space to which this writing is confined it is impossible to give any adequate analysis of these poems or indicate sufficiently the manifold qualities by which they are enriched.
ALFRED ELMER MILLS
Alfred Elmer Mills, a lawyer of exceptionally high ability and attain- ments, practicing his profession in Morristown, is a worthy representative of a family who have made their home in New Jersey for many centuries, the story of their lives having been inseparably interwoven with the history of the State. He was born in Morristown, New Jersey, July 22, 1858, son
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of Alfred and Katharine Elmer (Coe) Mills, and grandson of Lewis and Sarah Ann (Este) Mills.
Alfred Mills ( father) was born in Morristown, New Jersey, July 24, 1827. He attended Morris Academy and Yale University, graduating from' the latter in 1847. He studied law in the office of Edward W. Whelpley, later chief justice of New Jersey, and was admitted to the bar as an attorney in 1851, and in 1854 as a counsellor. In 1856 he formed a partnership with Jacob W. Miller, which connection continued until the death of Mr. Miller in 1862. Until 1872 Mr. Mills practiced alone, then formed a partnership with William E. Church, under the style of Mills & Church, which con- tinued until 1883. Mr. Mills was elected mayor of Morristown in 1874 and served two years, and he also served as prosecutor of the pleas for Morris county. He was highly honored in his native city, and was a pow- erful influence for good in the community. He married, September 24, 1857, Katharine Elmer, daughter of Judge Aaron and Katharine (Elmer) Coe, of Westfield, New Jersey, who bore him four daughters and two sons.
Alfred Elmer Mills attended the schools of Morristown, Trinity School at Tivoli-on-the-Hudson, and Princeton University, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1882, and the degree of Master of Arts in 1885. He pursued a course of study in law under the competent preceptor- ship of his father, at Morristown, and was admitted as an attorney at the June term of the Supreme Court, 1886, and became a counsellor at the same term in 1889. He associated in practice with his father, and in due course of time gained for himself a high reputation among his professional breth- ren and a distinctive clientele, a number of important cases being entrusted to him. He served as corporation counsel of Morristown from 1892 to 1894; in 1898 was appointed prosecutor of the pleas for Morris county, his term to expire in 1903, when he was appointed president judge of the court of common pleas of Morris county, and in 1908 he was reappointed to the same office for another term of five years, serving in that capacity until April 1, 1913. He has discharged his duties with fidelity and impartiality, and year by year has constantly grown in public estimation.
In addition to what has already been narrated, Mr. Mills is a member of the board of managers of the Morris County Savings Bank. In 1896 he became treasurer of the Washington Association of New Jersey, and remained in that office until he was chosen one of its vice-presidents in 1910. For almost a quarter of a century he has served as treasurer of the building committee of St. Peter's Episcopal Church of Morristown, and is also one of its vestrymen. He holds membership in the Princeton Club of New York, the Morristown Club, Morris County Golf Club and the Morristown Field Club.
COLEMAN RANDOLPH
Coleman Randolph, the lawyer and writer of Morristown, New Jersey, was born at Asbury, New Jersey, April 29, 1861, coming with his parents when a boy of five years old to Morristown, with which city he has ever since been identified. He comes of an ancestry that can boast of more than one distinguished son, his father having been Theodore F. Randolph, who was United States senator from New Jersey, and lived his whole life in Morristown, carrying on a coal business in New York City. He came from Eastern Pennsylvania, where he had been born, and died at Morristown at the age of fifty-seven years in 1883. Theodore F. Randolph married Mary
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F. Coleman, who is now living (1913) in Morristown at the age of eighty- two years. She is a grand-niece of Chief Justice Marshall.
Coleman Randolph was first sent to the Morristown schools, being pre- pared there for Rutgers College. The profession of the law attracted him and he took up its study and was admitted to the bar in 1883. He then opened an office for practice in the Morris County Savings Bank, and for a number of years continued with this work. He had always shown a decided interest in sport, and about fifteen years ago he retired from the active pursuit of his profession. He had taken up in 1896 the hunting of big game, and this was followed by the writing of various books in which he gave an account of his experiences. The first of these was called "Inter Ocean Hunting Tales," and it met with an unqualified success. He has since been a frequent contributor to the magazines of the out-door life, among his articles being those in the Forest and Stream, and also in Field and Stream. One of these entitled "Turkey Hunting" appeared lately in Field and Stream. One of the books for which he is well-known is called "Ocean to Ocean."
