USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume II > Part 48
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(II) Thomas Headley, probably a son of Leonard Headley, the immi- grant, appears on papers in the city of Elizabeth in 1700-02.
(III) Samuel Headley, in all probability a son of Thomas Headley, was born about 1690, died about 1755. He accumulated large tracts of land in the vicinity of Headley Town. They were members of the Presbyterian Church at "Connecticut Farms," and are buried there. "Connecticut Farms" is in the northern part of the township, four miles northwest from Elizabeth- town, six miles southwest from Newark. Prior to 1749, a number of Con- necticut people had purchased large tracts of land there, and given it the name of "Connecticut Farms," which has since been changed to Union. He
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married Mary and had children: Mary, Joseph, Robert, of fur- ther mention ; Samuel, Sarah, Rachel, Phoebe, Isaac.
(IV) Robert Headley, son of Samuel and Mary Headley, was born at "Connecticut Farms," Union county, New Jersey, in 1720, died at Milton, New Jersey, April 28, 1806. At the time he made his will in 1758 he lived in Essex county, New Jersey, and afterwards removed to Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania, and was one of the very few that escaped the terrible massacre there. He was on friendly terms with the Indians, and one who was par- ticularly attached to him gave him timely warning. Robert said to him "You would not hurt me, would you?" and received the reply "In time of war Indian knows no friend." Mr. Headley, acting on the advice thus given, secured an old high top wagon, in which he hastily packed such goods as were of a portable nature, and at four o'clock in the afternoon of July 2, 1778, started with his wife and four children for New Jersey. He finally reached the Hopewell mountains of Sussex county, New Jersey, at the be- ginning of the winter of 1778, built a log cabin on what is now the Hayward property, and spent the winter there. Early in the following spring he located in Milton, Morris county, New Jersey, where he built a log house which is still standing on the Headley homestead. It is now owned by his great-grandson, Clarence Tehune. The original tract owned by Robert Headley consisted of about 600 acres and included land now owned by Edgar H. McCormick, the present Headley homestead, Charles H. Jennings, William M. Headley, and Edward Roe Headley.
Robert Headley married (first) Susanna and had children : Moses, Robert, Lois, Mary, who married Michael Stagg, who made his will October 18, 1757. Further than this all trace of the children of this first marriage has been lost. He married (second) Phebe (Baldwin) Gardner, and had children: I. Joseph, born in New Jersey in 1758, died in Jersey, Licking county, Ohio, August 27, 1842; in 1809 he migrated with his family from New Jersey to near Zanesville, Ohio, where he was a farmer; he served in the Continental army during the Revolutionary War, and was a member of the Universalist church; he married Martha Riker, born in Sussex county, New Jersey, in 1758, died in Jersey, Ohio, September 16, 1842 ; they had children : Elizabeth, Peter, Dorothea, William, Samuel, Uzal, Lewis, Mary, Charles, Levina, Eunice. 2. Samuel D., born about 1765; in early life lived on the farm now owned by Edward Roe Headley, near Mil- ton; later he removed with his family to near Seneca lake, Yates county. New York, where he followed his calling as a blacksmith and a farmer ; they were Freewill Baptists ; he married Elizabeth Bountain, born in Morris county, New Jersey, August 21, 1775, and they had children : Hiram, Electa, Challion, Moses, Polly, Phebe, Eliza. 3. William, of further mention. 4. Phebe, married Peter Smith, and migrated to Licking county, Ohio, where their descendants still live.
(V) William Headley, son of Robert and Phebe (Baldwin-Gardner ) Headley, was born October 23, 1769, died August 22, 1856. He was a farmer and storekeeper, and lived and died on the old Headley homestead near Milton, New Jersey, being the second of the family to own it. He held various offices of trust and responsibility in the community, and was a man of high standing. He married, October 12, 1797, Sarah, born July 23, 1778, died September 2, 1849, a daughter of Jacob and Abigail (Gould) Strait. They had children: I. Hiram, born December 9, 1798, died unmar - ried, June 20, 1831. 2. Mary, born in Milton, New Jersey, August 10, 1802, died at Fredericktown, Ohio, April 4, 1889; she married, August 3, 1822, John D. Struble, born in Sussex county, New Jersey, October 19. 1792.
