USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume II > Part 30
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George A. Drake attended the public schools of Mount Olive township in his boyhood, and after leaving school entered upon an apprenticeship to learn the trade of carpenter under the instruction of his father. In 1896, at the age of twenty-two years, he located in Dover and here he has since been actively engaged in the work of his trade. In 1907 he entered into a partnership with his brother, Arthur O., to establish the contracting and building firm of Drake Brothers. The firm has several men in its employ and a flourishing business is controlled, at least fifty residences having been erected in recent years. George A. Drake owns considerable real estate in Dover and he has a beautiful home at No. 42 Baker avenue. While not an active participant in local politics, he supports the principles and policies promulgated by the Democratic party, and in fraternal circles is affiliated with the K. of P. and the R. A. As a business man he manifests good judgment in all his operations and he has a reputation for always giving a square deal.
In 1901 Mr. Drake married May Young, born in Dover, daughter of Henry K. Young, of this city. Mr. and Mrs. Drake are the parents of two children, namely : Kenneth W. and Hilliard Y., the eldest of whom is now a pupil in the local public schools. In religious matters the Drake family are members of Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, in whose behalf they are most zealous workers.
ARTHUR O. DRAKE
Arthur O. Drake, junior member of the contracting firm of Drake Broth- ers, which was formed in 1907 and which figures as one of the important business concerns of Dover, New Jersey, is a young man of talent and ambi- tion and these two qualities joined with an aptitude for hard and consistent work are sure to win for him a high place in the business world.
A native of Morris county, Arthur O. Drake was born at Budd Lake, Mount Olive township, New Jersey, March 22, 1878. His parents, Aaron S. and Ellen A. (Ogden) Drake, are both living and they maintain their home at Dover, where the father has won considerable renown as a car-
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tractor and builder. He is now in his seventy-third year and is living prac- tically retired from the cares of an active business life.
In the public schools of Mount Olive township and in those of Budd Lake, Arthur O. Drake received his early educational training. In his eighteenth year he began to learn the carpenter's trade under his father and he has since devoted his undivided time and attention to work of that nature. In November, 1896, he came to Dover and here was associated with his brother, George A., in carpenter work until 1907 when they organized the firm of Drake Brothers, now well known as a prominent contracting and building concern in this city. This firm controls a large and lucrative busi- ness and many fine residences and business buildings have been erected by the Drake Brothers. They have several men in their employ and are busy during the entire year.
March 8, 1902, Mr. Drake married Emma Robinson, daughter of George Robinson, of Dover. They have three children: Mildred E., Edna M., Gilberta. Mr. Drake is a member of the K. of P. and of the G. F. The Drake residence is located on Princeton avenue and is modern in all its appointments.
ALBERT R. DE BOW
The family from which Albert R. De Bow, of Pompton Plains, Morris county, New Jersey, is descended, is one of the oldest in this section of the State. He is a son of Henry P. De Bow, and for a number of generations the family has been identified with farming and lumber interests. During the last years of his life Henry P. De Bow had retired from business, and he died at the age of seventy-six years. He married Margaret Vreeland and had seven children.
Albert R. De Bow was born in Pompton Plains, in 1863. He was edu- cated in the public schools of that town. Upon the completion of his educa- tion he entered upon his business career, obtaining a position in the city of Newark, New Jersey, where eight years were spent in the employ of Wil- liam Titus, a wholesale cracker baker. Returning to Pompton Plains at the expiration of this time, he accepted a position with John F. Post, with whom he remained seventeen years. In 1907 he established himself in his present business, which is one of the best conducted stores in the town. He carries a full line of dry goods, notions, drugs, etc., and keeps every depart- ment strictly up-to-date. He has earned the esteem of his fellow towns- men for the strict integrity of his business methods, and for the public spirit he displays on every occasion. He has always been a staunch supporter of the Republican party, and until the spring of 1913 served as a member of the school board, a period of twenty years. For eleven years he served the town as constable, and is now in office as town marshal and overseer of the poor. His religious affiliations are with the Reformed church, and he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Daughters of Liberty, and Patrons of Husbandry.
Mr. De Bow married Anna E. Williams, of Denville, Morris county, New Jersey, and they have had children : Etta, married A. H. Richards, a plumber of Pompton Plains ; Stella, married H. G. Cook, of Passaic, New Jersey.