JOHN E. FENNELL
John E. Fennell, of Morristown, New Jersey, is the son of Patrick and Mary (Galvin) Fennell. His father, a native of Dublin, Ireland, came to this country in 1847, and settled in Morristown, New Jersey, where he engaged in the blacksmith and wheelwright business. He died in the year 1866, and his widow in 1912. There were seven children by his marriage, four boys, two of whom, William P. and John E., became New Jersey law- yers, and another, Edward J., was a member of the bar of New York. The subject of this sketch is the only remaining son. John E. Fennell graduated at the Morristown High School, and began the study of law in the office of Edmund D. Halsey. Admitted to the bar of New Jersey, he established his office in Morristown, and has practiced law there ever since, to which he gives his entire attention. He is forty-six years of age (1914).
DAVID FRANKLIN BARKMAN
A conspicuous member of the legal fraternity of Morristown, David Franklin Barkman occupies a position in the respect and confidence of the community that is the result of his own abilities and integrity of character. He was born at Peapack, Somerset county, New Jersey, January 13, 1872, on his father's farm. His parents are William P. and Sarah (La Tourette) Barkman, both of them natives of Somerset county, and born in 1837. They still live there in the homestead that has been in the La Tourette family for four generations. They had six children, four of whom are still living: John, William F., Susie L., David Franklin. The names of those who died were Sarah F .; Elizabeth, who died in childhood. The paternal grandfather of David F. Barkman was David F. Barkman, who was born in New Ger- mantown, New Jersey, and was a carpenter, contractor and drover, dying at the age of seventy-eight years. The maternal grandfather was Peter La Tourette, who was born on the old homestead already mentioned.
A country-bred boy, Mr. Barkman gained in his early youth the ordinary education of the public schools of his neighborhood, and had in addition to that the great advantages of the out-of-doors life, and the acquaintance with nature at first hand which is the happy lot of the farmer's boy. The stock of health and vitality he stores up at this time never fails to give him
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undoubted advantage over his city-bred competitor in later years. From the district schools of Somerset county he went to Raritan, New Jersey, and there further pursued his studies. His ambitions had already shown an intellectual trend, and he had quietly made up his mind to take as his life-work the profession of the law. In pursuance of this determination he obtained a position as a teacher, this having the advantage of giving him some time for study, and at the same time enabling him to lay by money for later needs. He taught for three years in Somerset county, and then entered upon the study of the law with W. W. Cutler, of Morristown. He worked at his tasks with the unflagging energy and devotion that are the keynote of his character, and in the June term, 1897, he was admitted to the bar as attorney, receiving his license as counsellor in the February term of 1901; and as a master in chancery, April 18, 1898. He began at once, upon his admission to the bar to practice, opening an office in Morristown and steadily building up for himself a professional reputation that is second to none in the city. The success that he has met testifies sufficiently to his abilities, to his legal acumen, and to his conscientious devotion to work. His scrupulous fidelity to the interests of his clients receives its rewards in the constantly growing patronage that his office gains year by year. He has always elected to practice alone, his office being located in the Babbitt Building. In addition to his law practice he has devoted considerable atten- tion to the development of building lots in Morris Plains, and has also erected several houses in Morristown. He resides at No. 169 Speedwell avenue; the name of his residence, "The Orchard," being derived from the fact that the land years ago was called the Vail orchard, which consisted of about forty-six acres of land with dwelling and out-buildings, the buildings occupying a central location on the grounds which are well supplied with shrubbery and shade trees. Mr. Barkman has laid out a fine tennis court and in other ways improved and beautified the grounds. He was tax col- lector of Morristown for two terms of three years each. He is a Repub- lican in his political faith. He is a member of the Royal Arcanum.
He married at Gladstone, New Jersey, June 20, 1900, Luetta H. Ken- nedy, a native of Somerset county, whose parents, Henry L. and Harriet Kennedy, are now living retired in Morristown. Mr. and Mrs. Barkman have one child, Leilia K., born July 25, 1903, and now attending the private school of Miss Sutphen, in Morristown.
CHARLES STILWELL JR.
