USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume II > Part 3
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Mr. Pitney is a Republican ; while an earnest upholder of the principles of his party he has never held, or desired, public office, preferring to devote his time and energies to the requirements of his ever extending professional interests. He is a director of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, the National Newark Banking Company and the American Insurance Com- pany. He holds membership in the Essex Club, the University Club of New York, New York Yacht Club, Morris County Golf Club and the Mor- ristown Club, in all of which social organizations he is prominent and pop- ular. A Presbyterian in his religious views, he is a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Morristown, where he makes his home and is held in high esteem as a leading citizen.
He married, January 15, 1890, Roberta A. Ballantine, daughter of Rob- ert F. and Anne E. Ballantine. To this marriage have been born two sons: John B., born December 12, 1892; and Robert H., born June 4, 1907.
FRED W. MUCHMORE
The branch of the Muchmore family represented in the present genera- tion by Fred W. Muchmore, of Morristown, is of Welsh origin, from which country came three brothers at an early day, one of whom located in New Jersey, and from him have descended the line herein recorded.
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Samuel Muchmore, the first member of the family of whom we have definite information, was a native of Essex county, New Jersey, where he was reared and educated, and where he followed farming for several years. He then moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, locating on the Miami river, near Mad- isonville. Subsequently he removed further west, where he remained for a short period of time, then started to return for his son, but died on the homeward journey.
Stephen Muchmore, son of Samuel Muchmore, was born in Essex county, New Jersey. After completing his studies in the common schools, accompanied by two brothers, he went to Ohio, where they located land in the Miami Valley, which they cleared and cultivated, thus preparing the way for the remainder of the family, who migrated there later. After a residence of about a year in Ohio, Stephen returned to New Jersey, locating in Morris county, where he spent the remainder of his days, devoting his attention to agricultural pursuits. He married Elizabeth Denman and among their children was Joel W., of whom further.
Joel W. Muchmore, son of Stephen Muchmore, was born in Essex county, New Jersey, April 26, 1815. He was reared on the home farm, attended the common school, and at the age of seventeen entered upon an apprentice- ship in a carpenter shop, which line of work he followed for thirty years, and in connection therewith took up architecture. In 1840 he took up his residence in Morristown, remaining there until his decease. In 1865 he engaged in the lumber business with Francis A. Day, under the style of Day & Muchmore, and his connection with that firm continued for nearly two decades, when he retired from active pursuits, having accumulated suf- ficient capital for his declining years. He was a self-made man, the suc- cess which he achieved being the direct result of energy, enterprise and perse- verance, combined with an aptitude for business and integrity of a high order. His political affiliation was given to the Republican party, but aside from casting his vote at the polls he took no active part in politics.
Mr. Muchmore married in 1842, Sarah Elizabeth Bunn, born in Spring- field, Essex county, New Jersey, January 5, 1821, died February, 1898, her death being deeply mourned by all who had the honor of her acquaintance. She was a consistent member of the South Street Presby- terian Church of Morristown. Children : Caroline Day, Randolph, Fred W., George Vail, Hattie, Nellie. Mr. and Mrs. Muchmore lived together for over fifty-five years, celebrated the golden anniversary of their marriage, and to commemorate their various celebrations they had published a little booklet, in which is printed a record of each one of those memorable occa- sions.
Fred W. Muchmore, son of Joel W. Muchmore, was born November 26, 1848, in Morristown, New Jersey. He was educated in the common and private schools, and in 1864 he enlisted in Company B, Thirty-seventh New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, serving three months in front of Petersburg, Virginia. After being mustered out at expiration of term of enlistment he returned to Morristown. He then spent some twelve years in New York at railroading. He then returned to Morristown and bought out the shoe business of Mr. Drake and conducted that business for twenty years, when
he sold it. He became one of the organizers of the Common Sense Suspen- der Company of Morristown, with which he has since been associated, and is now, 1914, president of the concern. He is a member of A. T. A. Tor- bert Post, No. 24, G. A. R .; politically a Republican. He married, in 1874, Laura B. Benson, of Cincinnati, Ohio. An adopted daughter is their only child, Mabel B. Bower. The family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church.
