USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume II > Part 60
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Mr. Salmon married, December 31, 1889, Nellis Shaw, a native of Boon- ton, daughter of Martin S. and Anne L. (Service) Shaw, who were the parents of two other daughters : Ada B., deceased, was the wife of Earl C. Greenman ; and Grace B., wife of Charles W. Hawk. Mr. Shaw was an iron manufacturer of Boonton during the early part of his active career, and later was associated with the Inman Line, now known as the American Steamship Company. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Salmon: Earl Byron and Ada Bartley.
WILLIAM EUGENE DAY
William Eugene Day is descended from George Day, one of the early settlers of the colony of New Jersey, and from Artemas Day, who was a
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justice of peace of Morris county in 1775, and who was among the first to offer his services to the Continental Army and the Revolutionary cause. He was one of the New Jersey minute-men, and was in the skirmish, the shots of which "were heard around the world."
The grandfather of Mr. Day was Patrick Henry Day, named for the great Virginian, who was born in Mendham, Morris county. He lived in the county all of his life and there died in 1885, aged sixty-six years. He was a blacksmith and farmer, and by combining the two vocations succeeded in accumulating a considerable estate. He was the father of ten children, of whom Laura, William, Adela and Maurice live in Morris county ; a son, Henry, makes his home in Jersey City, New Jersey. Patrick Henry Day was pre-eminently the type of man who has made the United States one of the most respected of the great nations ; he was a home loving, law abiding citizen.
Ephraim S. Day, son of the foregoing, was born in Mendham, September 4, 1845, and died November 11, 1912, in Morristown. He was one of the substantial men of the county, both liked and respected by those who knew him. He was a live stock dealer and a public auctioneer, doing well in both vocations. He was a Republican, casting his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, and consistently voting the straight ticket thereafter. He was appointed census taker by the United States government, and also held the position of constable several years. He married Miss Laura A. Carroll, born in Centre Grove, Morris county, June 29, 1844, died September 3, 1910. She came from an old and long established family of New Jersey, and was distantly connected with the Carroll family of Maryland. Their children were : Charles H., born March 10, 1869, in business at Mend- Jam ; William Eugene ; Emily C., now Mrs. James C. Menagh; Bessie A., now Mrs. J. Henry Blagure, of East Orange, New Jersey.
William Eugene Day was born April 29, 1871, in Brookside, Morris county, New Jersey, died September 25, 1913, at Morristown. He was educated in the public schools of Brookside. In 1888, when seventeen years old, he left his birthplace and went to Mendham, where he was engaged as clerk in the general merchandise store of Phoenix & Sandford, remain ing with them fifteen months. He secured a position with the Lehigh Valley Railway as clerk, and was transferred to New York City. In 1890 he went to Morristown, where he secured a position as salesman with Mr. Phillips. He was next engaged by George Vorhees and remained with him three years. At the end of which time the firm of Phillips & Day was formed, the high commercial rating proving the business foresight of such a move. In politics Mr. Day followed his grandfather and father, being a staunch Republican, and he never asked for nor held any political office. He was a member of the Royal Arcanum and the Knights of Pythias, standing high in both orders. He and his wife were members of the First Presbyterian Church of Morristown. He married, May 22, 1895, Miss Mary L. Frost, born in Mendham, a daughter of Thomas B. and Maria (Smith) Frost, of Mendham. Mr. Frost has moved with his family to Morristown, where he has established himself in the automobile and hack business. The Frosts are also of Colonial and Revolutionary stock, the family having been planted in New Jersey about 1736. Mr. and Mrs. Day had one child, William Eugene Day Jr., born March 28, 1901.
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WILLIAM H. TONKING
Prominent among the representative business men of Dover is William H. Tonking, a man of unquestioned business ability, of integrity of char- acter, and possessing in large degree the characteristics so essential to success in life, namely, perseverance, industry and enterprise. He is now serving as superintendent of the Lime Stone Quarries of B. Nicol & Company, real estate agent of the New Jersey Zinc Company at Franklin, New Jersey, vice-president and secretary of the James Couper Lord Estate Company of Morris County, and supervisor of the real estate in New Jersey of the Lackawanna Steel Company of Buffalo, New York, and the Chester Securi- ties Company of New Jersey.
