USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume II > Part 52
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Marcus M. Crane obtained his entire education in the common schools of Morris county, and upon leaving them went to California where he remained four years engaged in the fruit business. He then returned to Boonton and started in the general house furnishing business in his present location, where he will have been forty-four years, February 20, 1914. His establishment now carries the largest assortment of house furnishing goods in Morris county. Mr. Crane is also a director of the Farmers and Merchants Bank; a stockholder in the American Trust Company of Morristown, the New Jersey Fire Insurance Company, C. H. Leonard & Company and Francis H. Leggett of New York City.
Mr. Crane married Mary F. Morrell, daughter of William and Catherine (Van Ness) Morrell, of Little Falls, New Jersey. Miss Morrell was an only child save for a half-brother, William Van Ness. To Mr. and Mrs. Crane have been born three children: Bertha, wife of Ford Kitchel; Eva, deceased ; Marcus Ward Crane. The union of Mr. Kitchel and Miss Crane has been blessed with six children as follows: Gladys Crane, Frances Genevieve, Ford Jr., Marguerite, Allison and Woodrow Wilson. Mr. and Mrs. Crane are members of the Reformed church, and Mr. Crane served for many years as member of consistory. Mr. Crane is a Democrat in politics but has never sought office.
HENRY BLOWERS
Among the substantial and highly respected farmers of Montville, Mor- ris county, New Jersey, none is more deserving of honorable mention in a work of this character than Henry Blowers. He is a descendant of one of the old families of the county, who have been connected with agricultural interests for generations.
His father, William B. Blowers, was born on the Blowers homestead, Montville, and at an early age was obliged to abandon farming as the delicate state of his health did not permit strenuous work of any kind. He was appointed collector and overseer of the poor, and constable, and held these offices until his death at the age of forty-three years. He mar- ried May Ann Van Ness, a descendant of another old family of the State, and had children: Henry, whose name heads this sketch; Adeline, who married Aaron Baldwin.
Henry Blowers was born October 5, 1843, on the farm on which he is located at the present time, adjoining the Blowers homestead. He ac- quired his education in the public schools of Montville, and upon its com- pletion engaged in farming with which he has been identified up to the present time. His farm is forty-three acres in extent, and is kept in a fine state of cultivation. He is a man of wide experience, an excellent manager, and possesses a high degree of executive ability. He is a staunch sup- porter of the Republican party, and is now holding the office of com-
Herman Brugel
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missioner of appeals. He married Maria D., daughter of Charles A. and Elizabeth (Doremus) Righter, both representatives of old families of the State. The grandfather of Mrs. Blowers was in active service during the War of 1812. Children : William R., married Pauline Geiger, of Erie, Pennsylvania ; Kitty B., married Benjamin Heller, and has one son, Walter.
HERMAN BRUGEL
While enterprising business men usually reach the same goal, that of success, there are different conditions in the life of all; conditions that call for individual effort and for certain strong traits of character to meet the obstacles which are sure to come and to overcome them. It is not possible to lay down any fixed rule for the achievement of success. - As no twy individuals are the same, so must the methods vary to be in harmony with surrounding conditions. Success is a matter of individual merit, and in this respect Herman Brugel, of Montville, Morris county, New Jersey, deserves especial merit. His father, John Brugel, was a native of Germany, and emigrated to the United States with his family, when he was forty years of age. He settled in Jersey City, New Jersey, and found em- ployment as a laborer, having been a farmer in his native land. He died at the age of sixty-eight years. He married Catherine Smith, and had children : Martin, Mary, Herman.
Herman Brugel was born in Germany, and was sixteen years of age when he came to this country with his parents. He was educated in Ger- many, and upon his arrival here he engaged in the carpentry business in which he was so successful that he later became a contractor. He followed this line of industry very successfully for a period of fifteen years, re- moving to Montville in 1912, where he engaged in the poultry raising business. His farm is known as the Twentieth-Century Poultry Farm, and he makes a specialty of White Leghorns. He has now about 1,300 of these, and has two men working for him steadily. He has all sorts of improvements on his farm in order to keep his stock in prime condition. Mr. Brugel watches the market closely, and his stock is increased or di- minished as the times demand. He studies the popular taste, and is noted for the moderation of his charges, his fair dealing and his courteous treat- ment of his customers. He is Independent in political matters, and a mem- ber of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Brugel married Mada D. Petry and had: Hermine Louisa, Hilda Lillian, Gertrude and Marie, deceased.