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died at Fredericktown, Ohio, May 21, 1875; at the time of his marriage he was a farmer and blacksmith near Branchville, New Jersey, on the pool house farm; they belonged to the Baptist church; children: Rebecca, Hi- ram, Daniel, William, John, Seymour, Oscar, David, Dallas. 3. Cynthia, born May 13, 1804, died January 23, 1876; married, October 12, 1820, Dr. Jacob Roe, who died November 11, 1857; he was a physician who practiced first at Milton, then at Branchville, New Jersey, where his death occurred; they were members of the Presbyterian church ; children: Dr. William Roe, Everard, John, Edward, Harriette. 4. Abbie, born August 12, 1806, died May 12, 1878; married, November 13, 1828, Rev. Gabriel Van Duzer, born near Goshen, Orange county, New Jersey, September 22, 1797, died at Mil- ton, in the same State, June 2, 1873 ; he was a prominent minister of the old school Baptist church, and served as pastor at Milton many years ; he was also a farmer, and lived and died on the farm now owned by William M. Headley ; children : Sarah, Hiram, Harriette, Lester, Lucretia, George. 5. Harriette, born in Milton, March 13, 1808, died in Knox county, Ohio, November 13, 1893 ; married, July 20, 1833, Jacob Merrin, born in Branch- ville, New Jersey, July 25, 1800, died in Knox county, Ohio, September 1, 1888; he was engaged in the mercantile business at Fredericktown with his brother-in-law, John D. Struble, and was also connected with the bank- ing business in that town; he served as a member of the Ohio legislature ; he was a Presbyterian, and his wife was a member of the Baptist church ; children: William, Sarah, Joseph, John, Mary, Harriette, Ann, Jacob, La- grange, Theodore. 6. Helen, born at Milton, February 7, 1810, died at Fredericktown, Ohio, in 1895 ; she married, April 17, 1834, Robert Van Kirk, a hotel proprietor, and a member of the Baptist church ; children: William, Sarah, John, Dolsen, Edward. 7. William D., born in Morris county, New Jersey, May 14, 1812, died in Newark, New Jersey, May 6, 1873; married (first) April 21, 1841, Eleanor Bryant, (second) Kate Millison, a widow ; one child by the second marriage, Elmer. 8. Sarah Ann, born at Milton, December 22, 1813, died at Fredericktown, Ohio, May 6, 1865 ; married, May 16, 1850, Joseph Linley, a statesman and financier of Fredericktown, who was born July 7, 1802, died November 24, 1853, and after their marriage they lived at Mansfield, Ohio; Mrs. Linley was a Baptist ; children : Headley and Charles. 9. David, born in Morris county, New Jersey, May 26, 1816; mar- ried (first) November 28, 1840, Mary G. Mase, (second) -- , and had his place of residence in Michigan, where he died. 10. Elizabeth M., born April 29, 1820, died December 18, 1842. II. Joseph Warren, of further mention.
(VI) Joseph Warren Headley, son of William and Sarah (Strait) Headley, was born February 23, 1822, died July 14, 1890. He was a farmer and owned lands in Jefferson township, Morris county, New Jersey, where all his life was spent. For many years he held various township offices, among them being those of county committeeman, collector and clerk. He also served as a member of the building committee and as a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church at Milton. He married Almeda, born Novem- ber 25, 1843, a daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth (Keepers) Chamberlain, of Milton, whose ancestral history will be found in another sketch. Chil- dren: I. William Maurice, born March 4, 1845 ; a farmer residing on a part of the Robert Headley farm ; he married, January 1, 1879, Annabelle Jen- nings, and has had children: Almeda Caroline, married William W. Washburn; David George, a farmer at Milton ; Charles Jennings, a printer. 2. Mary Ellen, born May 16, 1847 ; married, February 1, 1872, Jolin K. Nor- man, a hotel keeper of Milton, who died January 27, 1882; children :
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Frank Headley, deceased; Blanche Struble, was graduated from the Trenton State Normal School, and is now a teacher ; Walter Bryant. 3. Elizabeth C., born February 21, 1853 ; she married, November 14, 1877, Abraham J. Fretz, born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, February 7, 1849; he attended the various district schools of Warren and Sussex counties, New Jersey, then the Newton Academy, and in 1867 entered the Newton Collegiate In- stitute, to prepare for the Presbyterian ministry ; he taught in Sussex county, New Jersey, later joined the Methodist Episcopal church of Newton, and was licensed to preach in September, 1870; he also studied at Wadsworth College, Ohio, and at the Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsylvania. He filled appointments in the States of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York; he built a residence in Milton in 1880; ordained deacon by John F. Hurst, April 2, 1882, and elder by Bishop Charles H. Fowler, April 1, 1888; he served as township clerk, assessor and justice of the peace in Jefferson township, spent a part of his time in farming, and was the author of a number of family histories ; children: Mary Headley, a music teacher ; Joseph Martin, Ervin Kratz. 4. Edward Roe, of further men- tion. 5. Sarah Ann, was born May 19, 1859; married, December 25, 1888, William L. Schuman, a painter and undertaker, of Sparta, New Jersey ; one child, Helen. 6. Abbie Jane, born September 18, 1863, of Milton, New Jersey. 7. Frank Joseph, born April 3, 1866; a custom house employe and resides in New York City; he is the owner of the old Headley homestead at Milton, New Jersey.