He was born in Cornwall, England, January 12, 1861, son of William and Elizabeth (Moyse) Tonking, who emigrated to the United States about the year 1864, locating in the town of Cold Spring, on the Hudson river, where he served as mine superintendent; in 1875 they removed to Port Oram, New Jersey, and in that town his death occurred. They were Metho- dists in religion. They were the parents of six children: James B .; Wil- liam H., of whom further : Nellie, wife of Walter Henry ; John ; Josephine, wife of D. R. Hummer ; Charles.
William H. Tonking attended the public schools of Cold Spring, New York, and Port Oram and Hackettstown, New Jersey, obtaining a practical education. In 1876 he entered the employ of the Thomas Iron Company at Port Oram, New Jersey, continuing with them until 1881, when he was employed by the estate of James Couper Lord in the capacity of bookkeeper in the office, continuing until August, 1895, when he was appointed assistant general manager and later superintendent of all their mines, with headquar- ters at Port Oram, a position requiring the utmost skill and rare judgment, both of which were in evidence in his conduct of affairs. In addition to the important positions named above, Mr. Tonking is secretary of the board of health of Dover, superintendent of Memorial Presbyterian Sunday school ; a member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, in which con- nection he is brought prominently into public notice; and a member of Acacia Lodge, No. 20, A. F. and A. M., of Dover. He is a Republican in politics, but has never sought or held public office, and he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church. He was formerly a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, serving in the pulpit in the absence of the regular pastor, and for fourteen years served as superintendent of the Sun- day school connected therewith, this having been the second largest in the county.
Mr. Tonking married, July, 1881, Clara A. Hulshizer, a native 01 Warren county, New Jersey, daughter of Dr. Henry and Adelaide ( Wil- drick) Hulshizer, natives of New Jersey, the former named deceased, the latter named a resident of Sussex county, New Jersey, and who were the parents of four children : Alfred M., Clara A., Lena, wife of J. L. Kice, and Wildrick. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Tonking: William W., graduate of Columbia University, a mining engineer ; Leonora B., Henry H., Russell.
R. C. ARNDT
The name of Arndt has been an honored one in Germany for many years, and it has become no less so in this country. A representative of it at the present time in Whippany, Morris county, New Jersey, is R. C. Arndt, senior member of the firm of Arndt & Stork, who conduct a bottling estab-
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lishment. John Arndt, his father, who was a Protestant minister in his native land, Germany, never came to the United States. He married Pauline Mussehl, and they had eight children, all of whom emigrated to the United States.
R. C. Arndt was born in Germany, in 1867, and received a fine education in various schools in his native country. He came to America at an early age, and attended school here for a time and thus obtained a mastery of the English language. Having made a study of pharmacy, he established him- self in the drug business, and later became the proprietor of a restaurant. In December, 1913, he removed to Whippany, and in association with Jack Stork, established the Arndt & Stork Bottling Works, purchasing the plant from William Dwyer, and has been actively identified with this concern ever since. They bottle all sorts of beers, sodawater, etc. Their methods have been very progressive ones, and they now supply all the surrounding territory. They employ a number of men and wagons, and their plant is located near the Morristown and Erie Station. The most improved equip- ment has been installed, and in every particular the establishment is con- ducted in an up-to-date manner. Mr. Arndt will not allow himself to be bound by partisan ties in political matters, but prefers to form his opinions independently, and casts his vote for the candidate he considers best fitted for the office to be filled. He married Emma Stork, a sister of his busi- ness partner. They have no children.
ROBERT W. CASE
A number of the important interests of Whippany, Morris county, New Jersey, have an able representative in Robert W. Case, farmer and general business man. His father, William Case, was born in Ireland, and was brought to this country by his parents when he was seven years of age. They located at Whippany, Morris county, where he was educated in the district schools of that day. He is now about seventy-four years old and resides in Pine Brook, where he married Mary Lysaught, now deceased, and had seven children, of whom three are living at the present time.
