USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume II > Part 26
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For ten years-from 1897 to 1907-Mr. Berry was borough clerk of Rockaway. He has served on the school board and is always found will- ing to give his unstinted aid in support of any enterprises advanced for the betterment of his home community. His political connections are with the Republican party, and in religious matters he and his wife are devout Pres- byterians, in which faith they have reared their children.
GEORGE H. FOSTER, M. D.
Dr. Foster in his professional service has been prompted by a laudable ambition for advancement as well as by deep sympathy and humanitarian principles that urge him to put forth his best efforts in the alleviation of pain and suffering. He has gained recognition from the profession as one of its able representatives and the trust reposed in him by the public is indicated by the liberal patronage awarded him. Dr. George H. Foster has been a resident of Rockaway for nearly a quarter of a century and during that entire period has been engaged in his work as a skilled physician.
A native son of New Jersey, Dr. Foster was born at Branchville, Sussex county, 1859, son of Harvey P. and Susan E. ( Beemer) Foster, the former of whom was born in the State of Vermont and the latter in Sussex county, New Jersey. The father was engaged in the work of his trade-that of carpenter-during the major portion of his active career. Mr. and Mrs. Foster had six children: Stephen P .; Ellis L .; Sarah A., wife of Charles Archer ; Rose M., wife of Ogden Sicles; George H., to whom this sketch is dedicated; Viola, died in infancy.
After completing the curriculum of the common schools of Sussex county, Dr. George H. Foster attended the Newton Institute for one year. He then began to teach school and was engaged in pedagogic work in Morris county for the ensuing three years, at the end of which time he began to study medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. Booth at Morris Plains Hospital, where he was employed. In 1886 he was matriculated as a student in Bellevue College, New York City, and in the medical department thereof was graduated three years later with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Immediately after graduation he came to Rockaway and here initiated the active practice of his profession. His career excites the admiration and has won the respect of his contemporaries, and in a calling in which one has to gain reputation by merit he has advanced steadily until he is acknowledged as the equal of most of the members of the profession in this part of the country. Politically, Dr. Foster is a Republican. He is a member of the
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J. O. U. A. M. and of the F. and A. M., while in religious matters he and his wife are Presbyterians, he having served as a deacon in the local parish.
In April, 1891, Dr. Foster married Marie A. Menagh, whose birth oc- curred at Mendham, New Jersey, but who grew up in Rockaway. Mrs. Foster is a daughter of Dr. John V. and Elizabeth (Smith) Menagh, the former a native of Morris county, New Jersey, and the latter of New York City. Dr. Menagh was for many years a prominent physician in Rockaway and he died in 1891. He was a Democrat but not a politician in any sense of the word, and he was a devout member of the Presbyterian church. There were two children in the Menagh family: Libbie, deceased; Mrs. Foster. For many years prior to her marriage Mrs. Foster was a successful music teacher in Rockaway. She obtained her musical education in the State Model School, which she attended for three years, and under the tutelage of a prominent professor of music in New York City. She is a charming and gifted woman, and both she and her husband stand high in the esteem of their fellow citizens at Rockaway. Dr. and Mrs. Foster have no children.
FREDERICK W. FLAGGE, M. D.
Other men's service to the people and the State can be measured by definite deeds, by dangers averted, by legislation secured, by institutions built, by commerce promoted. The work of a doctor is entirely estranged from these lines of enterprise yet without his capable, health-giving assist- ance all other accomplishment would count for naught. Man's greatest prize on earth is physical health and vigor : nothing deteriorates mental activity so quickly as prolonged sickness, hence the broad field for human helpfulness afforded in the medical profession. The successful doctor requires some- thing more than mere technical training, he must be a man of broad human sympathy and genial kindliness, capable of inspiring hope and faith in the heart of his patient. Such a man is he whose name initiates this article. Dr. Flagge has been located in Rockaway for nearly two score years and time tells the tale of an eminently successful career, due to innate talent and acquired ability along the line of his chosen work.
In New York City, July 25, 1858, occurred the birth of Dr. Frederick W. Flagge. His father, Francis Henry Flagge, was born in Germany and came to America at the age of eighteen years. He was a miller by occupa- tion, and in 1868 was elected a member of the New York State legislature, serving in that capacity with the utmost satisfaction to his constituents for several terms. The mother of Dr. Flagge was Mena (Fisher) Flagge, a native of New York, and she bore her husband three children : Henry, now a resident of Blauvelt, New York; Matilda, wife of Charles Otten ; Frederick W., of this sketch.