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ALBERT G. OXLEY
During the five years that represent Mr. Oxley's residence in the United States he has, through sheer ambition and energy, risen to a high place on the ladder of success. He maintains his home at Morris Plains and there devotes his attention to real estate operations and to the contracting and building business. His interest in civic affairs is deep and sincere and he has done much to promote progress in his home community. His ancestry is of staunch English extraction and he was himself born in Essex county, Eng- land, the date of his nativity being May 1I, 1882. He is a son of George and Anna Maria Oxley, both of whom are living, their home being in Essex county, England, where the father is a real estate agent and contractor. The Oxley family consists of three children, namely: William, in business with his father; Elsie, at the parental home; Albert G., of this notice.
Albert George Oxley passed his boyhood and youth on his native heath, and his early educational training consisted of such advantages as were afforded in the public schools. For two years he was a student in Dr. Wharton's College, at Welton-on-Naze, England, and at the age of fifteen years he began to work for his father, in whose employ he continued for the ensuing nine years. In his twenty-fourth year he began to travel and in 1908 he immigrated to the United States, landing in the city of New York, where he was engaged in the carpenter business for himself for a period of six months, at the expiration of which time he came to Morris Plains, this city having since represented his home. Shortly after his advent in this place he became associated with Mr. Williams in the contracting busi- ness as a member of the A. A. Williams Company. Subsequently he be- came interested in real estate operations and in recent years he has made a business of building and selling houses. He employs from fifteen to twenty - men all the year around and is gradually increasing the scope of his opera- tions. On his arrival in America he was possessed of but very little capital and his success to-day is purely representative of his inexhaustible energy and splendid initiative. As a real estate man he is greatly interested in all matters projected for the material improvement of Morris Plains and he gives freely of his time and means to furthering all enterprises of benefit to the general welfare. He is shrewd in business dealings but his fair and honorable methods have won him a host of true and enthusiastic friends.
In fraternal circles Mr. Oxley is affiliated with Cincinnati Lodge, No. 3, F. and A. M., of Morristown. He is a member of the Welton-on-Naze Yacht Club in England and of the Morris Plains Tennis Club ; and a director in the Hanover Building and Loan Association. Although reared in the faith of the Congregational church, in which his father is an elder, he is now a devout member of the Presbyterian church. In politics he is an Independ- ent and he is not an office seeker, his time being taken up with his extensive business duties. Mr. Oxley is unmarried.
GILBERT HOFFMAN LUNGER
Individual merit may claim a recognition in America that is accorded it in no other country on the face of the globe. The power of personality to conquer fate, to utilize opportunities and to take advantage of possibilities to rise to higher planes is acknowledged here, and the man who depends upon his own ability, enterprise and honesty, and not upon the reputation of his ancestors, is the man who wins public honor and fame. Such an example is furnished by the life record of Gilbert Hoffman Lunger, of Netcong,
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Morris county, New Jersey, who has for many years been identified with the business interests of that town, and who has served it capably in the highest official positions.
Morris Lunger, his father, was born in Morris county, and was of Irish descent. He died in Netcong, in 1902, at the age of eighty-two years. He married Effie Hoffman, of German descent, born in Warren county, New Jersey, in 1827, died in 1875. They had children: Abraham, of Caldwell, New Jersey, is with the Lane Lockwood Tobacco Company, and married Ruth Farrow ; Mary A., married William Hopler, of Newark, New Jersey, who is in the employ of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company ; Jacob, of Hackettstown, New Jersey, married Laura Curl; Gil- bert Hoffman, whose name is at the head of this sketch; John, of Wash- ington, New Jersey, is an engineer in the Cement Works of the Edison Company, and married Elizabeth Gipson; William H., who resides in Hackettstown, is secretary and treasurer of the grain and feed company in Netcong, and married Eva M. Johnson; Theodore, a manufacturer of mesh bags in Newark, New Jersey, married Lillian McDougal.