Robert W. Case was born in Pine Brook, Morris county, New Jersey, in 1874, and obtained his education in the public schools of his native town- ship. After leaving school he was engaged in farming and, about 1897, purchased his present farm at Whippany, Morris county. He is a man of many-sided ability, and has just started a saw mill with very satisfactory results. Another of the enterprises with which he is identified is a stone crushing mill, at Pine Brook. His saw mill is considered one of the best constructed in the county. He is a strong supporter of Republican prin- ciples, and a member of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, and the Order of Free and Accepted Masons. Mr. Case married Ruth Elizabeth Cory, born at Troy Hills, Morris county, New Jersey, a de- scendant of an old family of the state. They have two children: Walter and Lorene.
RAYMOND C. DURHAM
The Durham family is an ancient one in England, and it has been well represented in this country since the early days of colonization. They have been mainly identified with agricultural pursuits, and are well represented at the present time by Raymond C. Durham, a farmer of Hanover, Morris county, New Jersey. His father, Robert Durham, was born in Morris county,
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New Jersey, and now lives retired in Flocktown, at an advanced age. He married Julia Bird, and they had seven children, five of whom are living.
Raymond Cleveland Durham was born in Morris county in 1885, and was educated in the public schools of the county. He was very young when he engaged in farming, at first on the home farm, then in 1906 removed to Morris county, New Jersey, where he resides on a farm of eighty acres, on which he has been engaged in general farming very successfully. He is a Republican in political opinion, and a member of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. He devotes a considerable portion of his time to dairy farming, in which he has also been successful. Mr. Durham married Mary Emma Petry, and they have one child : Raymond Gilbert.
WILLIAM O'DOWD
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In the laborious struggle for an honorable career and a satisfactory competence on the part of the average business man there is but little to attract the careless reader ; but for a mind awake to the reality and mean- ing of human existence there are noble lessons in the life of the man who, owing everything to his own efforts, with a strong arm and true heart, con- quers fortune and gains a reward for his toil. America is a cosmopolitan nation, and to no country does she owe more in some respects than to Ire- land, from which country have come men of sturdy integrity, determined purpose and marked mental vigor. The subject of this review, William O'Dowd, is known as one of the representative and public spirited citizens of Boonton, Morris county, New Jersey. Patrick O'Dowd, his father, spent his entire life in Ireland, where he died at the age of seventy-three years. He married Johanna Mack, who died at the age of one hundred and three years, and they had three daughters and two sons.
William O'Dowd was born in Ireland, where he passed the first twenty- two years of his life, September 10, 1846. He then decided that the United States offered better opportunities for advancement to a young man of energy and ambition, and accordingly emigrated to this country, arriving at New York. Several years were spent in that city, three of them in the employ of the well known A. T. Stewart, and he then went to Pine Brook, Morris county, New Jersey, where he was engaged in farm work until his marriage. He then purchased his present property of 200 acres, and became identified with dairy interests. It is the largest tract in the county devoted exclu- sively to dairy purposes and is operated along the most modern and progres- sive lines. All of the buildings on the farm, with the exception of the old barn, have been erected by Mr. O'Dowd, and they are equipped with all the modern appliances required for the purposes for which they are destined. He sells more than 1,200 quarts of milk per day, and has many vehicles to carry out this large supply, among them being a huge auto-truck, which is in charge of his son. His herd of cattle numbers sixty-four, and the entire land is given up to their use, only a sufficient amount being reserved for the cultivation of fodder for them. One of the buildings is especially equip- ped for the steaming, pasteurization and certification of the milk. In political affairs Mr. O'Dowd is a Democrat, and in religion a member of the Catholic church, in which he has served as trustee for some time. He married Mary King, whose father, a farmer, was a descendant of an old Dutch family. They have had children : Joseph, Mary, Anna, Agnes, William and Daniel, all living. Mr. O'Dowd is an excellent judge of cattle, and keeps only the finest grades for his dairy purposes. To their care he gives his personal supervision, and his capable managemnt and excellent business ability have brought him good financial results.
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EDWARD J. CONNELY
Edward J. Connely, whose close identification with the development of various interests in and around Whippany, Morris county, New Jersey, classes him among the leading representatives of affairs in that county, is a son of Edward Connely, who was born in Limerick, Ireland, and came to this country in his boyhood. He located at Troy Hills, Morris county, where he engaged in farming, a pursuit he followed until his death at the age of fifty-nine years. He married Margaret Dolan and became the father of seven children.