The primary education of Dr. Flagge was obtained in the New York public schools. In youth he decided upon the medical profession as his life work and he obtained training for the same in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, of New York, in which excellent institution he was under the personal instruction of Professor James Little. He was graduated, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, in the class of 1880, and for a short period of time thereafter pursued a special course under Drs. Alfred L. Loomis and George Wheelock. His first independent work as a doctor was done in New York City, where he practiced with fair success for two years, at the end of which time he came to Rockaway, where he has since main- tained his home and professional headquarters. Here he is surgeon on the
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staff of the Memorial Hospital, on the auxiliary staff of All Souls Hospital, and local examiner for the New York Mutual Life Insurance Company. He is also consulting surgeon to St. Mary's Hospital at Denville, New Jersey, and surgeon of New Jersey Central Railroad. In connection with his work he is a valued and appreciative member of the Morris County Medical Society, being ex-president of the same : and he is a permanent dele- gate to the New Jersey State Medical Society, and treasurer of Tri-county Medical Association. He is likewise connected with the American Medical Association and with the Morristown Medical Club.
In politics Dr. Flagge is an unswerving Democrat and he takes an active part in civic affairs. He was one of the first councilmen of Rockaway bor- ough and is a member of the township board of health. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with Citizens Lodge, No. 144, I. O. O. F., in which he has been noble grand; and with the R. A., and B. P. O. E. He is a member of the White Meadow Club and president of the Rockaway Club. From the foregoing it will be seen that Dr. Flagge holds distinctive prestige as one of the foremost citizens of Rockaway and proof of his skill as a physician and surgeon is attested by his large and lucrative practice.
Dr. Flagge has been thrice married. January 26, 1881, he wed Anna S. Webster, whose demise occurred July 29, 1891. He married Bertha Gage, daughter of Justice C. B. Gage, of Dover, New Jersey, September 6, 1893. This union was prolific of one daughter, Rebecca. For his third wife Dr. Flagge married Ludmila Hussa, daughter of Oscar Hussa, this ceremony having been performed in 1907. Dr. and Mrs. Flagge have one daughter, Ludmila.
JAMES W. BROTHERTON
In the death of James W. Brotherton, of Dover, which occurred April 6, 1910, the community lost not only a singularly successful man, but a most worthy and honored citizen. He was not only successful himself, but he aided others to make a success of their careers, and he left to posterity that priceless heritage, an honored name.
The Brotherton family is numbered among the old families of Morris county. Richard Brotherton, father of James W. Brotherton, was the pio- neer butcher of Dover, which business he continued throughout the active years of his life, achieving therein a large degree of success. His death occurred on the old homestead, as did also that of his wife, whose maiden name was Mary Wilson, a native of Warren county, New Jersey. They were the parents of four children who attained maturity: I. Sarah, mar- ried Charles Thompson ; she died in 1850. 2. Rachel, married Elwood Vail, of Plainfield, New Jersey, but resided on the old homestead farm where she died February 23, 1910; she was a remarkable woman, being a sufferer for many years with rheumatism, but was always cheerful and happy. 3. Lydia, married Jesse Adams ; she died in 1891. 4. James W., of whom further.
James W. Brotherton was born on the old homestead in Randolph town- ship, Morris county, New Jersey, next to the place now occupied by his widow, June II, 1835. He received a good education in the common schools of New York State, this being supplemented by a collegiate course, and for a number of years after completing his studies taught school in Warren county, New Jersey, a position for which he was well qualified. He then returned to Morris county and took up his father's business, that of butcher, and conducted the same successfully until fifteen years prior to his death,
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J. W. Brotherton
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when he retired from active business pursuits, residing on his farm consist- ing of seventy acres of arable land, which is highly cultivated, and which is now the property of his widow. He took a keen and active interest in all movements promoted for the general welfare, and for almost half a century was one of the directors of the National Union Bank of Dover. He was a birthright member of the Friends' Church, and a Republican in politics.
Mr. Brotherton married, January 1, 1868, Marietta Harris, born April 15, 1842, daughter of Cummins O. and Sarah (Smuck) Harris, well known and highly respected people of Warren county, New Jersey. Children : 1. Sarah Elizabeth, married George W. Chadeayne, and they were the par- ents of one child, now deceased. 2. Wilbur, married, 1913, Margaret Mal- comson, of Orange, New Jersey. 3. Charles, resides at home with his mother ; married Mary L. Dickerson; one child, Mary Elizabeth, born September 15, 1913. 4. May Abigail, died aged six years.
