USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > Biographical and genealogical history of the city of Newark and Essex County, New Jersey, V. 1 > Part 20
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Mr. Dey was united in marriage to Miss Nellie Sigler, and the three following chil- dren were born of this union: Jessie, Gracie and Helen.
In his political affiliation Mr. Dey is an
uncompromising Republican and has ren- dered valuable service to his party as a member of the executive committee. In respect to religion he was converted early in life to the doctrines of the Reformed church. He possesses a farm comprising one hundred acres in extent, and is one of the thrifty, progressive and greatly re- spected men of the township.
GEORGE H. VANDERHOOF,
who is now living retired from active busi- ness cares at his pleasant home in Caldwell, on Campbell avenue, was born in this place, September 16, 1840, and is a representative of one of the old Dutch families of Essex county. His grandfather was Garrett Van- derhoof, who located at Fairfield, New Jer- sey, and married Mary Masker. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and his ances- tors were participants in the war of the Revolution.
Abraham Vanderhoof, the father of our subject, was born in Caldwell, November 8, 1815, and married Ann Welshman, a daughter of Edward Welshman, who was born in county Down, Ireland, and em- igrated to the United States in 1802, be- coming the owner of a large tract of land in Rockland county, New York. He mar- ried Jane Kemp, of that county. Mr. and Mrs. Vanderhoof had a family of six chil- dren, in order of birth as follows: George H .; William M .; Edward J .; Addie J., wife of Benjamin Kent; Emma T., wife of Leon- ard Meddler; and Cecelia S., wife of David Campbell, of Newark.
The subject of this review, George H. Vanderhoof, acquired his education in the schools of Caldwell, and before attaining his majority learned the carpenter's trade
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in Newark. In 1862 he manifested his loy- alty to the government by enlisting in the Second Regiment, District of Columbia, which was the first regiment that went out from the capital. For three years he faith- fully served his country, following the old flag in many hotly contested engagements, including the second battle of Bull Run and the battle of Antietam. With his command he was also sent against General Early in the Shenandoah valley campaign, and in other engagements and movements dis- played his fidelity to the Union cause through three years' arduous service.
When the war was ended and the coun- try no longer needed his services, Mr. Van- derhoof returned home and engaged in con- tracting in Newark, where for more than a quarter of a century he was identified with that industry, making a specialty of stair- building, which requires peculiar skill and ability. He executed contracts not only in Newark, but also in surrounding cities and in New York and Pennsylvania, and had a very extensive patronage, which brought to him a handsome remuneration. With the capital that he had acquired through his own efforts, he retired to private life in the summer of 1897, and, locating at his birth- place, Caldwell, he is there, amid many friends, enjoying the fruits of his former toil.
Mr. Vanderhoof has been twice married. He first wedded Emma T., daughter of William Cole, of Pine Brook, who died in 1878, leaving one child, Daisy B. In 1888 Mr. Vanderhoof was again married, his sec- ond union being with Miss Jessie Davey, a daughter of Edward Davey, of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Their children are George H. and Stella M.
Devotion to all the duties of public and
also of private life has characterized the ca- reer of Mr. Vanderhoof, whose honor in business, fidelity in public affairs, loyalty in war and geniality and kindliness in social circles, have won him the regard of all with whom he has been brought in contact.
William M. Vanderhoof, brother of the subject of the foregoing sketch, also enlist- ed in the war for the Union as a member of the Twenty-sixth Regiment of New Jersey Volunteers. Participating in a charge on Sunday, July 3, at Chancellorsville, he re- ceived a gunshot wound in his right knee, was taken prisoner, had to suffer an ampu- tation of his leg, and at length was ex- changed, when he returned home. He went to Seneca Falls, New York, where by his own exertions he gained considerable prop- erty, and now owns and conducts a large store in the line of general merchandise.
CLARENCE E. HEDDEN,
principal of the Caldwell public schools, is one of the leading and successful educators of this section of the state, and his progres- sive methods, scholarly attainments and faculty of imparting clearly and readily to others the knowledge he has acquired, has given him a prestige in the profession that is indeed enviable.
Professor Hedden was born in Orange, New Jersey, November 8, 1856, and is de- scended from one of the oldest families of Essex county, nearly two centuries having passed since Joseph and Caleb Hedden, brothers, came to New Jersey from the Connecticut colony. Essex county then embraced every county which now touches its boundaries. Joseph Hedden located in East Orange, and his son, Abial Hedden, who also made his home there, became a
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prominent stone-cutter and aided in the construction of the forts of Castle Garden and LaFayette. He married Maria, daugh- ter of Enos Baldwin, a representative of one of the earliest families of Newark, the old Baldwin homestead comprising the site now occupied by the county jail. Both the Hedden and Baldwin families furnished soldiers to the colonial army in the war of the American Revolution and otherwise took an important part in founding the republic.