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NEW JERSEY
EDWARD P. MEANY
Brigadier General Edward P. Meany, counsellor-at-law, judge advocate general of New Jersey, was born in Louisville, Kentucky, May 13, 1854, son of Edward A. and Maria Lavinia (Shannon) Meany. He is of Irish and English ancestry. His father was for a number of years conspicuously identified with the jurisprudence of the south, occupying an honored place upon the bench and as a member of the bar. Commodore Barry and Cap- tain John Meany, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were members of his fath- er's family. His maternal grandfather was Henry Gould Shannon, who settled in 1810 at Louisville, Kentucky.
General Meany was educated in the schools of his native State and at the St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri. He was prepared for the practice of his profession in the most careful and thorough manner by his father and was admitted to the bar in 1878. He was for many years coun- sel for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company and held several positions of prominence and confidence in that corporation and in many of its associate companies. General Meany has also acted on many occasions as an officer and director of important railway, financial and other corpora- tions. In 1884, as vice-president of the New Mexico Central and Southern Railway Company, he represented that company in Mexico and Europe, particularly as a representative of that company in connection with its affairs with the government of the Republic of Mexico. He is vice-president and director of the Trust Company of New Jersey, a director of the Colonial Life Insurance Company of America, and the Laurel Coal and Land Com- pany and Pond Fork Coal and Land Company of West Virginia. He was appointed judge advocate general of New Jersey in 1893 with the rank of brigadier-general. In 1894 he was appointed one of the Palisades commis- sioners of the State of New Jersey, and has been a trustee and treasurer of the Newark Free Public Library. General Meany is a Democrat in politics. He was a delegate from New Jersey to the National Democratic conventions of 1896 and 1900 and at both conventions he earnestly supported the principles advocated by the Old Line Democracy and vigorously pro- tested against the abandonment by the party of those principles.
He married Rosalie Behr, daughter of Peter Behr, Esq., of St. Louis, Missouri, and has one child now living, his son, Shannon Lord Meany.
AUGUSTUS WOOD BELL
Augustus Wood Bell, one of the well known real estate men of Morris- town, New Jersey, was born in that town, July 16, 1855, son of Augustus Wood and Caroline Louise (Concklin) Bell, grandson of Robert P. and Charlotte (Stoll) Bell, and a descendant of Abraham Pierson, one of the founders of Newark, New Jersey, a cousin of his by the same name hav- ing been the first president of Yale College. Not only has Mr. Bell been thoroughly identified in his lineage with this region of New Jersey, but he is one of about a dozen men in business now in Morristown who were born there and have lived there for over half a century.
Robert P. Bell (grandfather) was a man of considerable means and prominence, and for a number of years was engaged in business in Stan- hope, Morris county, New Jersey, and served as one of the commissioners of the old Morris canal. He married Charlotte Stoll, of Sussex county, New Jersey, and among their children was Augustus Wood, of whom further.
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Augustus Wood Bell Sr. was born in New York City, died April 21, 1881, aged fifty-seven years. When about eighteen years of age he came to Morristown, New Jersey, and entered upon the study of law under the supervision of Judge Scofield, and after his admission to the bar established himself in the practice of his profession, continuing along that line for the remainder of his life. He was one of the able legal practitioners in Mor- ris county, and in criminal law he stood in the front ranks, being retained as counsel in many of the leading cases. During his later years he devoted a considerable portion of his time to the real estate business. He served as the first president of the truck company of the fire department, in which he retained membership until his death. He was one of the promoters and contributors to the Morris Female Seminary. He was a staunch Demo- crat; was candidate for mayor at the first election for that office, and later was again a candidate for the same office. He was always ready to for- ward any movement for the public good, contributed according to his means, but being of a retiring disposition his benefactions were known only to the recipients of his bounty. He was a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He married Caroline Louise Concklin, of Morristown, daughter of Zebulon W. Concklin, her grandmother on the maternal side having been the daughter of William Johnes and the granddaughter of the Rev. Timothy Johnes, the first pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Morristown. Mrs. Bell died March 25, 1865.