(VII) Edward Roe Headley, son of Joseph Warren and Almeda (Cham- berlain) Headley, was born on the farm on which he is residing at the present time, at Milton, Jefferson township, Morris county, New Jersey, April 20, 1856. He was educated in the public schools and reared on the farm. Upon the completion of his school education he was apprenticed to learn the carpenter's trade, which he followed for some time, then branched out into the building and contracting business. In 1893 he erected a beauti- ful house for himself in Milton, fitted with all modern conveniences, also owns a mill operated by water power, and 179 acres of farm land. He gives his political support to the Democratic party, has served for a quarter of a century as a member of the board of education, and for a considerable length of time as a justice of the peace.
Mr. Headley married, October 12, 1880, Esther, a daughter of Adam and Eliza (Lum) Davenport. Adam Davenport was born January 29, 1825, died in 1909. He married Eliza Lum, born February 6, 1823, died in 1899, and they had children: Irene, now the widow of Charles Spargo; Esther, mentioned above ; Ella, married John Strawn, of California ; Bertha, married Joseph Jenkins, of Dover, New Jersey; Thomas Enos, of Tucson, Arizona ; two sons who died young. The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Headley were Enos and Fannie (Keepers) Davenport, the latter born in 1799. The ma- ternal grandparents of Mrs. Headley were : Squire and Frances (Norman) Lum, the former born in 1777, the latter born June 6, 1800, died in March, 1887. Mr. and Mrs. Headley have had children: I. Adam Davenport, born November 23, 1882; a carpenter and builder ; he married Nellie Frederick, and has: Helen, Robert, Dean, Donald. 2. Joseph Warren, born March 18, 1884; a printer and editor ; he married Evangie Gilbatt. 3. Squire Lum, born February 25, 1887. 4. Mary Vida, born September 2, 1889; married E. C. Hagan, a general merchant of Milton. 5 and 6. Esther Demp- sey and Louisa, born May 4, 1893.
It.C. Zapohunt, In. D.
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HARVEY CLINTON UPCHURCH, M. D.
A resident of Morris county since 1896, Dr. Upchurch has a position hardly second to none among the able and successful physicians and sur- geons of this section of the state. His home is in Succasunna, and his prac- tice extends over a large tributary territory.
A. southerner by birth and family, Harvey Clinton Upchurch was trained for his profession in the north, being a graduate of Columbia Uni- versity Medical Department with the class of 1893. He was born at Raleigh, North Carolina, November 1, 1869, a son of William G., and Eleanor (Upchurch) Upchurch, both father and mother having the same family name. The father was a cotton manufacturer at Raleigh. The mother is now living with a daughter in Jacksonville, Florida. The death of the senior Upchurch occurred in October, 1895, when he was fifty-seven years of age. Both parents were natives of Raleigh, North Carolina, and the Upchurch family is an old and prominent one in that state. The maternal grand- parents were William Clinton and Adaline (Royster) Upchurch. The Royster family has likewise for many generations been prominent in North Carolina. The maternal grandfather died at the age of ninety-nine years. The paternal grandparents were William and Clara Upchurch. The Up- church family first came to America from the North of Ireland. To Wil- liam G. Upchurch and wife were born seven children, three sons and four daughters, namely: Minnie, wife of Samuel B. Norris, of Jacksonville, Florida; Dr. Harvey C., of whom further; Delmer D., cashier in the Atlantic National Bank of Jacksonville, Florida, and having begun the banking business in Raleigh, North Carolina, in which state he married a Miss Dunn; Belle Williamson, wife of J. J. Upchurch, a prominent lumber merchant and manufacturer at Jacksonville, Florida, the firm being known as the Upchurch Lumber Company; Eulah Gartrelle, wife of George Pol- lard, also connected with the Upchurch Lumber Company of Florida; Wil- liam Garland, married a Miss Hawkins; Sadie Rowena, wife of Harry Hol- brook, who is with the Swift Packing Company at Roanoke, Virginia.