Edward J. Connely was born in Whippany, Morris county, New Jersey, in 1865. He received his education in the public schools of the county, and went to Paterson, New Jersey, at the age of fifteen years, and returned to Whippany about seventeen years ago. He then found employment with the firm of Anderson Brothers, in the silk business, and held the position of foreman for them in their silk mills for a period of thirteen years. Upon his return to Whippany he lived near that town for two years, then in 1899 purchased a tract of fifty acres of land of which his present farm is a portion. He sold the largest part of this tract, however, and has been engaged in buying and selling to a large extent, being the owner at the present time of twelve different parcels of land here, and two parcels at Morris Plains. While he cultivates his farm for market purposes and is also extensively engaged in the hay business, he gives a considerable share of his time to real estate matters, with which he became identified in an important manner. He organized the Hanover Construction Company, of which he, his wife and Nate Toms are the sole stockholders, and he also organized the Hanover Building and Loan Association, of Morris Plains, and assisted in organizing a number of other corporations. He has taken an active part in the political affairs of the county, served as treasurer of the township six years, was a member of the township committee nine years, and is now a member of the Republican county committee. He is a member of the Catholic church. Mr. Connely married Eleanor L. Seymour, and has children : Eleanor, a nurse ; Francis, a twin of Eleanor ; John, an automo- bile machinist; Marie, a student at a business college ; Florence.
ALEXANDER WEBB
Among the earnest men whose depth of character and strict adherence to principle excite the admiration of their fellow townsmen, is Alexander Webb, of Hanover, Morris county, New Jersey. John W. Webb, his father, was born in England, and emigrated to the United States, in young manhood. He made his home in Newark, where he was a market gardener for a time, later removing to Hanover, Morris county, where he lived until the age of eighty-two years. He married Isabelle McNair, who is still living on the homestead which he founded, and had five children.
Alexander Webb was born in Newark, New Jersey, about 1859, and was about two and a half years of age when he removed with his parents to Han- over, Morris county, New Jersey. He acquired substantial educational advantages in the public schools of the county, and then found employment in the express office in Madison, remaining there for the period of one year. He then returned to the homestead farm and next purchased the one hun- dred and twenty acres on which he is now located, engaged in general farm- ing. His brother built the house located on this, while he erected the barns, etc. In addition to general farming, Mr. Webb also devotes considerable tinie
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and attention to dairy farming, in which he has been eminently successful. He is Republican in political matters, has served nine years as a member of the township committee, and fifteen years as a member of the school board. He is a member of the local Grange, Patrons of Husbandry; Junior Order of United American Mechanics. His religious affiliations are with the Presbyterian church.
EDWARD S. THOMPSON
Edward S. Thompson, postmaster of Port Morris, Morris county, New Jersey, for the past four years, has not alone made an impression on the pub- lic life of the town, but he has been of great influence in the mercantile world of the town. His grandfather was Elias Thompson, who was a farmer in Mound Freedom, and died when Mr. Thompson was an infant.
The father of Mr. Thompson, Philemon Thompson, was born in Ran- dolph township, Morris county, in 1832, was a farmer all his life, and died at Mount Freedom in 1870. He married Sarah, born in Peapack township, Morris county, in 1832, died in 1889, a daughter of Peter and Eliza Garra- brant. They had children: Alice, who married Thomas Ironside, of Mor- ristown; John L., proprietor of a restaurant in Washington, D. C., was formerly in the employ of the government; Edward S., whose name heads this sketch ; Lucy G., who lives in Flanders, Morris county.