Gilbert Hoffman Lunger was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, at the dividing line between that county and Morris county, August 21, 1854. His opportunities for obtaining a school education were very limited as he was obliged to begin the active work of life at an early age. At the age of fourteen years he left home, and he provided a comfortable home for his father for a period of seventeen years. He obtained a position in the store of Joseph Heath on Schooleys Mountain, and Mr. Heath, who was a teacher by profession, gave him some instruction at night. Later, for a short time, he was a student at the academy under the charge of the Rev. L. I. Stoutenburg. The next scene of his labors was with the Dela- ware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company, in the position of tele- graph operator, and in 1874, in association with Hugh and Thomas J. Allen, he engaged in mercantile business. In 1879 he came to Netcong and, for a period of eleven years, conducted a general store on the premises now oc- cupied by the Drake-Bostedo Company. In 1891 he established himself in the grain and feed business in Netcong, and in 1907 organized the Lunger Grain and Elevator Company. In political matters Mr. Lunger is now a Pro- gressive, and was formerly a Republican. He served as a member of the school board twenty-eight years, and was twice elected mayor of Netcong, 1904 and 1908. He was one of the first merchants in Netcong, as there were but a few residences in the town when he located there. He was one of the organizers of the Citizens' National Bank of Netcong. His fraternal affilia- tions are with Musconetcong Lodge, F. and A. M., and the J. O. A. M. His religious connection is with the Methodist church. He has been prominent in the development and improvement of the town and is the owner of a considerable quantity of real estate.
Mr. Lunger married Elma, a daughter of John and Emeline (Deren- berger) Hann, the marriage taking place in 1876. They have had children : I. Blanche D., who married Louis G. Bowden, ex-assemblyman of Essex county, New Jersey, and whose home is in Cedar Grove. 2. Eva, married George T. Jurgens, of Brooklyn, New York, who is with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. They have two children : Elma and Dorothy. 3. Leroy, of New York City, a salesman married Euphemia Lloyd.
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JOHN H. BITTERS
One of the most enterprising and energetic business men of Whippany, Morris county, New Jersey, is to be found in the person of John H. Bitters, in that town. His father, who was a hat manufacturer, died at the early age of thirty-six years, and his mother is also deceased, so that Mr. Bitters was obliged to depend upon himself at an early age. He was born in the city of Brooklyn, New York, December 27, 1881, a son of Henry and Mary (Smith) Bitters. He was educated in the public schools of Brooklyn, and remained in that city until he had reached the age of sixteen years. He then obtained a position in the bleacheries at Rockaway, where he remained until 1902, and then came to Whippany, New Jersey, as shipping clerk for the United Paper Board Company. After three years as shipping clerk, he was advanced to the post of cashier, and later to that of superintendent, an office he is now filling with a remarkable degree of executive ability. He has full charge of both plants of this corporation employing an average of IIO men, and the results he has achieved have been of the most satisfactory nature. He is a Democrat in his political views. His fraternal affiliations are with the Masonic order, and the J. O. U. A. M. Mr. Bitters married, in 1902, Cora, a daughter of William Gill, who resides in Rockaway, Morris county, New Jersey, where he is a man of prominence in the community, and vice-president of the Bank of Rockaway. Mr. Bitters has one son : Frederick William.
HON. JOSEPH B. RIGHTER
One of the most prominent and influential men in local politics in Den- ville, Morris county, New Jersey, is the Hon. Joseph B. Righter, who has been a leading factor in a number of campaigns. His well known devotion to the welfare of the county has won him many supporters, and he has been honored with public office, and has won the approval and commendation of both the Democratic and Republican parties. In business life he has also proved his worth, and he is accounted one of the most valuable citizens of the community.
