USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume II > Part 38
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EDWARD J. CAHILL
Edward J. Cahill has long been prominent in the business and political affairs of Boonton, and is now, in recognition of his activities, a candidate for State senator. Mr. Cahill is of Irish parentage, both his father and mother having been natives of Ireland who came to this country in early years. His father, Michael Cahill, settled in Boonton where he became an iron worker, and where he met and married Alice Cunningham, whose family had also come to live there. Besides our subject, there were two daughters born to them: Abiia, wife of Patrick Brady ; Ellen, married Pat- rick McKegney.
Edward J. Cahill was born in Boonton and obtained his education in the common schools of that town. He later learned the trade of cooper and then took up his father's occupation of iron worker. All this time, how- ever, his ambition was awake urging him to take a prominent place in his native community, and as the shortest route to such preferment he took up the study of law in the office of George R. Runyon, of Morristown. He has now been in business in Boonton for eighteen years and occupies an enviable position there, having handled some important matters, among them the deal for the great new reservoir for Jersey City. Mr. Cahill has long been identified with the Republican party and he has served for seven years on the Morris county board of taxation as well as in a number of local offices. He became a candidate for Congress. but after the recent split in the party ranks did not attempt to secure the office.
Mr. Cahill married Ellen Purdi, a native of Boonton, daughter of Henry and Nora ( Black) Purdi. Their union has been blessed with three children as follows: William, George, Matilda, wife of John Lyon. Mr. Cahill is a member of the Catholic church, while Mrs. Cahill attends the Presbyterian.
LORENZO CUSTARD
Lorenzo Custard has been most successfully engaged in the bakery busi- ness in Dover since 1893. He is also a property owner in this city and devotes considerable time to the raising of chickens. He was born in Monroe county, Pennsylvania, January 2, 1859. His father, Samuel Cus- tard, was a farmer by occupation and spent the entire period of his life in the old Keystone commonwealth, he died in April, 1907. The maiden name of his wife was Sarah Slutter; she was born in Pennsylvania, died in October, 1905. They were highly respected citizens of Monroe county and reared a large family of children as follows: Martha, married (first) John Butterfield, and (second) Charles Marshall; Emma, wife of William Seiple ; Anna, wife of Silas Beeman; Lydia, wife of Joseph Paxton ; Lorenzo; Stewart; Eugene; Ida, wife of Wilson Keller.
To the invigorating influence of the old homestead farm Lorenzo Cus- tard is indebted for his robust constitution. During the winter months he attended the neighboring district schools and in the summer seasons assisted his father in the work and management of the farm. After reaching manhood he worked for neighboring farmers for a time and in 1891 he came to Dover, New Jersey, and here opened a small grocery store, with an adjoining bake shop. He now devotes all his attention to his bakery, employing two bakers and one clerk. He runs a wagon through the mining district and to Rockaway, in both of which sections he controls a fine patronage. Only the best ingredients are used in his bakery and strictly high-class food is the result. His son Howard is associated with him in
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business. In politics he votes for the man and not the party, and in fraternal circles he is a member of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
In February, 1880, Mr. Custard married Nellie Bogart, a native of Brooklyn, New York, daughter of Jacob and Jane (Humphrey) Bogart. Mr. and Mrs. Custard have two children: Florence, wife of George A. Burr and they have a son and a daughter, Howard and Mildred; Howard, who is unmarried, works with his father in the bakery.
JOHN G. WECKBACH
Although a native of Germany, John G. Weckbach has been a resident of the United States for over a quarter of a century and during twenty years of that time his citizenship has been a valuable adjunct to Morris county. Since May, 1906, he has been proprietor of the Germania Hotel at Butler and here he is serving with the utmost efficiency as foreman of the local fire department. He is filling his second term as councilman and as a Republican takes an active part in county politics, being a member of the Morris county Republican committee.
John G. Weckbach was born at Hesse Worms, Germany, March 19, 1870, son of Peter and Marguerite Weckbach, both of whom are now de- ceased, the father having died in 1912, aged seventy-nine years, and the mother in 1911, aged seventy-eight years. Peter Weckbach was born in Germany and there followed the occupations of farmer and shepherd until 1884, when he immigrated to the United States. On their arrival in this country the Weckbach family located in Campbell county, Kentucky, and there the father accumulated a fine farming property, which he continued to cultivate until death called him from the scene of his mortal endeavors. He was a man of robust constitution and alert mind and was highly esteemed by all his Kentucky neighbors. Mr. and Mrs. Weckbach became the parents of sixteen children-twelve sons and four daughters, eleven of whom are living, in 1913.