MILTON P. VAN DUYNE
The family of which Milton P. Van Duyne, of Montville, Morris county, New Jersey, is a representative, had its origin in Holland, whence Abra- ham Van Duyne, the American progenitor, emigrated. He founded a home- stead in Morris county, New Jersey, on which his son, Cornelius, was born about 1795, died in 1837.
(II) Cornelius Van Duyne married and had children: Abra- ham C., of further mention ; Catherine, married Silas H. Coleman, of Wis- consin ; Rachel, married Theodore A. Peer.
(III) Abraham C. Van Duyne, son of Cornelius Van Duyne, was born on the homestead in 1814, died in 1895. He became prominent in the public affairs of the community, was a member of the county board of freeholders for several years, served one term in the house of representatives in the
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interests of the Republican party, and was for a long time a member and elder of the Montville Reformed Church. He married Hetty M., daughter of Benjamin Crane, and they had : Martha N., married James Collerd, of Montville ; Lucinda, married Daniel M. Davenport, of East Orange; John Wilson.
(IV) John Wilson Van Duyne, son of Abraham C. and Hetty M. (Crane) Van Duyne, was born on the homestead, June 12, 1844. With the exception of four years spent in carpentering, he has always been engaged in farming. He is a staunch Republican, and served six years as assessor of the township. He married (first) Abbie R. Husk, daughter of Abra- ham Husk, of Essex county, New Jersey. She died in 1878. He married (second) Ada M., daughter of Walter D. and Sarah (Van Duyne) Jacobus, of Montville. Children by first marriage: Milton P., whose name is at the head of this sketch; Genevieve, deceased; J. Elmer. Children of second marriage : Mary Ella, Etta J., Amy Annette.
(V) Milton P. Van Duyne, son of John Wilson Van Duyne, was born on the Van Duyne homestead in 1869. After acquiring a substantial and practical education in the public schools near his home, he commenced his active life work as a farmer. He has been identified with this calling con- tinuously and successfully, and in addition to this operates a saw mill with a very satisfactory amount of success. He is enterprising and progressive in his methods, and has won the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens by his broad-minded views on all subjects. Up to the present time he has never held public office, but he gives his active support to the Republican party. Mr. Van Duyne married Ida Lodter, and has had children: Harvey W., Bertram H., Helen R., Harold A., Edith M., Reta M., Cora.
FRANK VAN DUYNE
The progressive faculty possessed by some men stands as one of their dominating characteristics and gives to them a distinct advantage in attaining prestige in any line to which they may confine their efforts. Frank Van Duyne, of Montville, Morris county, New Jersey, is a man of this caliber, as the success which has attended his farming operations testifies. The family from which he is descended is an old one and came to this country from Holland.
Nicholas Van Duyne, his father, was born on the homestead on which the family has lived for some generations, and died in Athenia, Passaic county, New Jersey, at the age of seventy years. He was engaged in farming all his life. He married Rachael Van Ness, and had three sons and two daughters.
Frank Van Duyne was born on the farm he is now occupying, in 1862, and was educated in the public schools of Montville. Even while attending school he assisted his father in the cultivation of the farm, and took up this as a regular occupation upon the completion of his education. He has paid considerable attention to dairy farming, which he has made very profi- table, and is otherwise engaged in general truck farming. He takes pride in sending to the market vegetables and fruits of the finest quality, and in consequence has no lack of patronage. In political opinion Mr. Van Duyne is a staunch Republican. Mr. Van Duyne married Georgiana Bush, and has had children : Willard, married Jennie Vreeland; Welden ; Marguerite.
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Elboong
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G. M. ROOME
G. M. Roome, engaged in the real estate business at Lincoln Park, Mor- ris county, New Jersey, is one of the representative men of the town, and has probably done more than any other man to advance the interests of this particular community.
The grandfather of G. M. Roome was Benjamin Roome, a native of Morris county, New Jersey, who spent his life there. He died at Butler in his ninety-sixth year. He spent his life at surveying and civil engineer- ing and did most of this line of work done at that time in this and adjoining counties. He served as assessor of Pequannock township many years; a Republican in politics. He was one of the consistory of the Reformed church for many years. He was a man whose judgment was regarded as that of sound character and was held in the highest esteem by his acquaint- ances. He married Ann Berry.