Edward S. Thompson was born at Mount Freedom, Randolph township, Morris county, New Jersey, November 10, 1864. There he attended the public schools, and this education was supplemented by a course at Coleman's Business College, Newark, New Jersey. Having gained the necessary prac- tical experience in mercantile fields, he established himself in this line of business at Mount Freedom, in 1886, and continued there until 1896. In that year he removed to Port Morris, where he purchased the mercantile business of Mr. Day, and has conducted this actively up to the present time. He has been an active factor in the public life of the community, affiliating with the Democratic party, but reserving to himself the right to form and hold independent views, irrespective of party. For a considerable length of time he served as assistant postmaster, and was then appointed as head of this department. His fraternal affiliation is with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Thompson married (first) Orvilletta, who died in 1901, a daughter of Frank Merchant, of Golden Corners; he married (second) in 1903, Nellie C., a daughter of Moses Decker, of Sparta township, Sussex county, New Jersey. Children of first marriage: Myrtle, who married Ewing Tresize, of Port Morris, and has two children: Richard and Orvil- letta ; Sarah, a nurse in Bethlehem,Pennsylvania; Ruth, living at home ; Bertha, lives with an aunt in Flanders, Morris county. Children of sec- ond marriage: Philemon, Carlton, John. In every relation of life Mr. Thompson has shown himself possessed of those sterling qualities which have gained for him the respect and esteem of his fellow citizens.
WILLIAM T. HILTS
As a worthy citizen of Netcong, Morris county, New Jersey, William T. Hilts is a fine example of devotion to the duties he has undertaken, and of the faithfulness with which he has discharged them. His paternal grand- parents were Samuel and Margaret (Caskey) Hilts, old residents of Morris county. William Hilts, son of Samuel, was born at Schooleys Mountain, Morris county, about the year 1810, and died at the age of seventy-four years.
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He married Eliza Drake, born at Drakestown about 1812, died at the age of seventy-two years. She was a sister of Ebenezer, Carter, John and Sarah Drake. They had children: Samuel, deceased; Thomas, deceased; John, of Dover, New Jersey; Caroline, who married George King, died February 3, 1914; William T., whose name heads this sketch; Charles, deceased; George, is a carpenter in the powder works at Ledgewood.
William T. Hilts was born on Schooleys Mountain, Morris county, New Jersey, November 8, 1848. He attended the public schools of Mount Olive township and Ledgewood, and for some time was engaged in farming, then for a period of three years was a boatman on the Morris canal, after which he entered the employ of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company as a worker on the tracks, and has now for a period of thirty- three years been employed in the boiler shop of this company's plant at Net- cong, New Jersey. For many years he resided at Kingtown, near Ledge- wood, but for the past fifteen years has been a resident of Netcong. Alto- gether he has been with the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company for upward of forty years. Mr. Hilts is Republican in political matters, and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Improved Order of Red Men. He married Henrietta, a daughter of William Drake and Sarah (Hagerty) Drake, and a granddaughter of Christopher Hagerty, who owned all the land now covered by Musconetcong Lake. They had one son : DeForest, who died in 1908. He married Elmira Perry and had: Ella; Edith, who married Howard Tresize; and Hazel. Mr. Hilts has earned and won the respect and esteem of all in the community in which he lives.
MICHAEL J. AND FRANCIS M. MURPHY
Among the most progressive and representative men of Stirling, Morris county, New Jersey, are Michael J. and Francis M. Murphy, father and son. They have shown their ability along business and industrial lines, and have exerted a potent influence in the community in many directions.
James Murphy, father and grandfather of the above mentioned, was born in county Sligo, Ireland, in 1830, and died in New York City in 1877. He emigrated to the United States in 1850, and, being a machinist by trade, found employment as an iron worker in the Delameter Iron Works. He married Mary McCarrick, who died in 1901 at the age of sixty-three years. They had children: Michael J., of further mention; Joseph, who died in infancy. Mr. Murphy was in this country but a short time when he identi- fied himself with its interests, and at the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in Company F, Sixty-ninth Regiment, State of New York, and served with bravery.
Michael J. Murphy, son of James, was born in New York City, August 22, 1854. He attended public and parochial schools in his native city until 1870, when he served an apprenticeship as a machinist with the Delameter Iron Works, and also became an engineer. He left this concern in the early part of 1876, and having taken out his license as an engineer, became asso- ciated in that capacity with Moore & Warren, of No. 60 Liberty street, with whom he remained six years. Seven years were then spent as engineer with the Henry Heide plant, which manufactured candy, and three as engineer for the Rhinelander estate. His next position was with John N. Stearns, and in 1898 Mr. Murphy removed to Stirling, New Jersey, where he entered the employ of the Stirling Silk Company, remained with them ten years, and then retired from active work. He has, however, since that time, devoted
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