Joseph A. Righter, his father, was born in Parsippany, Hanover town- ship, Morris county, New Jersey, December 4, 1822, and died October II. 1883. He was engaged in the clothing business, and at the outbreak of the Civil War volunteered his services in behalf of the Union army, but was disbarred by reason of physical disability. He went south and carried on his business there during the war, but lost his fortune by this operation, and at the close of the war removed to Denville, Morris county, New Jersey, where he followed the same line of business. He regained a portion of his wealth and became the owner of a considerable amount of real property. He was a Republican in politics and a strong abolitionist. His religious affiliation was with the Methodist church. He married Jane Wade, born in Orange county, New York, December II, 1829, died in Denville, Morris county, May 24, 1903, at the age of seventy-three years. The Wade family was one of the oldest of the State, they were extensive land owners, at one time owning the present site of Elizabeth, New Jersey. Mrs. Righ- ter was reared in the faith of the Dutch Reformed church, but later became a Methodist. Mr. and Mrs. Righter had children: Stewart M., has been a farmer near Joplin, Missouri, for the past thirty-six years ; Elizabeth, widow of James H. Wallace, resides in Montgomery, New York; William, is married and lives in Morristown : Daniel M., a plumber
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by trade, has served as postmaster of Denville for the past seventeen years ; Frank L., of Morristown ; Charlotte W., a resident of Denville; Hon. Joseph B., whose name is at the head of this sketch.
Hon. Joseph B. Righter was born in Denville, Morris county, New Jersey, December 23, 1864. The public schools of his native town furnished him with excellent educational advantages, and he was not slow to profit by these, and thus equip himself for any station in life. Upon the comple- tion of his school years he was for a time a clerk in a hotel in Morristown, then held a similar position in one of the hotels in the city of New York. Being of an energetic and ambitious nature, this was not a class of work which appealed to him very strongly and, when he was twenty years of age, he established himself in the general mercantile business in Denville, and carried this on very successfully for a period of eleven years. He abandoned this enterprise in favor of the manufacture of vanilla extracts, and has been identified with this for the past fifteen years. He has created a strong demand for his output, which is of the highest quality, and his products are shipped to every State in the Union. He has been eminently successful in this direction. But, being a man of many sided ability, Mr. Righter was not satisfied with business success only. He has been very active in the field of politics and was elected a member of the general as- sembly of New Jersey, serving in 1896-97. He filled this office with dignity, and his service was a benefit and a satisfaction to the community. He is a member of Acacia Lodge, No. 20, F. and A. M., of Dover.
Mr. Righter married, April 17, 1908, Susan A., who was born and edu- cated in Morris county, a daughter of Daniel Dickerson, of Denville, and a descendant of an old family of the State. They have had children : Frances and Mary. Mr. Righter owns the beautiful house in which he re- sides, and also a quantity of other valuable property.
JOHN HODTCHKINS BICKLEY
It is claimed by many that fortune has favored certain individuals above others. Thorough investigation, however, of the cause of success and fail- ure shows that the former is due to the improvement of opportunity, the latter to the neglect of it. Fortunate environments encompass nearly every man at some stage of his career, but the strong man and the successful man is he who realizes that the proper moment has come, that the present and not the future holds his opportunity. The man who makes use of the now and not the to be is the one who passes on the highway of life others who started out ahead of him, and reaches the goal of prosperity in advance of them. It is this quality in John Hodtchkins Bickley that early made him a leader in the iron industry of New Jersey and that has enabled him to have a number of important commercial inventions patented and marketed. Mr. Bickley has now reached the venerable age of seventy-five years but is still active and is doing valuable work as a metallurgist inventor in his spacious shop at Dover, New Jersey, where he is experimenting in making iron direct from the ore. He has extensive real estate interests in Morris county and here is held in high esteem as a man of unusual ability and energy.
A son of English parents, John Hodtchkins Bickley was born in Boon- ton, New Jersey, October 4, 1838. Both his paternal and maternal grand- fathers were prominent iron workers in England prior to their immigration to America in the early part of the nineteenth century. The former, John Bickley, came to this country in 1827, making the voyage on the vessel on which the machinery for the Boonton Rolling Mill was a part of the cargo.
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In 1820 Mr. Bickley's maternal grandfather, Thomas Harris, was placed under arrest by the order of an English ironmaster who accused him of carrying the iron industry from England to France while he was en route from Dover to Calais. Subsequently he was freed and he continued to re- side in France until 1828, which year marked his advent in Boonton, New Jersey. Both the above gentlemen were skilled iron workers and for many years were in the employ of the New Jersey Iron Company. John Bickley, son of John Bickley, and father of John H. Bickley, was the discoverer of fettling puddling furnaces with magnetic ore, this was in 1832 in Boonton Rolling Mill at Boonton, New Jersey, which method became universal. He married Elizabeth Harris, daughter of Thomas Harris, and to this union were born the following children: Thomas; John Hodtchkins, the im- mediate subject of this review ; William ; Henry; Joseph; George; Miriam, wife of Abel Wood; Alice, wife of Walter Wood. Of the foregoing five are living, in 1913.