The late Charles Stilwell Jr. was of Revolutionary stock, eight of his great-great-uncles serving in the colonial ranks from Morris county, New Jersey. We herewith record but five generations beginning with Jasper Stilwell, whose son, Alexander, had a son, Alexander, who was the father of Charles Stilwell, father of Charles Stilwell Jr. Charles Stilwell Sr., of Morristown, was a mechanical engineer and inventor of some considerable note. Among some of his inventions were a mine pump, brick making machine, shaft coupler for carriages, cable grip, air compressor, etc. He, however, turned his attention to the builders trade, was an expert stair builder. Retiring from this he became justice of the peace and police justice, filling these positions for some fifteen years. He had a fine legal mind and had very fine morals ; was a Democrat. He married Amanda Magill. Had five children: Gertrude M., widow of Richard G. Collins; Hattie A. (Stilwell) Claugh, wife of Edward Claugh; Frank, letter carrier in the
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Morristown post office ; Charles ; Louise M., wife of George Laddey, M. D., an attorney in New York City.
Charles Stilwell Jr. was born in Dover, New Jersey, March 13, 1872, died in 1913. Upon the completion of his studies in the public schools of Morristown, whither his parents removed during his early lifetime, he placed himself under the competent preceptorship of Judge Willard W. Cutler, of Morristown, with whom he remained for five years. He then accepted a position as clerk in the office of the Morris county surrogate, then under the management of Charles A. Gillen, and served in that capacity until 1892. Two years later he became a student in the office of Edgar F. Randolph, of Morristown, son of the late Governor Theodore Randolph, and in February, 1896, was admitted to the New Jersey bar as an attorney. He at once engaged in the practice of his profession in Morristown, and it was not long before his ability was recognized and cases of importance were entrusted to his care, which he conducted in a skillful manner. While he engaged in general practice he devoted much of his time to criminal pro- cedure and was recognized as the leading criminal lawyer in Morris county. He was a member of the board of fire wardens of Morristown. He was appointed by the board of aldermen to the office of town clerk of Morris- town, January 25, 1899, and capably performed the duties until January I, 1909, acting as clerk of the excise board during the same period. He was a member of Lodge No. 815, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of Morristown, and of the Tapkaow Club of Morristown.
Mr. Stilwell married, August 10, 1893, Alberta Space, of Lafayette, Sussex county, New Jersey, daughter of Horatio Space. Children: Gene .. vieve Bahr, Gertrude, Edgar Randolph, Louise Edwina.
THOMAS W. CAULDWELL
Thomas W. Cauldwell, fourteenth mayor of Morristown, was born in New York City on September 5th, 1859. It was in this city that he spent his boyhood and received his early education. His classical education was received at Princeton University, from which he graduated in 1881 with the degree of A. B., and three years later the degree of master of arts was conferred upon him.
Shortly after graduation, Mr. Cauldwell began the study of law, and was admitted to the bar of New York in 1883, devoting himself especially to the law of real property. His success in his profession was marked. for he had an unusual combination of sound business judgment, legal learning, absolute integrity and tireless industry. In addition to the trusts imposed on him through his profession, by the management of large estates, he held many other responsible positions. At various times he was trustee of Bishops College, Texas; director of the United States Fire Insurance Company of New York City ; of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company of New- ark; of the Morristown Trust Company; and of the Morristown Safe Deposit Company, and vice-president of the Morristown Savings Bank, he having taken up his residence in Morristown in 1888. Always of a retir- ing, unostentatious disposition, his opportunities sought him out, rather than he them; for his tact, unerring judgment and broad vision made him inval- uable to any undertaking, large or small.
But perhaps the most characteristic work of Mr. Cauldwell was that which he did for the general uplift of his community. He believed it was the duty of every good citizen to interest himself in the government of his city, State and nation, and so he organized the Morristown Civic Association, of which
Thomas M. Couldwell
ENGE BY W T BATHER
FROM THE PAINTING BY ELLIS ROBERTS
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he was president for many years. He was classified as a Republican in politics, but was non-partisan to the extent that the man and not the party was the true criterion of fitness for public office. He was a member of the sewerage commission; was instrumental in securing a better lighting system and better roads for his city and Morris county in general. In 1908 he was elected mayor of Morristown, and, during the few brief months of his administration, laid the foundation for much of the subse- quent growth and development of his community.