Elijah Hedden, a son of Abial and Maria (Baldwin) Hedden, was born in 1778 and died in 1873. He resided at the old family homestead, which was located in Roseville near the junction of Orange and Warren streets, and on that place all the members of the early branch of the family were prob- ably born. John S. Hedden, of Verona, father of our subject, first opened his eyes to the light of day in 1831, and in his youth learned the shoemaker's trade, which he followed in his native city during the time that occupation was the leading indus- try of the people of Orange. On leaving the place of his birth he came to Caldwell township, settling in Verona, and has been a leading man in its public affairs, now serving as its tax collector. He married Harriet Munn, daughter of Jotham Munn. She died in November, 1856, leaving one son, Clarence E., then only a few days old. For his second wife the father chose Sarah Pryor, daughter of Lemuel Jacobus, and their children are Edward, Harry, Nellie and Leon.
This work would be incomplete without the life record of Clarence E. Hedden, who has been so prominently connected with the educational interests of the county, and who is so worthy a representative of an
honored pioneer family. He spent his boy- hood days in the home of his paternal grandfather and attended Mr. Noll's pri- vate school, which was conducted in what is now Lindsley's stable, in Caldwell. He afterward pursued his studies in the schools of Verona and later was a pupil in the Montclair schools, being a member of the first high-school class and the first one to graduate at that institution, the year of the graduation being 1874. Of studious nature and anxious for advancement along educa- tional lines, he was next sent to Amherst College, where he was graduated four years later.
Immediately afterward Professor Hed- den began teaching, being employed in the schools of West Orange for one year. In 1879 he came to Caldwell to accept the position of principal and has since remained at the head of the school system in this place. On his arrival he found an ordinary grammar school of five grades, since which time he has doubled the grades, raised the standard to that of "an approved high school" and otherwise increased its effi- ciency as an educational institution. Few men in the county have been more promi- nently identified with the furtherance of educational interests in Essex county than he. Progressive and keenly alive to the needs in our public-school systems, he has put forth every effort in his power to meet these needs and to secure higher standards in the schools throughout the locality. His own interest and enthusiasm have inspired others and the benefit of his labors is in- calculable.
Professor Hedden was one of the orig- inal members of the County Teachers' As- sociation, was for two years its secretary and treasurer, and for the same period
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served as its president, also for two terms chairman of its executive committee. He has also been a member of the High-School Principals' Association, and in 1896 was a member of the County Schoolmasters' As- sociation.
In 1881 Professor Hedden was married, in Verona, to Miss Sarah M. Hayes, daugh- ter of Rev. J. L. Hayes. In 1885 he was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died, leaving one child, Earle. In Au- gust, 1887, he was again married, his sec- ond union being with Miss Anna Condit, daughter of Edmund Condit, of West Orange. He is a member of the Verona Methodist church, and both he and his wife hold an enviable position in social circles, enjoying the hospitality of the best homes in this part of the county.
HENRY K. BENSON,
of the firm of H. K. & T. S. Benson, suc- cessors to the late Samuel Benson, manu- facturers of sheet and rolled brass, Glen Ridge, New Jersey, is one of the represen- tative business men of this place. Personal mention of him and the family of which he is a member is therefore appropriate in this work, and to it we now turn.
Samuel Benson, the founder of the Glen Ridge Brass Rolling Mill, was born in Bethlehem, New York, a son of William Benson, also a native of that state. The latter's father was a Hollander by birth and had emigrated to this country in early life.
William Benson and family moved to Belleville, New Jersey, from Bethlehem, New York, when Samuel Benson was quite young, and at Belleville he grew up to manhood, receiving his education in that place. In 1832 he came to Bloomfield,
New Jersey, and entered into business with James G. Moffet and engaged in the manufacture of sheet brass and other met- als, the plant being located on the old turn- pike between Bloomfield and West Bloom- field. In 1852 he built a new mill and en- tered into the refining and rolling of sheet silver for platers' use, which he continued successfully for several years. In 1863 he disposed of this business to Peter Hayden, of New York city, and continued with him in the management of the business until 1875, when he retired from business.
In 1878 he built the present mill, located in the borough of Glen Ridge, and he con- tinued in business here until the time of his death, which occurred in 1882. A man of honest industry, sterling integrity and business ability, he made a success in life, and left to his sons a fine business and the heritage of a good name. His wife, whose maiden name was Margaret King, was born in New Jersey and was a daughter of Henry King.