CHARLES W. MANDEVILLE
Charles W. Mandeville, a successful agriculturist of Pompton Plaine, well known and highly esteemed, is a descendant of one of the oldest families in Morris county, New Jersey, their connection dating back to the Revolu- tionary War period, members thereof residing there from that time to the present, being actively and prominently identified with the improvements of the various localities in which they made their homes.
Thomas Mandeville, father of Charles W. Mandeville, was born in Pompton Plains, Morris county, New Jersey, on the site of the Mandeville Hotel, and his death occurred in the same town in the year 1875, aged seventy-three years. He learned the trade of carpenter in New York City, and he followed that line of work in addition to farming during the active years of his life, for many years in New York before he returned to Pomp- ton Plains, and spent the remainder of his days on the homestead. He mar- ried Hester B. Secor, a native of Westchester county, New York, who lived to the advanced age of eighty-seven years, and who bore him ten children, namely: Giles H., deceased; George, deceased; John L., de- ceased ; Elizabeth A., deceased ; Elma, deceased ; Mary S., deceased ; Sarah F., deceased ; Horace, resides in New York ; Elmira, deceased ; Charles W., of whom further.
Charles W. Mandeville was born in the house in which he now resides, in Pompton Plains, January 1, 1850. The common schools of the neigh- borhood afforded him a means of obtaining a practical education, and his entire active career has been spent on the home farm, which he has managed in such a successful manner that it has yielded him substantial returns for his years of hard toil and untiring energy. His farm consists of twenty acres, devoted to general farming, and this ranks among the productive pieces of property in that section of the county. He casts his vote for the candidates of the Republican party, served as a member of the town com- mittee and twice as school trustee. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., the J. O. U. A. M., the local Grange, P. of H., and the D. of L.
Mr. Mandeville married, October 15, 1874, Mary L. Rhoades, of Newark, New Jersey, born March 21, 1851, living at the present time ( 1914), daugh- ter of Francis B. and Mary J. (Sanders) Rhoades. Children: I. Charles L., married Alice Fisher, of Paterson, New Jersey ; children : Helen, Marion, Marjory. 2. Elizabeth, married Charles Jackson, of Albuquerque, New Mexico ; no children. 3. Jennie, resides at home. 4. Lillian D., mar- ried Herbert Polhemus ; no children. Mr. Mandeville and the members of
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his family attend the Reformed church, taking an active part in the work connected therewith, and in every enterprise projected for the public wel- fare they evince a deep interest.
FREEMAN H. TAPPAN
One of the best known of Mount Arlington's citizens, who moved there while still in young manhood, and when the great development of the place was but beginning, who identified himself with its growth and become prom- inent in its affairs, is Freeman H. Tappan, a native of New Jersey, who both by blood and marriage is connected with many of the important tami- lies in the norteastern part of the State. His father, William C. Tappan, was a native of Bergen county, New Jersey, a ship carpenter in his youth, who afterwards took up farming and passed the latter part of his life in that hard but peaceful labor. He died in 1893 at the age of seventy-two years. William Tappan's wife was Sophia Doyle, daughter of Henry Doyle, of Morristown, Morris county, New Jersey. Mr. Doyle was a prominent figure in the early days of that old New Jersey town, and here his daugh- ter, Mrs. Tappan, was born in 1826. She lived to the venerable age of eighty-five, her death occurring in 19II. To her and Mr. Tappan were born nine children as follows: Chillian V., constable and chairman of township committee for many years of Butler and Bloomingdale, New Jersey, who died in 1911; Minerva, now Mrs. Vincent Bonter, of Oak Ridge, New Jersey; Freeman H., our subject; Sophia, now Mrs. George W. Wrightnor, of Midvale, Passaic county, New Jersey ; George W., who followed Greeley's advice to young men and went west; William D., con- nected with the rubber manufacturing works at Bloomingdale, New Jersey ; Frank, connected with the same concern; Edward, chief engineer of the same rubber works; Bertha, now resident in Butler, New Jersey.