Mr. Cauldwell's sympathy for those less fortunate than himself and his eagerness to help them was boundless. Ever a religious man and church member, his religion was practical and evidenced itself by deeds. And after his death, his fellow citizens, as an appropriate memorial to his life and work, equipped and dedicated in Morristown, the Thomas W. Cauldwell Memorial Playground. His death occurred on Easter Sunday, April II, 1909. His zeal to give himself to others, his desire to serve the world, his willingness to sacrifice himself to duty, were the mainsprings of his life. As one of his fellow townsmen wrote of him :-
A remarkable life closed in Morristown on Easter Sunday last. A life not so widely known, with no world wide achievements to its credit, but nevertheless a remarkable life. Perhaps the old Latin word integer describes it better than any other single word can. Untouched, unchanged, sound, untainted, fresh and sweet; blameless, pure, honest, virtuous, unbiased, impartial; he won and retained the respect confidence and love of all who associated with him.
JOHN OLIVER HALSTED PITNEY
John Oliver Halsted Pitney, an eminent lawyer, was born in Morris- town, New Jersey, April 14, 1860. He is the son of Henry Cooper Pitney and Sarah Louisa Halsted, and comes from an old family of English origin. His father, Henry Cooper Pitney, served the State of New Jersey with great distinction as vice-chancellor, from 1889 to 1907. His brother, Mah- lon Pitney, was a Member of Congress from 1894 to 1898; represented Mor- ris county in the State senate from 1898 to 1901, was a justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey from 1901 to 1908 and chancellor of the State from 1908 until 1912, when he was appointed by President Taft an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Mr. Pitney is a grandson of Mahlon Pitney and Lucetta Cooper, his wife, and a great-grandson of Mahlon Pitney, a soldier in the Revolution- ary War, in which struggle for national independence his great-great-grand- father, David Thompson, and Henry Cooper, his grand-mother's ancestor, also served. His great-great-great-grandfather was James Pitney, whose father, also named James, came to this country early in the eighteenth cen- tury from England, having been a manufacturer on London Bridge. The family is found originally at Pitney Parish and Pitney Hundred in Som- ersetshire, England, and for nearly two hundred years has lived, honored and noted, in Morris county, New Jersey. The Pitneys, it will be seen, spring from an ancient and honorable line of ancestry.
Henry Cooper Pitney Sr. was born in Mendham, Morris county, New Jersey, January 19, 1827, and was graduated from Princeton College in June, 1848. He studied law under Theodore Little and the Hon. Ira C. Whitehead, both of Morristown, and was admitted to the bar as an attorney in 1851, and as a counsellor in 1854. Beginning practice in Morristown, he soon became distinguished in his profession as one of its most learned and brilliant advocates. 'In dealing with scientific questions and matters of
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equity law he stood without an equal. In 1862 he was appointed prosecu- tor of the pleas of Morris county and served in that capacity with great distinction for five years. For several years he acted as advisory master in chancery, and on April 9, 1889, he was appointed vice-chancellor by Chan- cellor McGill, being reappointed in 1896. As vice-chancellor Mr. Pitney added materially to his already high prestige and brought to the office every required qualification. A director of the Morristown Library and Lyceum from the time of its organization, he was one of its ruling spirits; he was for many years a director in the National Iron Bank of Morristown; presi- dent of the Morris Aqueduct Company, and a trustee in the First Presby- terian Church of Morristown. He married, April 7, 1853, in New York City, Sarah Louisa Halsted, daughter of Oliver Halsted and Sarah Crane, of Elizabeth and Newark, New Jersey.
John Oliver Halsted Pitney received his preparatory education in the private schools of Morristown and afterward entered Princeton Univer- sity, from which he graduated in the class of 1881, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, that of Master of Arts being conferred upon him by the same institution in 1884. He read law with his father in Morristown and was admitted to the bar of New Jersey in June, 1884, as an attorney, and as a counsellor three years later in 1887. Immediately after his admission as an attorney he established himself in the practice of his profession in Newark, where he has since remained. For the first two years he was in partnership with Frederick H. Teese, and since 1902 he has been similarly associated with John R. Hardin. Later Judge Alfred F. Skinner was admit- ted as a partner, since which time the firm name has been Pitney, Hardin & Skinner. There is no better known law firm in the State of New Jer- sey, and its clientele is large, extended in character, importance and influ- ence. As a lawyer and advocate Mr. Pitney exhibits the family talent to a pronounced degree. He is thoroughly versed in the law, and he has gained a standing in his profession that places him among the acknowledged lead- ers of the New Jersey bar. He has been prominently and successfully identified with many important causes, and his services are eagerly sought by corporations and others desiring the best attainable legal talent.
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