Up to the age of fifteen years John G. Weckbach attended school in Germany and then he accompanied his parents to America. He lived on the home farm in Kentucky until his marriage, in 1893, and assisted his father in the work and management of his large estate. After his marriage Mr. Weckbach located in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, and there was fireman and stationary engineer for the Phoenix Lead Company until 1894, when he came to Morris county, New Jersey, and entered the employ of the Ameri- can Hard Rubber Company at Butler as fireman. Subsequently he worked for a time in the Bloomingdale Soft Rubber Works. In May, 1906, he purchased the Germania Hotel and he has since devoted most of his time to the management of that up-to-date hostelry. He is a member of the Bar- tholdi Hose Company, No. 2, of the Butler fire department, and is foreman of the latter organization, having held that position for the past five years. . He is president of the Firemen's Relief Association and is now serving his second term in the city council. He has long been active in promoting the interests of his home community and figures in every enterprise pro- jected for the good of the general welfare. In politics he is an unswerving Republican and for the past three years he has been a member of the Morris county Republican committee. His fraternal connections are with Emmanuel Lodge, No. 200, I. O. O. F .; Neaskaleto Lodge, No. 171, I. O. R. M., in which he has held all the important offices; Paterson Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
John Werkback
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In 1893 Mr. Weckbach married Mary Schreck, born in Kentucky, daughter of John Wendel Schreck, a resident of Campbell county, Ken- tucky. Mr. and Mrs. Weckbach became the parents of five children, two of whom are deceased; those living are: Wendel, aged nineteen years ; Lawrence, aged fifteen years; Esther, aged seven years. The exemplary lives of Mr. and Mrs. Weckbach have won them the unalloyed regard of their fellow citizens and they are popular in the social affairs of Butler.
CHARLES FREEMAN
Charles Freeman is an essentially representative business man of Mend- ham, where he is engaged in the general merchandise business and where he is a partner with his brother Frank in the ownership and management of an automobile garage and blacksmith shop. His interest in public affairs is deep and sincere and he gives an earnest support to all measures and enterprises projected for the betterment of the local government. He was born in the city of Newark, New Jersey, November 23, 1868, son of Charles and Mary (Van Gieson) Freeman, the former of whom is deceased and the latter of whom now maintains her home at Montclair, New Jersey. The father was a jeweler by trade and he died in the year 1888. He and his wife had eight children : Frank ; Charles; Nellie, married Elmer Van Ness ; Jennie or Jean, wife of Bert Morrell; Sadie, wife of Bloomfield Beavers ; Mary E., wife of Leo Robinson; Benjamin; Alice, wife of Harry Lyons.
After a common school education Charles Freeman entered a blacksmith shop at Mendham and there became thoroughly familiar with that trade, which he followed for the ensuing ten years. He then engaged in the car- riage business at Mendham and since 1908 has been interested in the con- duct of an automobile garage and blacksmith shop at Mendham, as a partner with his brother Frank, under the firm name of Freeman Brothers. In 1894 he opened a grocery store in this borough but subsequently dis- posed of it and engaged in the dry goods business. He has a finely equipped establishment and in the same carries a complete line of notions, shoes and dry goods. The store is managed by Mrs. Freeman, who is a woman of considerable tact and good business judgment.
The marriage of Mr. Freeman to Jennie Garabrant, of Morristown, was solemnized April 19, 1893. She is a daughter of John Newell and Helen (Day) Garabrant, both natives of Morris county and both now deceased. The father was a farmer by occupation and he and his wife were devout Presbyterians. To them were born the following children: Eugene M .; Everett L .; Eliza, wife of Oscar Pruden; Jennie, wife of Mr. Freeman, as already noted; Flora; Cornelia, wife of Fred Guerin ; Margaret ; John W., who is now serving as postmaster of Mendham and who is mentioned on other pages of this sketch. Mr. and Mrs. Freeman have two sons, Paul A. and Ralph F., the latter in the public schools of Mendham; Paul A., a student at Cornell University.