Jacob B. Roome, the father of G. M. Roome, was born in Butler, Mor- ris county, New Jersey, where he was a farmer. The last fifty years of his life were spent in this section, where he died at the age of eighty-three years. He married Sophia Mandeville, also a native of Morris county, who died at the age of seventy years. They had children: G. M .; a child, who died in infancy ; Emily, married John Van Riper.
G. M. Roome was born in Lincoln Park, Morris county, New Jersey, October 28, 1847. He received his preparatory education in the public schools of his township. He then attended the Academy at Germantown, and upon leaving this institution spent one year in the west. The greater part of his life has been spent in farming, at first in association with his father, and upon the death of the latter, independently. For many years he has been greatly interested in developing Lincoln Park and its vicinity, and has been very successful in his efforts. He conducts his real estate busi- ness along the most up-to-date manner, and combines the insurance busi- ness with it. Mr. Roome has been weather statistician and crop reporter for this section for twenty-four years for the United States government. He is also the owner of a number of fine houses. In political matters he is a Republican, has served several terms as a member of the township com- mittee and the school board, and is now a justice of the peace and a com. missioner of deeds. He is an attendant of the Dutch Reformed church and member of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics.
Mr. Roome married Eletta, daughter of P. I. Cook, of Montville, who is a prominent man of that section. Children : Edward G., married Emma Radcliff; Emma, twin of Edward G., married Oscar Anderson ; Elmer E., a farmer, married Irene Woodruff; Oliver P., a jeweler of Newark, married Aritha Cliff.
WILBERFORCE COLLERD
The life of Wilberforce Collerd, of Montville, Morris county, New Jersey, although quiet and unobtrusive, yet contains many lessons that are worthy of emulation. He has for years been numbered among the trust- worthy and progressive farmers of the township, and has won the respect and esteem of all with whom he has had dealings.
James Collerd, his father, was born in Morris county, New Jersey, and died there at the age of eighty years. The Collerd family is one of the oldest in this section of the county. Mr. Collerd married Martha N. Van Duyne and had six children.
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Wilberforce Collerd was born on the Van Duyne homestead in 1856, and was educated in the public schools of his native township. At an early age he became identified with agricultural pursuits, working on his grand- father's farm until 1894, when he purchased his present farm of forty acres, on which he has resided since that time. He devotes his attention to general farming, and is very systematic and up-to-date in his methods. His fields are well laid out, and the location of the various crops is duly con- sidered in order to place them to the best advantage. He is a member of the Reformed church of Montville, and politically is a Democrat. His fraternal affiliation is with the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. Mr. Collerd married Hettie Duyre, and has had children: Albert, mar- ried Sadie Dodd; Sadie, Bertha.
GEORGE ECCLESTON
The amount of activity in agricultural circles indicates the prosperity of a section, the character of its inhabitants and the possibilities of its future growth and greatness. The thriving township of Montville, Morris county, New Jersey, has a number of finely cultivated farms, conducted by men of enterprise, energy and marked ability, and to this class belongs George Eccleston, of Towaco, who makes a specialty of peach culture.
His father was Robert Eccleston, whose entire life was spent in Ireland, where he nobly discharged his duties as a police officer. His death oc- curred at the age of thirty-six years. He married Margaret McGrail, who after his death came to the United States with her four young children, and died in this country at the age of seventy-one years.
George Eccleston was born in Ireland about fifty years ago, and was a very young child when he came to this country with his mother, so that he is in everything except the actual fact of birth a true American, and all his interests have been identified with those of the land of his adoption. His mother having located in Morris county, New Jersey, young George attended the public schools of that county, and acquired a practical education there. For a number of years he followed a variety of occupations, among them being brass finishing and carpentry, and about twenty years ago decided that the life of a farmer was the one most congenial. He accordingly pur- chased his present farm of eighty acres, and this venture has been a very successful one. While, to a certain extent, he does general farming, he makes a specialty of peach culture, has an orchard of about 2,000 trees, which is the largest of the kind in the county. He has picked as many as 500 baskets of this fruit in a single day, and the care with which it is packed and handled, and the excellent quality of his fruit, ensures it a ready sale in the markets. He has made many improvements on his property, and the value of it has greatly increased since it came into his possession. While he takes a deep interest in whatever concerns the wel- fare of the community, the demands of his occupation are too numerous to admit of his holding public office, but he gives his support to the Re- publican party. He and the various members of his family attend the Re- formed church. Mr. Eccleston married Carrie J. Crane, a descendant of one of the old families of the county, and they have had children: Robert ; Loretta and Ralph, deceased.