Henry K. Benson was reared principally in Bloomfield township, Essex county, New Jersey, receiving his education in the common schools and later attending a boarding and day school taught by the Rev. E. Seymour, a noted educator and a native of this county.
At the age of seventeen the youth en- tered the rolling mill to assist his father, commencing at the bottom and thus be- coming familiar with every detail of the work. He remained with his father until the latter's death, after which he carried on the business in his own name until 1887. The mill was then renovated, new and im- proved machinery was put in, making it first-class in every respect.
In 1888 he admitted to the firm his
HENRY K. BENSON
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brother, Frank S. Benson. They do a general business in sheet and rolled brass, making specialties of silver-plated metal, plates, granulated and annode silver, en- gravers' etching, electric and foil-copper, silver-solder, German silver, platers' brass and oroide and music engravers' plates and all kinds of job rolling. This work is done by a Corliss engine of one hundred twenty- five horse-power, and they employ twenty men.
Mr. Henry K. Benson was married in 1868 to Miss Theresa H. Watson, of Mid- dletown, Connecticut, a daughter of Ar- nold Watson. Mr. and Mrs. Benson have a son and a daughter,-Harry W. and Helen F. Benson.
Mr. Benson is one of the most enterpris- ing and progressive men of his town, and has at heart its best interests. In many ways, aside from the important business above referred to, is his name connected with the history of Bloomfield. In 1882 and 1883 he served as a member of the town council.
He is at this writing the secretary of the Board of Health of Glen Ridge. He helped to organize the Bloomfield National Bank, and was a director of the same for several years. Politically he is a firm ad- herent to the principles advocated by the Republican party.
CAPT. AMBROSE M. MATTHEWS.
"Peace hath its victories, no less re- nowned than war," said Sumner, and this fact has been proved often and again as the march of progress has continued with ever accelerating speed. But the crucial period and the one that evokes the most exalted patriotism is that when a nation's
honor is menaced, its integrity threatened and the great ethic principles of right in- volved. Then is sterling manhood roused to definite protest and decisive action, and above all the tumult and horror of interne- cine conflict never can greater honor be paid than to him who aids in holding high the standard which represents the deeper principles of liberty, hurling oppression back and keeping the boon of liberty. The military career of the subject of this review is one which will ever redound to his honor as a loyal and devoted son of the republic, and as one whose courage was that of his convictions, and yet one who was content to fight for principle and for his country's righteous cause rather than for mere glory in arms or relative precedence. In touch- ing the history of Essex county, or indeed that of the state, there is eminent propriety in according representation to Captain Matthews, not alone by reason of the part he has played in its civil and military af- fairs, but on the score that his ancestral his- tory is part and parcel of the record which tells the tale of progress, of stalwart patri- otism in each succeeding generation and of that integrity of purpose which has con- served the stable prosperity of the nation. We cannot do better in this connection than to make consecutive excerpt from a review of our subject's career as recently published in a history of the Oranges :
"The development of the hereditary traits of Captain Matthews, for which his ancestors, who were among the founders, as well as the defenders of the republic, were conspicuous, is due in a great measure to the events connected with the civil war. The discipline incident to army life, the per- sonal courage, self-reliance and unselfish devotion to the cause he espoused, were
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among the personal traits developed that led subsequently to his successful business career and inspired confidence in his fellow citizens, who were not unmindful of the debt of gratitude they owed him for his faithful service to his country in her hour of need. On Saturday, the 13th of April, 1861, was fired the first gun which pro- claimed the secession of the southern states from the Union, and on Sunday thereafter a proclamation of President Lincoln sum- moned the militia of the republic, to the number of seventy-five thousand, to as- semble and execute its insulted laws. In response thereto Ambrose M. Matthews, on the 10th of May following, entered the ranks of the Union army as a private, rose to the rank of captain, and served con- tinuously from the first important battle of the war to the surrender of the entire Con- federate armies under Lee and Johnson. The important service he rendered in- cluded the campaigns and battles of the Army of the Potomac from first Bull Run until October, 1863; the campaign of General Grant, which held fast to Tennes- see and in four great battles completely de- feated the rebel generals, Bragg and Long- street; the campaign which, from Chat- tanooga to Atlanta, after many battles, all of which were victorious, captured Atlanta; Sherman's campaign from Atlanta to the sea, the capture of Savannah, Georgia; the campaign through the Carolinas, which virtually captured Charleston, South Caro- lina; the final campaign of General Sher- man, which, after Lee's surrender, com- pelled the surrender of General Johnston and all armed foes of the federal govern- ment.