Mr. Freeman favors the Republican party in his political belief although his vote is usually cast on the merits of the candidate. He is a member of the board of education and for six years has been president of that organization. He is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and in religious matters is a zealous Presbyterian, he and his wife being active factors in local church work. They are well thought of in their home community and everywhere command confidence and esteem.
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JACOB SMITH GUNTHER
Jacob Smith Gunther, proprietor of a general supply and repair shop and of an automobile garage, is a native of Mendham and here has main- tained his home during practically the entire period of his lifetime thus far. He was born September 18, 1862, son of John Henry and Eliza (Smith) Gunther, the former of German birth and the latter a native of the com- monwealth of Pennsylvania. The father grew up and was educated in Germany and came thence to America in 1853, at the age of seventeen years. He followed the trades of cabinetmaker and carpenter during a long period of his active career and then opened a shop for the repair of wagons and vehicles of all kinds. The latter business was purchased by his son, Jacob S., of this notice, fully twenty years ago and is now in a thriving condition. John Henry Gunther retired from the cares of an active business life in 19II and is enjoying to the full the fruits of former years of constant toil and endeavor. He enjoys good health and retains in much of their pristine vigor the splendid faculties of his prime. His wife is now deceased ; they were deeply beloved by their numerous friends and acquaintances. They were the parents of the following children: George, Jacob Smith, Charles, Harry, Elizabeth, wife of George Thompson; Margaret, wife of John Roy; Edward.
A thorough public school education, completed at the age of sixteen years, was the youthful allotment of Jacob S. Gunther. He then began to learn the trade of carriagemaker in his father's shop and for the three suc- ceeding years followed work of that nature in different shops. In 1893 he purchased the business established by his father and now conducts a general shop, in which all kinds of wagons, buggies and vehicles are repaired and painted. In 1912 he and his brother George opened up a garage in Mendham and in this connection they control a fine business. Mr. Gunther owns the building in which the garage is located and has a fine residence property in Mendham. His entire business career has been characterized by close application to the work at hand and by strictly honorable methods. He is a Democrat in his political opinions and for twelve years-from 1887 to 1899-served as clerk of Mendham township. He is now a valued and influential member of the local school board, and in religious faith is a zealous Presbyterian. His fraternal connections are with the Junior Order of United American Mechanics and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is popular amongst his fellow citizens and the list of his personal friends is coincident with that of his acquaintances.
Mr. Gunther married Nancy Emma Burd in the year 1892. She was born at Somerville, New Jersey, daughter of James K. and Julia (Apgar ) Burd, the former a blacksmith by trade and a prominent resident of Somerville. Mrs. Gunther has a brother, James K. Jr .; and a sister, Lulu H., who is the wife of John F. Drake. Four children constitute the Gunther family, namely: Eunice, Walter, Julia, James.
CHARLES P. BRETHERTON
In 1905 Charles P. Bretherton opened a plumbing, tinning and hard- ware establishment at Mendham and the same now represents one of the most flourishing business enterprises of this borough. Mr. Bretherton owns some valuable real estate in Mendham and is a valued member of the local fire department. He is named after his paternal grandfather, Charles Peter Bretherton, who was born in England, and who passed his entire life on his native heath.
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Edward S. P. Bretherton, father of Charles P. Bretherton, is a native of England and he immigrated to the United States in 1872, locating in Somerset county, New Jersey. He is now a resident of Mendham and is superintendent and manager for the E. T. H. Talmadge estate. His wife, who was Anna Mary Crue in her maidenhood, was born at Basking Ridge, New Jersey, and she bore her husband the following children: Charles P .; Mary Catherine, wife of James Selden ; Rapelye ; Elizabeth Crue, book- keeper for her brother, Charles P .; Edward S. P. Jr.
Charles P. Bretherton was born at Basking Ridge, Somerset county, New Jersey, August 22, 1878. As a boy he attended the common schools of New York City and in his seventeenth year he began to work for Mr. Tal- madge, in whose employ he continued for the ensuing three years. He then began to learn the trade of plumber in New York City and followed that line of work in different places for seven years. In 1905, as already stated, he opened a tinning, plumbing and hardware shop in Mendham and here has since continued to reside. He controls a large and lucrative busi- ness and owns a fine store and residence property here. He is a stalwart Republican in his political affiliations but is not a seeker after the honors or emoluments of public office. For three years he gave efficient service as treasurer of the Mendham Fire Company, No. I, and he is still a member of this organization. He fraternizes with the Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica, the Improved Order of Redmen, and the Royal Arcanum. He and his wife are members of the Methodist church, in which faith he was reared although his father was a Catholic.