WILLIAM IMLA POWERS
William Imla Powers, one of the most prominent citizens of Boonton, Morris county, New Jersey, ex-mayor of the city and ex-freeholder of the
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county, comes of a family for many years identified with the western part of New Jersey and which from long residence has become one with its life and traditions. His father was Imla Powers, who for many years dwelt in the region about Hackettstown, New Jersey, a man of strong character and prominent in his neighborhood, a trader in business, whose death occur- red November 23, 1845, in his home at Hackettstown, when his son, Wil- liam Imla Powers, was but eighteen months of age. Imla Powers was married January 24, 1824, to Miss Elizabeth Vanatta, a native of Warren county, New Jersey, where she was born June 24, 1803, daughter of Mr. Vanatta, of that place. Mrs. Imla Powers survived her husband until December 6, 1864, when her death also occurred. Mr. and Mrs. Imla Powers were the parents of seven children: Margaret, born September, 1828, died in 1844; Matilda, born March 8, 1829, deceased, became the wife of Rosenberg Vanatta ; Mary Jane, deceased, born April II, 1833, and became Mrs. Amos Wolverton; Frances, born August 3, 1837, now Mrs. Charles Gibson, a resident of Washington, New Jersey; Louis, born June 20, 1839, now a resident of Newark, New Jersey; Archibald A., born May 5, 1842, now a resident of Kansas City, Kansas; William Imla, the subject of this sketch ; and James, born February 5, 1846.
William Imla Powers, sixth child of Imla and Elizabeth (Vanatta) Powers, was born May 26, 1844, near the town of Hackettstown, Warren county, New Jersey. His father died when he was eighteen months old, and the child grew up in the place of his birth, attending the local schools, his bright alert mind gaining for him an excellent education. After com- pleting his studies at these institutions he secured work on a farm, and con- tinued so employed until he was eighteen years of age. In 1862, when still in his eighteenth year, Mr. Powers enlisted in Company B, Thirty-first Regiment New Jersey Volunteer Infantry. He served for some time in the Union army, and then returned to New Jersey, and entered the service of the Morris canal, where he has remained up to the present time. This was in 1863, and by 1879 he was foreman and engineer of a dredging machine. In April of the same year he removed to Boonton, Morris county, and there made his home. He served for a number of years as a supervisor, and in 1888, was appointed superintendent of the canal, a position which he retains to this day. In point of service. Mr. Powers is the oldest superin- tendent in the employ of the Lehigh Railroad. Mr. Powers is a very active man and a prominent figure in the community which counts him as a mem- ber. He is one whose interests and sympathies are of a very broad char- acter, and he is a keen observer of the conduct of public affairs, and has more than once demonstrated his ability to direct their course intelligently. He is a Republican in politics, and his voice is influential in the local councils of his party. He has served his fellow citizens in a number of important public offices, and is very popular among the rank and file of voters. Among the offices he has held are a membership in the common council, the presi- dency of the same council, and for eleven years membership on the board of education. Three times has he been elected mayor of Boonton, and for two years was a member of the board of freeholders of Morris county. At present he is one of the sewerage board of Boonton. It is not merely in politics however, that Mr. Powers is active. He is a prominent figure in the social life of Boonton, and a well known fraternity man. He ranks very high in the Masonic order, in which he is a member of Mansfield Lodge, No. 36, F. and A. M .; Chapter, No. 12, R. A. M .; Washington Council, No. 7, R. and S. M .; De Molay Commandery, No. 6, K. T., Washington, New Jersey ; and Mecca Temple, Mystic Shrine, New York City.
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William Imla Powers was married in February, 1868, to Miss Elizabeth W. Allen, a native of Morris county, where she was born November 12, 1848, daughter of Joseph King and Euphemia (Bennett) Allen, of that place. To Mr. and Mrs. Powers has been born one child, a daughter, Miss Florence E. Powers, who resides at home with her parents.