Augustus Wood Bell Jr. acquired his early education in the private schools of Morristown, where he was prepared for Yale College. Matricu- lating at that institution he was graduated with the class of 1879. He then entered upon the study of law, but it became necessary for him to devote a considerable amount of attention to the management of his father's real estate, owing to the latter's death in 1881. This experience in that line of endeavor led him to relinquish his study of law to engage in real estate as a business. He has become one of the most extensive real estate dealers of the neighborhood, handling in a large measure his own property. He has been one of the pioneers in the beautifying and improving of Morris- town, contributing in various ways toward that end. He was one of the prime movers in securing the establishment of the fire alarm system in Mor- ristown, and he is an exempt fireman, having been an active member of Independent Hose Company, No. I, of Morristown, for seventeen years, dur- ing which time he filled all the offices in that organization. He published a history of the Morristown fire department, beginning with its organization in 1797 and covering a period of almost 100 years. He was an active mem- ber of the Young Men's Christian Association, in which he filled the office of treasurer, and was one of the members of the board of directors. He is one of the managers of the Market Street Mission. He is a member of the South Street Presbyterian Church, and the Free and Accepted Masons, in which he holds the degree of past master. In his political preferences he is a Republican. He is public-spirited to a degree, charitable to a fault, yet he gives in such a quiet and unostentatious manner that few are aware of the extent of his charities.
Mr. Bell married, December 14, 1881, at Newburgh, New York, Ella Martha, daughter of Alfred Bridgeman, of New York City, who was the second oldest seedsman in the United States, he having come from England when a boy and started in business in New York City in 1825; he married a daughter of Gamaliel King, who died in 1898. Mr. Bridgeman died in 1902. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Bell: I. Alfred A., born October I,
2
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1884; now connected with his father in the real estate and insurance busi- ness ; married, in April, 1912, Louise Marie Hazeltine, of Glen Ridge, New Jersey. 2. Carrie Louise, born May 22, 1886; resides at home.
THEODORE AYERS
One of the conspicuous men who have figured in the real estate busi- ness in Morristown, Theodore Ayers, was born in that town, July 8, 1855. His father, also named Theodore Ayers, was born at Basking Ridge, Som- erset county, New Jersey, June 22, 1824, but came to Morristown when a very young man and entered into business there, opening a general mer- chandise store in connection with his brother, Eugene, in the year 1845 or 46; he had, however, been engaged in business with Joseph W. Lovell for a short time. This partnership continued until the outbreak of the Civil War when Theodore Ayers was appointed to the post of revenue collector. At the close of that period he went into the real estate business of which the present is the outgrowth. He was a man of prominence, ability and influ- ence, interested in all public matters and served the town as mayor from 1876 to 1880; also served as member of board of freeholders; largely inter- ested in educational matters and was a trustee and one of the founders of the Morris Female Institute. He died January 26, 1905, at the age of eighty-one years. The father of the first Theodore Ayers was David Ayers, born at Basking Ridge, New Jersey, 1792, died 1850. He was a surveyor and died on the old homestead at Basking Ridge which had been in the possession of the Ayers family for four generations. The mother of Theodore Ayers Jr. is Ann Elizabeth ( Bon- sall) Ayers, born in New York City, March 4, 1833, and now living in Mor- ristown. His parents had three sons, but one, John Bonsall Ayers, born July 30, 1858, died September 5, 1910. He was for thirty years head of the insurance department of the Morristown Real Estate and Insurance Agency ; secretary of Morristown Safe Deposit Company, also served as city clerk and city collector, and was prominent in social and fraternal organizations. Theodore Ayers is the older of the two remaining sons, the other, Horace Frederick, born October 27, 1862, lived retired from business in Morris- town for some years, but died April 25, 1913. John Bache Ayers, son of John Bonsall Ayers, deceased, was born January 24, 1891, and was educated at the Morris Academy. He is now associated in the real estate business with his uncle, Theodore Ayers. On the maternal side the grandfather of Theodore Ayers was John Bonsall, born in 1804, in New York City, where he lived until 1846, when he came to Morristown, and retired from business. He died in 1852. He married Eliza Ennis.
Theodore Ayers was sent for his early school training to the Morris Academy and to other private schools. After he had been prepared in them he matriculated at Princeton College, and was graduated with the class of 1879. He then entered business, choosing the field of real estate and remaining in this until the last few years. He is a Republican in his political convictions, and was mayor of the town 1909-10. He is a trustee of the Morristown Green, and is an attendant of the South Street Presbyterian Church.