November 15, 1911, Mr. Bretherton married Hessie Alice Claxton, whose birth occurred in Paterson, New Jersey, daughter of Forbes and Hessie (Stevenson) Claxton. Mrs. Bretherton has brothers and sisters : William, Florence, George and Ethel. Mr. and Mrs. Bretherton have no children.
GEORGE S. BEAVERS
Morris county is signally favored in the class of men who have con- tributed to its development in a variety of business lines and in this con- nection George S. Beavers demands recognition as he lias been actively en- gaged in the hotel and livery business at Mendham for the past twenty-six years. He has long been known as a prosperous and enterprising citizen and he is a man whose business methods demonstrate the power of activity and honesty in all the walks of life. He has not confined his energies to personal affairs but has served his fellow men in various offices of im- portant trust and responsibility. For three years he was marshal of Mend- ham and for ten years filled the office of constable. Furthermore, he is a veteran of the Civil War, having devoted three years of his life to defend- ing the cause of union and justice.
George S. Beavers was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, Feb- ruary 3, 1843, son of William A. and Julia A. (Sutton) Beavers, the former of whom was born and reared in Pennsylvania and the latter in Hunterdon county. The father was engaged in the general merchandise business during the years of his active career and he and his wife were the parents of two children : George S., whose name forms the caption for this review ; Caroline E., wife of J. P. Johnson.
After completing the curriculum of the public schools of his native place, George S. Beavers worked at farming until his nineteenth year. August 8, 1862, he responded to President Lincoln's call for volunteers and
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enlisted as a soldier in Company A, Fifteenth New Jersey Infantry. He served as a private until the close of the war and was mustered out as corporal, June 27, 1865. He participated in many of the most important battles marking the progress of the war, among them being Fredericksburg, Salem. Heights, Gettysburg, the conflict at Funkton, Maryland, the battle of the Wilderness, Laurel Hill, Hanover, Courthouse, Cold Harbor, Snickers Gap (Virginia), Newmarket, Cedar Creek, the capture of Petersburg, Sailors' Creek, Farmville, and the surrender at Appomattox." He was dis- tinguished for bravery and daring and won, considerable praise from the officers in charge of his regiment."
After the close of the war and when peace was again established, Mr. Beavers returned to Hunterdon county and continued to reside in that sec- tion of the State until 1871, devoting most of his attention to agricultural pursuits. Subsequently he was engaged for four years in the hotel busi- ness at Califon, New Jersey, then followed that line of enterprise at Chester Depot for three years, and in 1878 went to Somerset county, where he con- ducted the Bedminster Hotel at Bedminster for a period of ten years. In 1888 he came to Mendham and assumed charge of the Black Horse Inn, which is up-to-date in its equipment and which caters to a very select patronage. In connection with his hotel business Mr. Beavers conducts an extensive livery. He has been very successful as a hotel man, his kindly disposition and genial good nature making him an ideal host. He is a Democrat in political affiliations and served that organization. on the town committee for four years. He was elected constable in 1890 and held that office for ten years and for three years was the efficient incumbent of the office of marshal of the borough of Mendham. He retains a deep and sincere interest in his old comrades in arms and signifies the same by membership in A. T. A. Talbert Post, No. 24, G. A. R. He is affiliated with the Som- erville Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in religious matters is a member of the Presbyterian church.
In 1866 Mr. Beavers married Mary Ann Pace, daughter of John and Mary (Wise) Pace. Mr. Pace was a farmer in Morris county, New Jersey, during his lifetime and he was twice married, the name of his second wife being Sarah Perry. The first marriage was prolific of four children: Tami- son, wife of Lemuel Sheets ; Elias; Mary Ann, wife of Mr. Beavers; Sarah, wife of Taylor Flomerfelt. To the second union were born: John; Amanda, wife of Augustus Hahn; Elmira, wife of Henry Farley; George E .; Prudence, wife of George A. Farley ; Eliphalet. Mr. and Mrs. Beavers have the following children: John, married Grace Cramer ; Emma, widow of Harry Woodhull, and she is the mother of Mabel and George B .; Carrie, married George Thomson, and they have two children: Clay and William, Bloomfield, married Sarah Freeman and they have Clifford and Mildred ; Jesse, married Dora Hoffman. Although Mr. Beavers is now seventy years of age he is still hale and hearty and cares for the details of his busi- ness with the same energy that marked the years of his prime.