Dr. Upchurch in his native state attended first the private schools and then the Bingham Military Academy, where he graduated, and finished his course at Wake Forest College in North Carolina in 1889. Then entering the medical department of Columbia University at New York City, he was graduated M. D. in June, 1893 .. Dr. Upchurch is also a graduate of the Columbus Hospital of New York City, and the Sloane Hospital. He has passed the medical examinations before the State Boards of New York, New Jersey and North Carolina. After a brief practice in New York, his fath- er's illness caused him to return to North Carolina, where he remained for a short time and established a practice. After his father's death, he came north and located at Succasunna in October, 1896. Dr. Upchurch has men- bership in the Morris County Medical Society, the Sloane Hospital Alumni Association, and fraternally is affiliated with the Masonic Order, the Benev- olent and Protective Order of Elks at Dover, and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. Religiously he was reared in the Baptist church.
In April, 1896, Dr. Upchurch married Anna Thomason, of Brook- lyn, daughter of George and Elizabeth Thomason.
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CHARLES J. FOX
Charles J. Fox is descended, as is the case with so many of the citizens of the United States today, from two very different stocks, both of which, however, are represented here in very large numbers and have contributed their peculiar virtues to the new race in process of formation in this country. Indeed it seems probable that it is in the fusing of such healthy races, which takes place here on a scale impossible in any other part of the world, that the wellnigh unparalleled vigor and vitality of the people of the United States has its origin, a thought which augurs well for the coming American race just mentioned.
Edward Fox, father of Charles J. Fox, was born in Germany, in 1833, and married Mary Ann Clark, a native of county Cork, Ireland, where she was born in the same year as her husband. Edward Fox came to the United States together with three brothers, when he was but nineteen years of age. He made a short visit to Buffalo, New York, and there two of his brothers remained, and finally died. Edward and the third brother finally located in Rockaway, Morris county, New Jersey. There was also a sister, Pauline Fox, who accompanied her brothers to this country, married a Mr. Schurr. of Newark, and later died in that city. The two brothers who had settled in Rockaway engaged in the butcher business. Edward working for C. C. DeHart, a prominent butcher of that place. Later, however, the two brothers, by dint of hard work and frugality, saved up a sufficient capital to begin in the same line on their own account, with the firm name of Fox Brothers, an enterprise which met with instant and great success. At the time of their arrival in this country the brothers had no capital, and it is doubly creditable to them that they were able to collect a sufficiency to engage in business for themselves, and that they should have so well con- ducted this business when once embarked. Edward Fox was throughout his life a most energetic man, active in all that he undertook, and always working for its advancement. From the time that he entered the employ of C. C. DeHart, of Rockaway, up to the time of his death, he was never idle. The result of this untiring energy, combined with an alert mind and quick grasp of the practical situation, was that he became a man of large substance in his community and the owner of much valuable property. He owned the farm upon which Charles J. Fox, of this sketch, now resides, as well as much real estate in Rockaway. His death occurred on June 1, 1896, at the age of sixty years. He was a Democrat in politics and took an active part in the local councils of his party, and served for a number of years as a township councilman. His religious affiliations were with the Roman Cath- olic Church, and he attended St. Cecilia's Church of that denomination in Rockaway. Mr. Fox Sr. married Mary Ann Clark, already mentioned. While still a young girl, she had come from the village of Churchtown, county Cork, Ireland, the place of her birth, in company with a brother, to the United States. Settling in Rockaway, New Jersey, she there met Mr. Fox, and eventually their marriage was celebrated in that place. Mrs. Fox survived her husband for a number of years, her death finally occur- ring in the year 1908, when she was seventy-five years of age. To Mr. and Mrs. Edward Fox were born six children, as follows: Charles J., of whom further; Edward J., now a resident of Jersey City, New Jersey, where he conducts business as a commission merchant in the great stock yards of the place, dealing extensively in live stock; William H., a resident of Paterson, New Jersey, where he is employed as a salesman by Schwartzchild & Sulz- berger ; Caroline, now Mrs. William J. Looney, of Morristown, New Jer-
FOX
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sey, where her husband conducts a plumbing business; Francis E., a col- lector and salesman for the Ballantine people of Newark, New Jersey ; Agnes, deceased, who became the wife of Joseph Yost Jr.