J. HOWARD HULSART
A prominent man in the educational circles of northern New Jersey, J. Howard Hulsart, was born October 31, 1859, in Middlesex county, New
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Jersey, near the town of Matawan. Here on his father's farm his early boyhood was spent. His father was Cornelius L. Hulsart, born on the homestead near Matawan, New Jersey, 1829, and farmed for a great many years, dying on the day before Thanksgiving, 1907, at the age of seventy- eight years. The mother of J. Howard Hulsart was Rhoda A. (Carhart) Hulsart, born near Keyport, New Jersey, August 8, 1832, died in March, 1891, leaving three children: Charles C., a farmer of Matawan, who is employed by the United States department of agriculture in pursuing a number of important investigations; J. Howard Hulsart, with whom the present biographical sketch is concerned; Maria, married Charles Agan, of South Amboy, New Jersey, a painter by occupation.
The grandfather on the paternal side was John Hulsart, a farmer of Middlesex county, who married Maria Lamberson and died young, leaving two children. Mr. Hulsart's mother's father was Joseph Carhart, who was born near Keyport, 1796, and after being a farmer all his life, died in 1880. His wife's name was Elizabeth Huff, and eight children were born to them. On both sides the families are of old colonial stock, the Hulsarts tracing back to 1717, when they were settled in Monmouth county, removing after- wards to Middlesex county. Members of the Hulsart and of the Carhart families served in the Revolutionary War. There were at one time five Hulsarts enrolled in one New Jersey regiment during the Revolutionary War. Matthias Hulsart, great-grandfather, was a prisoner for eighteen months.
Brought up on his father's farm, the academic education of young J. Howard Hulsart was that of the usual country-bred lad. He went to the district schools of the neighborhood and later to Glenwood Institute at Matawan. This preliminary work was followed by courses of study at Harvard University and the Illinois Western University, from the latter of which institutions he received degrees. He had early made up his mind to make pedagogy his life work, and at the age of twenty-one years he began teaching. His first appointment was in the Long Branch school district. In this position he remained for eleven years, doing good and faithful service, his work having that grasp of essentials and that progressiveness which marks that of a man who will be a leader. In 1891 he was appointed local supervisor of schools at Dover, and here he remained for seventeen years, when he was promoted to the office of county superintendent of schools of Morris county, holding that position ever since that time. A successful man has usually been an enthusiast about his work and this has been evi- denced in the case of Mr. Hulsart, who takes the keenest interest in all that pertains to education in all its phases. He belongs to a number of the organ- izations affiliated on the lines of educational work. For six years he was secretary of the New Jersey State Teachers' Association, and for one year he was its president. For a year he also served as president of the New Jersey High School Teachers' Association. He was president also for one year of the New York School Masters' Club. For the past four years he has been secretary of the New Jersey State Council of Education, and been the recipient of a number of other honors throughout Morris county. He is in his political principles a Republican. For two years he has been wor- shipful master of Acacia Lodge, No. 24, Masonic order. He is a member of the Royal Arcanum, and of the Junior Order United American Mechanics. He is a member of the Presbyterian church.
Mr. Hulsart married (first) December 27, 1881, Ella L. Cottrell, who died May 2, 1903, leaving three children: C. Raymond, born February 16, 1883, now a civil engineer in the employ of New York City on the
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Catskill Aqueduct; Pierre M., born January 27, 1885, also employed with his brother on the Catskill Aqueduct; Esther, born June 25, 1894, now a student at Goucher College, Baltimore, Maryland. A fourth child, Reta, was drowned in infancy. Mr. Hulsart married (second) at Corning, New York, August 10, 1904, Nancy Eleanor Seyter, born near Corning, daugh- ter of Charles W. and Mary (English) Seyter, the former a farmer of near Corning. They have no children.
JOHN BEAM VREELAND
John B. Vreeland, a man of excellent judgment, great integrity and rare executive ability, who also possesses legal attainments of a high order, fully meriting the high esteem in which he is held by all who have the honor of his acquaintance, is a lineal descendant of a Holland family, members of which emigrated to this country in the early part of its history. The name was formerly spelled Vreelandt, but the last letter has been eliminated for many years.