Through the many years during which he has been a resident of Boonton, Mr. Powers has gradually won for himself a place in the respect and affec- tion of his fellow citizens. Public-spirited and of unusually high ideals, he has ever been found on the side of the city's development and reform, and has given generously of both time and effort to all schemes and plans for its advancement which met with approval by his clear and generous judgment. He is a man of substance, and owns considerable valuable property in Boonton, including his attractive residence, bearing about it the unmis- takable evidences of culture and refinement, and situated at No. 121 Myrtle avenue. Mr. Powers personality is an extremely attractive one. Tall and straight, he is unusually well preserved for his years, and of a splendid address and bearing which cannot fail to attract attention. He is a man of excellent education and well informed in that happy manner which enables a man to make quick and easy use of his knowledge, and, like his home bears about him the marks of culture and a cosmopolitan standpoint. He is devotedly fond of books and possesses a fine library of his own housed in a special room at his home. His many good qualities have done more than secure him an enviable reputation in the community, or even than give him the admiration and respect of his fellow citizens, they have done for him what is well nigh the final test of virtue and good character, they have won him a host of devoted friends. Mr. Powers is a member of the Presbyterian church, as are his wife and daughter likewise. He has served for a con- siderable time on the board of trustees of the Presbyterian church of Boon- ton. Here as elsewhere, Mr. Powers is active and gives generously of his time and effort to the work of the church and supports materially the many benevolences in connection therewith.
CHARLES L. GRUBB
Charles L. Grubb is owner and editor of the Boonton Times, and has been identified with local journalism in that city since 1895. The dis- semination of news, the discussion of public questions and the promotion of the general welfare of his community through the columns of his paper constitute life's object with him as a private citizen. In addition to his interest in journalism, Mr. Grubb is a director in the Farmers and Merchants Bank at Boonton, treasurer of the Maxfield Hook and Ladder Company, and collector of the Firemen's Relief Association.
A native son of Boonton, New Jersey, Charles L. Grubb was born October 14, 1863, a son of William and Emily F. (Tibbals) Grubb, both of whom are now deceased. The father was born in Dundee, Scotland, and came to Boonton at the age of twelve years. After reaching manhood he became an iron worker and eventually engaged in the manufacture of nails as a member of the firm of Patterson, Anthony & Grubb. He pros- pered in his business and was ever a loyal and public-spirited citizen. He served as one of the first councilmen of the town of Boonton. His demise occurred in 1896, and his wife passed away in 1912. They were the parents of William R., proprietor of the Daily News, at Bangor, Pennsylvania ; George W., engaged in commercial business at Boonton; Charles L., the
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immediate subject of this review; and Francis C., a resident of Newark, employed in the home office of the Prudential Insurance Company.
In the common schools of Boonton, Charles L. Grubb acquired his early educational training. On leaving school he became an apprentice at the trade of printer, working for a time in Boonton and later going to Bangor, Pennsylvania, where he finished his trade under the instruction of his brother, William R., owner of the Bangor Daily News. In 1893 Mr. Grubb located at Sayville, Long Island, where he conducted the Sayville News for one year, after which he located in the city of Philadelphia, and was there engaged in the printing business for one year. He returned to Boonton in 1895 and organized the Boonton Times, a weekly publication that now boasts a circulation of 1,100. This paper is well known throughout Morris county, and is read extensively by the citizens of Boonton. The. Times is occupying quarters in a new building, erected by its proprietor in 19II, at the corner of Main and Cornelia streets, in one of the best business portions of the town. The building is an attractive one, built of brick and
stucco. The first floor is occupied by the Times, and the Farmers & Merchants Bank, the second and third floors, which have all modern im- provements, being used as a residence by the editor and his family. Mr. Grubb has money invested in the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Boonton, and is a member of the directorate of that substantial monetary institution, and also a stockholder in the Boonton National Bank. He is a Republican in his political convictions, and for three years he served as supervisor of bills in the New Jersey senate. He is treasurer of the Maxfield Hook and Ladder Company, and was a member of the Boonton Club during its ex- istence. His fraternal affiliations are with the Junior Order of United American Mechanics and the Royal Arcanum. He and his wife are mem- bers of the First Presbyterian Church at Boonton. September 12, 1889, Mr. Grubb married Miss Clara L. Kunstman, of Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Grubb is a daughter of William and Sabina Kunstman, deceased, the former of whom was for many years a prominent contractor at Nazareth.
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