Freeman H. Tappan was born March 3, 1855, in Boardville, now known as Erskine, Passaic county, New Jersey. He obtained his education in the schools of Boardville, Stanhope and Midvale, and upon completing his studies in these institutions, engaged in farming in the vicinity of Oak Ridge, New Jersey. After remaining here for several years, Mr. Tappan's atten- tion was drawn to the opportunities to be had about Lake Hopatcong, Mor- ris county, New Jersey, which then was beginning the development which has continued with increasing power to the present time. Mr. Tappan was too farsighted to overlook the opportunity and too enterprising not to avail himself of it. In 1891 he removed to Mount Arlington and erected a sub- stantial house for himself and family. He was active in the affairs of the newly organized borough from the start, and was appointed tax collector and treasurer of the place, offices which he held for fourteen years, and for nine years he has been in charge of all the public buildings, and occupies that position at the present time. For some time after his arrival in his new home, Mr. Tappan continued his old occupation, but gradually, as other duties became more onerous and he was enabled to, he reluctantly gave up active participation in agriculture. Mr. Tappan is a Republican in his politics. He has been a member of the I. O. O. F. of Succasunna for eigh- teen years.
Mr. Tappan was married in the year 1878 to Martha E. Speaker, daugh- ter of Jacob P. and Hannah Mary (Cahill) Speaker, of West Milford, New Jersey. Mrs. Tappan is of German descent on her father's side, and Irish on her mother's. Her maternal grandfather, Charles Cahill, was a sea cap- tain, well-to-do and prosperous, who lived and died at Westminster. Mr.
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Speaker was in early life a farmer, but he also was among those who mi- grated to Mount Arlington, during the days of the "boom" and he there. operated a store. His death occurred December 31, 1908, and that of Mrs. Speaker in 1876. Mrs. Tappan was one of a family of twelve children born to them. To Mr. and Mrs. Tappan have been born two children : Mary A., single, resides at home with her parents; Harry C., married Mary Hans, of New York, by whom he has had one son, Harry F. Tappan. He resides at Millstone, New Jersey, where he has a position as chauffeur.
HARLAN WEBB CORTRIGHT
The family of which Harlan Webb Cortright is a member can be traced back to the old Flemish town of Kortryk, made famous as early as the year 1302 as the scene of the "Battle of the Spurs" in which the French nobility and chivalry were totally defeated by the citizens of the Flemish towns, and which thus with Bannockburn, Crecy, and Poictiers rang the knell of feud- alism in Europe. The battle gained its name from the fact that after their victory, the weavers from Ghent and Bruges, who made up the chief part of the Flemish army, recovered from the slain some 4,000 golden spurs of the fallen knights. During the early part of the seventeenth century, Kortryk in common with the whole of Flanders was harried and devastated by the civil wars and persecutions of that dreadful period. Situated on the bank of the river Lys, about thirty miles southwest of Ghent, it was in the very storm center of disturbance and changed hands between the opposing forces no less than four times in a period of five years.
Among those who fled the town to escape the persecutions was a wealthy family, which, as was common in that time and country, took their name from their native town and called themselves Van Kortryk or Van Kort- right. They took up their abode for a time in the city of Leerdam, where dwelt Sebastian or Bastian Van Kortryk and where two sons, Jan and Michiel, were born to him. These two brothers, the progenitors of the American branch of the Van Courtrights, or Cortrights, as they came even- tually to be called, felt the lure of the new world at a time when there was a particularly strong emigrant tide setting from the low countries thither. Accordingly, on April 16, 1663, they and their families embarked in the good ship Brindled Cow, Jan Bergen, master, from Amsterdam, and to- gether with about ninety other passengers about a third of whom were French refugees from Mannheim, they set sail for America. The passage for himself and family cost Jan Bastian Van Kortryk something over 200 florins. It was about this time that many of the most distinguished fami- lies from Holland and the surrounding states, whose names are woven into the history of their adopted country, settled on and in the vicinity of Man- hattan Island. The Van Kortryk brothers settled on the Bowery, Stuyve- sant's Bowery, as it was then called, but later removed to Harlem, where they became one of the wealthiest families and one of the largest owners of real estate among early settlers there.