At the tender age of seven years Mr. Bickley, of this sketch, began to work in the rolling mills at Danville, Pennsylvania, as the piler of iron and puller up. His tenth, eleventh and twelfth years, however, were spent in school at Chelsea, Massachusetts, and subsequently he was a diligent stu- dent in night school at Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Much of his leisure time during his entire life has been spent in reading and he is considered an . extremely well read man. His father was at one time part owner of the iron works at Pottsville, Pennsylvania, and when he failed in business young Mr. Bickley entered upon an apprenticeship to learn the profession of architect in the office of Isaac Paul Lykens, of Pottsville. He possessed con- siderable natural talent along that line and at the end of two years was a proficient architect. In 1861, when the dark cloud of Civil War obscured the national horizon, he manifested his intrinsic loyalty to the cause of the Union by enlisting as a soldier in the Tenth Pennsylvania Volunteer In- fantry for three months' service. Subsequently he re-enlisted in the Penn- sylvania militia and for three months served with honor as lieutenant of his company. The following year found him again interested in business as an ironworker at Pottsville and in 1888 he located at Dover, New Jersey, which city has since represented his home. Here he has won considerable renown as a metallurgist inventor. His first patent obtained from the government was for a crowfoot used in boiler construction. Next he invented and had patented a device for rolling cotton ties, this invention is a very important one and is recorded as such in the Iron and Steel Encyclopedia. Another of his patented inventions has to do with the rolling of car axles. Associated with him in the above patents is his son, John H. Bickley Jr., who has like- wise spent most of his life thus far in the iron industry. Father and son worked together for many years and were regular chums in their associa- tions. The latter is now living in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he is mechanical engineer and chief draughtsman for the Reading Iron Company. In addition to his extensive iron interests Mr. Bickley is the owner of a great deal of valuable real estate in Morris county and he has money in- vested in a number of local business enterprises of importance. His success in life is due entirely to his own well directed endeavors and as such is most gratifying to contemplate. Although well advanced in years he is admirably preserved and is filled with dynamic force and energy.
In the year 1861 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bickley to Anna Maria Stin, daughter of John and Susannah (Blythe) Stin, both members of prominent families in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania. The grandfather of Mrs. Bickley was a Revolutionary soldier and fought under General
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Washington at Valley Forge. John Stin was a railroad employe and he and his wife were the parents of the following children: Anna Maria, who married Mr. Bickley and who died in January, 1912; Elizabeth, wife of Ferdinand Spiegle; Sally, wife of Lewis Schartle; Catherine, wife of John Clore ; John, who is cashier of the Miners' Bank at Pottsville, Pennsylvania. To Mr. and Mrs. Bickley were born three children, concerning whom the following brief data are here incorporated: I. Alice, widow of Alfred E. Brown, formerly a member of the shoe manufacturing concern known under the title of A. E. Brown & Company, at Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania ; Mr. Brown died in 1906 and was survived by four children: Clarence, Guy, deceased ; Anna and Arthur. 2. John H., mechanical engineer for the Read- ing Iron Works, at Reading, Pennsylvania ; married (first) Stella Smith, who bore him a son, John H. (3d), graduate of University of Pennsylvania, class of 1913, in mechanical engineering and mathamatics with honors; now superintendent of construction for Ritter & Connelly, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on their iron construction at Rockford, Illinois; married (second) Ida (Miller) Halderman. 3. Minnie Louise, wife of Conrad Mann, an employe in the Ulster Iron Works at Dover; they have three children : Ada, Elizabeth and Harold. Elizabeth Mann married George Profit, of Dover.
Mrs. Bickley, who died in January, 1912, was a devout member of the German Reformed Church. She was a woman of charming personality and her demise was uniformly mourned throughout Dover and this section of Morris county. Mr. Bickley is a Methodist in his religious faith, and in national politics is a stalwart Republican, although he votes for the man and not the ticket in all local elections. He is a kindly gentleman and is highly esteemed and beloved by his numerous friends in Dover.
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