ELIJAH WOODWARD STODDARD, D. D.
The late Rev. Elijah Woodward Stoddard. D. D., of Succasunna, who up to the time of his decease, although in his ninety-fourth year, was the active pastor of the Presbyterian church of Succasunna, after fifty years of service in that parish, and sixty-one in the Gospel ministry, was a lineal descendant of a family who can trace back to the year 1490, to records in London, England. The tradition is that their ancestor came to England
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E, W, Stoddard
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with his cousin, William the Conqueror, from Normandy, in 1066. The name Stoddard was derived from the office of standard bearer.
The pioneer ancestor of the family was Anthony Stoddard, who in 1639 emigrated from London, England, to Boston, Massachusetts. He was a linen merchant. He married and was the father of thirteen children, among whom were Solomon, Samson and Simeon. Solomon, the eldest son, born October 4, 1643, died February II, 1729, was educated at Har- vard College, graduating in 1662, and was a noted minister in Northampton, Massachusetts, being called to the church there in 1669. He married Mrs. Esther Mather, the widow of his predecessor, who bore him twelve chil- dren ; of these the oldest three were daughters and married ministers ; the second, Esther, born June 2, 1672, married, November 6, 1694, Rev. Timo- thy Edwards, of East Windsor, Connecticut, and their son, Jonathan Edwards, born October 5, 1703, died March 22, 1758, was famous for his preaching and theological writings, became president of Princeton College one month before his death, and his burial was among the presidents in the cemetery at Princeton, New Jersey. The seventh child of Solomon Stod- dard, Anthony, was born August 9, 1678, died September 6, 1760. He graduated at Harvard College, 1697, and settled as a minister at Woodbury, Litchfield county, Connecticut, where he continued for sixty years. He married and was the father of eleven children. Eliakim, son of Anthony Stoddard, was born April 3, 1705, married Joanne Curtis, in 1729, and resided in Woodbury, Connecticut. John, the eldest son of nine children, born January 26, 1730, married, April 15, 1751, Mary Atwood, and resided in Watertown, Connecticut. John, the fifth child of nine children, born July I, 1763, married Sarah Woodward, in 1785, and their home was in Watertown, Connecticut, until 1802, when they removed to Coventry, Chen- ango county, New York. John, the third son of nine children, was born July 15, 1794, at Watertown, Connecticut, died January 20, 1855. He mar- ried, in September, 1817. Merab Parker, born at Cheshire, Connecticut, September 3, 1796, died March 29, 1857. They were the parents of seven children, among whom was Elijah Woodward, of whom further.
Elijah Woodward Stoddard, second son of John and Merab (Parker ) Stoddard, was born at Coventryville, Chenango county, New York, April 23, 1820. He resided on his father's farm until he attained his majority, assisting in the arduous toil of clearing the land for tilling and cultivating. He attended school in a log house during the winter months, the seats of the school room being slabs of pine logs, with two oaken pins at each end for support, and the writing desk was a smooth board fastened against the wall, the writer turning his back to the school. Being of a studious nature and early displaying a fondness for books and study, Elijah W. Stoddard devoted every moment of leisure time to acquiring an education. The Bible was the book of all books in his home, and this he read daily, becoming a Christian and uniting with the church at the early age of thirteen years. Upon attaining the age of eighteen years, having mastered the English branches sufficiently to pass an examination for teacher, he was appointed as such, serving in that capacity for the following five winters, boarding at the homes of the pupils, and during the summer months he resided at home, assisting with the labors of the farm. At the age of twenty-three years, having decided to enter the ministry, he became a pupil at Norwich and Oxford academies, in New York state, attending during the summer seasons of 1844-45, the winter months being devoted to teaching. He entered Amherst College, in September, 1845, and was a student there for four years, graduating in June, 1849, in a class of thirty-two members,
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