From Jan Sebastian Van Kortright, the descent is unbroken to our sub- ject, who is of the ninth generation removed from them. The records of his distinguished forebears contain much that is of historic value and in- terest, such as the purchase by Bastian Van Kortryk, the second, of the tract of land on Sherman creek, Harlem, well known as the Kortright farm, the marriage of the same gentleman to Iolanta LaMontague, and the final disposal of the farm to Cornelius Harsen in 1786. The Courtrights took an honorable part in the Revolution, and John Courtright, the representa-
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tive of the family at that time, was killed in the battle of Wyoming, July 3, 1778. At this time it is known that Elisha Courtright was the owner of a large farm a few miles below Wilkes-Barre (Hanover), Pennsylvania, and that a few years later he bought land in Salem, Pennsylvania, and moved there.
It was here that Nathan Dodson Cortright, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born February 11, 1817. He passed much of his youth in Luzerne county in the place of his birth, but at the age of nineteen entered the employ of Pardee & Fell as a civil engineer in the building of the Beaver Meadow & Hazelton Railroad. Three years later he was appointed general shipping agent for the Hazleton Coal Company, and in 1842 made its superintendent and held this position until 1857, when he engaged in the coal business for himself. This business he conducted at Mauch Chunk in association with his son, Nathan Dodson Cortright Jr., in a most successful manner for forty-five years, or until the time of his death. He was a direc- tor of the First National Bank of Mauch Chunk, and for many years active in St. Paul's Methodist Church of that place, and in the Sunday school and temperance causes. A man of great courage, of modest and retiring tastes and inclinations, instructive and entertaining in his conversa- tion, he was a useful member of the community in which he dwelt. He was greatly interested in geology and had an abiding faith that the mountains of Carbon county, Pennsylvania, would prove upon development to be rich in many valuable minerals. He married Marguretta Louise Harlan, daugh- ter of Ezekiel and Marguretta Harlan, of Chester county, Pennsylvania. The Harlans were of Quaker origin. To Mr. and Mrs. Cortright Sr. were born six children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the eldest.
Harlan Webb Cortright was born in Mauch Chunk, Carbon county, Pennsylvania, November 14, 1845. He obtained the elementary portion of his education in the schools of his native town, which he attended until he had attained the age of fourteen. At this age he entered the Williamsport Dickerson Seminary situated at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and here he remained until he was sixteen years of age, when he left school to take up the active business of life. He speedily found a position with Mr. Ario Pardee at Hazelton, Pennsylvania, as coal dispatcher in that gentleman's establishment, and filled it with ability for five years. During this period he took advantage of any opportunity to gain all information possible, and accompanied the engineers thus gaining a thorough knowledge of civil engi- neering and practical mining. In 1867 Mr. Cortright removed to New Jersey to become superintendent of the Ogden Mine Railroad Company of which he remained in charge for fifteen years. Upon this occasion he did not finally make New Jersey his home, but returned to Pennsylvania and became actively engaged in coal mining operations during the course of which he familiarized himself with every detail of mining. As a result of his various activities, Mr. Cortright became well established financially, and in 1890, about the time that the great popularity of Lake Hopatcong was com- mencing, and the rapid development of the adjacent regions in New Jersey was assured, he removed to Morris county in that State and erected for himself the splendid house in which he now lives on Lake Hopatcong which commands a superb view of the entire lake. Mr. Cortright has always been a member and staunch supporter of the Republican party and the principles for which it stands. He is a member of Acacia Lodge, F. and A. M.
Mr. Cortright married, in 1874, Eliza Condict Le Fevre, daughter of Dr. William Bonner and Mary Condict (Hurd) Le Fevre, both deceased. Mrs. Cortright was born May 1, 1847, and received her education at private
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schools, the last she attended being the Packer Institute at Brooklyn, New York. She is a member of an old and prominent family, being a direct descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins of Mayflower fame. To Mr. and Mrs. Cortright have been born six children as follows: I. Edgar Le Fevre, born September 12, 1875, died September 23 in the same year : 2. Mabel Louise, born 1876; wife of Dr. Alfred Chapman Benedict, born August 4, 1874, graduate of the New York University of Physicians and Surgeons; they have one daughter, Priscilla Alden Benedict, born January 12, 1908. 3. William Le Fevre, born December 3, 1879. 4. Mary Hurd, born July 16, 1885, died August 17 of the same year. 5. John Harlan, born December 24, 1886; married Olive Quackenbush, October 1, 1912 ; they have one daughter, Louise Muriel, aged two months: 6. Abbie Hope, born February 26, 1889; at present living at home with her parents. Mr. Cort- right is a man of much courage and quick decision, and is a conspicuous figure in the community of which he is a member. He and his family are members of the Presbyterian church.
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