George Washington Vreeland, father of John B. Vreeland, was a native of Passaic county, New Jersey, born February 22, 1820. During his early life he devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits, later engaged in the soda-water bottling business in Newark, continuing successfully until May, 1868, when he located in Morristown and there continued the same line of work until his retirement from business. His career was characterized by the utmost integrity and fidelity to business principles, and he held high rank among his business associates and friends. Mr. Vreeland married (first) Sarah M. Smith, a native of Passaic county, New Jersey, whose death occurred in Newark, at the age of thirty-three, leaving three children1: Mary E., who became the wife of James O. Halsey; Isaac S .; John B. Mr. Vreeland married (second) Harriet N. Faitoute.
John B. Vreeland was born in Newark, New Jersey, December 30, 1852. He attended the public schools of that city, completing his studies in the high school at the age of fifteen. He then accompanied his parents to Morristown, where he has since made his home. For the following four years he was associated with his father in business. Then, having decided to follow the profession of law, he entered the office of Frederick G. Burn- ham and later that of Colonel Frederick A. De Mott, and so closely did he apply himself that he was admitted to the bar as an attorney and solicitor in chancery at the November term, 1875, and as a counsellor at the June term, 1879. He at once engaged in active practice in Morristown, and in due course of time attained distinct prestige as a member of the legal fra- ternity. From 1876 to 1879 he was in partnership with Edward A. Quayle, then practiced alone for almost a quarter of a century, and on April 1, 1903, became the senior member of the firm of Vreeland, King, Wilson & Lindabury. This firm dissolved April 7, 1912, Mr. Vreeland forming a partnership with C. Franklin Wilson, firm name, Vreeland & Wilson, offices at No. 21 South street. His present prominence in his chosen profession is due solely to his thorough preparation for his work, the fidelity he has always displayed to the interests of his clients, and the zeal and enthusiasm he has brought to bear upon each and every case entrusted to his care.
Mr. Vreeland has always been prominently identified with the best inter- ests of his city, county and State, and to the best of his ability has performed the duties of the various offices conferred upon him. In 1892 Chancellor McGill appointed him a special master in chancery. He has served as deputy county clerk and acting prosecutor of pleas of the county of Morris,
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and as city counsel of Morristown. In 1895 the Republican party nom- inated him for the office of State senator, to which he was elected by a plu- rality of over 1,500, a most conclusive evidence of his popularity and efficiency. During his membership in that body he introduced a bill known as "The School Teachers' Retirement Fund Bill," which became a law in 1896, also a number of other bills of less importance, and served on several committees, the more important being that on the revision of laws, and he was also chairman of the joint committee on State hospitals for the insane. He was appointed by the acting governor of the State, Hon. Foster M. Voor- hees, to the office of judge of the several courts of Morris county, for a term of five years, dating from April 1, 1898, a position for which he had many qualifications. On October 20, 1903, he was appointed United States attorney for the district of New Jersey, ad interim; was appointed to the same position, December 16, 1903, for a full term of four years, and was reappointed December 9, 1907, for another four year term, all these appoint- ments having been made by the late President Roosevelt. Mr. Vreeland is an active member of the South Street Presbyterian Church at Morris- town, to the support of which he contributes most liberally. He is a mem- ber of F. and A. M., Cincinnati Lodge ; from May 1, 1912, to May 7, 1913, he served as president of County Bar Association of Morris county, New Jersey.
Mr. Vreeland married (first) December 18, 1878, Ida A. Piotrowski, who died in 1896, leaving two daughters, Eda A. and Vera E. Mr. Vree- land married (second) June 2, 1897, Ida King Smith.
MAX HELLER
A great man has somewhere been described as one who is so short- sighted that he cannot see the obstacles which lie between him and his goal. Whether this be true of Max Heller or not, certain it is that he has conquered all obstacles that have impeded his path to success and now ranks as one of the leading business men of Dover and Morris county, New Jersey. He is president of the L. Lehman Company, director in the Dover Trust Company, secretary and treasurer of the Morris County Realty Company, and is interested with J. J. Friedman & Company, manu- facturers of automobile garments.
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