Charles J. Fox, the eldest child of Edward and Mary Ann (Clark) Fox, was born in 1860, in Rockaway, Denville township, Morris county, New Jersey. He received his education at the local schools, which he attended until seventeen years of age, when, having completed his studies, he entered the employ of his father and worked in the elder man's butcher establishment for a number of years. The year 1884 witnessed the election of Grover Cleveland as president of the United States, and after taking office in 1885, he appointed Mr. Fox postmaster at Rockaway, a position he held for four years. After the return to power of the Republican party, Mr. Fox returned to private life and took up for a time the butcher business. He added to this farming and the ice business and the two latter have gradually absorbed more and more of his time, so that he has now completely given up his trade in meat. Upon his father's death in 1896, he inherited from him the valuable farm of ninety acres, situated near Rockaway, which he now operates in the most modern and scientific man- ner, and which yields to his efforts a most lucrative return. Upon this property is situated also the ice pond from which Mr. Fox cuts the ice which he uses in his trade in that commodity, and his attractive home. He is a life-long resident of Morris county and stands high in the estimation of his fellow citizens, having an enviable reputation as a business man of capacity and unimpeachable integrity. He is extremely active in the conduct of his business, in which he takes after his father, but in spite of the energy and time he gives in this direction, he has plenty to spare for many activities of a different sort in connection with the life of the community of which he is a member. He is not one of those who narrows himself by a selfish consid- eration of his personal interests which will brook the entrance of no other matter into his mind. On the contrary he has surely learned the wisdom of altruism which shows us that happiness consists in broadening our inter- ests until they include all about us. Especially does he take a keen inter- est in matters political, and is an intelligent observer of the great questions and issues which confront the nation in this day of vast social movements. In local politics also, he is ever on the alert, and is a prominent figure in the councils of the Democratic party in Morris county, of which he is an ardent member. It was the effective work which he did in the Cleveland cam- paign which drew the attention of the President to him, and to-day he is still a worker. A devoted admirer of President Wilson, he is following with the greatest interest that statesman, in the full conviction that he is on the right track towards the solution of our social questions. Besides the office of postmaster which he held during the first term of President Cleve- land, Mr. Fox has been elected to office in his home community a number of times. He has held for several years a membership in the Rockaway council, and also on the Denville township commission. His conduct in these offices has been all that could be desired, and he has given the greatest satisfaction to his constituency by his handling of the community's affairs in a manner so able and disinterested.
Mr. Fox married, March 22, 1893, Minnie J. Kiepe, a native of Buf- falo, New York, where she was born November 25, 1864, a daughter of William and Katherine (Von Kennel) Kiepe, of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Fox are the parents of two sons, as follows: Karl Edward, who was edit- cated in the public schools of Rockaway, and is now a machinist in the
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employ of M. Hoogland Sons Company, of Rockaway, New Jersey; Arthur W., a student in the Rockaway High School.
Mr. Fox is a member of the Roman Catholic church, as his forebears have always been, attending the Church of St. Cecilia of Rockaway, and is active in the work connected therewith, supporting in a material way its many benevolences. Mrs. Fox and their children are members of the Presbyterian church.
JAMES E. PURCELL
In James E. Purcell, Mount Arlington, New Jersey, possesses a citizen of the best type, a type of which the Irish stock has produced so many ex- amples throughout the country, a type skilled in the earliest of human oc- cupations, save hunting and fishing, the occupation upon which the whole of civilized industry rests as a pyramid upon its base. Mr. Purcell possesses the characteristic qualities of the man whose work is to make the earth fruitful, directness, simplicity and strength, qualities from which our modern complexities have too far removed us, but which by a primitive necessity, still win their way to recognition through the most foreign and even an- tagonistic environment.
His parents were both natives of Ireland, the father, James Purcell, hav- ing been born there in 1834, and the mother, Mary (Degnan) Purcell, in 1838. They were both immigrants to America in early youth, Miss Degnan coming here with her parents and settling in New York City, while Mr. Purcell went to Orange, Essex county, New Jersey. The two were early married, and Mr. Purcell, who was a gardener by vocation, removed to Succasunna, Morris county, New Jersey, where he died in 1901, aged sixty- seven years. His widow is still living in Dover, Morris county, and is now seventy-five years of age. To them were born nine children as follows : Mary, now Mrs. John H. Smith, of New York City; Susan, now Mrs. Thomas Ryan, of Burlington, Vermont; James E., of whom further; Wil- liam F., married Margaret O'Connor, of Brooklyn, New York, and is now a machinist employed in Morristown, New Jersey; Isabella, now Mrs. John O'Connor, of Dover, New Jersey, whose husband is engaged in the plumbing business there; Ellen Serena, deceased; Isabella, deceased ; Fred- erick John, deceased ; John, deceased.
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