"Captain Matthews had the honor to belong to the First New Jersey Brigade,
which was the First Brigade of the First Division, First Corps of the Army of the Potomac, for fifteen months, and it was commanded by General Phil Kearney; in the Richmond campaign of McClellan it became the First Brigade, First Division of the Sixth Corps, and so continued until the close of the war. He also had the honor to belong to a brigade composed of the Second Massachusetts, Third Wisconsin, Twenty-Seventh Indiana, Thirteenth New Jersey, One Hundred and Seventh and One Hundred and Fiftieth New York, First Division, Twelfth Corps, and commanded successively by Generals George H. Gor- don, Thomas H. Ruger, Silas Colgrove and others. It is a matter of record that these two brigades had no superiors in the great armies to which they belonged. These commands served in the historic Army of the Potomac until after the battle of Get- tysburg, and then the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps consolidated with the Twentieth Corps and joined the Army of the Cumber- land, and formed a part of the great army of General Sherman, comprising the Army of the Tennessee and the Army of Ohio, and afterward, as the Army of Georgia and the Tennessee, marched through Georgia and the Carolinas, and finally, by way of Richmond, over the battlefields of Virginia to the national capitol at Washington.
"During the first Virginia campaign Pri- vate Matthews took part, as a member of Company G, Second New Jersey Volun- teers, in the battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861; West Point, Virginia, May 7-8, 1862; Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mills, Golding's Farm; Frazier's Farm; Charles City Cross Roads; Malvern Hill, Virginia, including the Seven Days Fight. After these en- gagements he was discharged, at the re-
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quest of Governor Olden, of New Jersey, for the purpose of assisting in raising a new regiment. Owing to the difficulty of ob- taining the requisite number of men in Orange to complete the quota of the com- pany, it became necessary to consolidate with those enlisted at Montclair, and Mr. Matthews offered to enlist again as a pri- vate, in order to secure the promotion of one of his friends. He consented, however, to accept the position of second lieutenant of Company E, Thirteenth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers, and was promoted first lieutenant of Company K, on September 17, 1862 (date of battle of Antietam), and was commissioned captain of Company I, November 1, 1862. After his re-enlistment and promotion he participated with the Army of the Potomac in the battles of Antietam, First Fredericksburg, Chancel- lorsville and Gettysburg; after the last- named engagement was transferred to the Army of the Cumberland with the Twelfth Corps. This was afterward consolidated with the Eleventh Corps, forming the Twentieth Corps, and with it he took part in the battles of Wauhatchie, Tennessee; Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Resaca, Cassville, Dallas, Kenesaw Moun- tain, Marietta, Pine Knob, Culp's Farm, Chattahoochie, River Crossing, Nauce's Creek, Peach Tree Creek and Atlanta, Georgia (July 22, 1864), siege and capture of Atlanta; Sherman's march to the sea, including capture of Milledgeville, the capi- tal; Montieth Swamp, near Savannah; cap- ture of Argyle Island, and also the move- ment to enemy's rear in South Carolina, by General Ruger's Brigade; capture of Savannah; campaign of the Carolinas, in- cluding battles of Averysboro, Bentonville,
lina; capture of Raleigh and surrender of General Johnston's army. In all there were represented forty battles, besides 'affairs' and skirmishes, among the latter being in- cluded the approach to Atlanta, at which time the First Division of the Twentieth Army Corps, with which Captain Matthews was connected, was for one hundred con- secutive days under fire. At the battle of Antietam, Maryland, Captain Matthews was wounded in the left leg, by a grape shot, but did not leave the field; he re- ceived a flesh wound in the face at Chancel- lorsville, Virginia, and was wounded in the left arm at the battle of Resaca, Georgia. He was one of the officers specially men- tioned at the battle of Chancellorsville for 'gallantry, coolness and efficiency on the battle field.'
"It is a noteworthy fact that Captain Matthews was one of the officers who, at the close of the war, declined to make an application for a brevet in excess of the commission he held, the reasons for which are apparent. While in active service a brevet rank is an honor justly appreciated by those who have won distinction on the battle field. At the close of the war, how- ever, it became an empty honor, and could be had for the asking, and although it was conferred on many deserving ones, 'for gallant and meritorious service,' it is well known that many worthy officers declined to ask for that which they knew they were justly entitled to. Such officers resent only the implied superior claim of the brevets to a distinction greater than their own, while as a fact they take issue with and ever maintain that it is unjust to the greater majority.
"A retrospective view of the events con- North Carolina; Goldsboro, North Caro- nected with Captain Matthews' military
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career shows 'what might have been.' When President Lincoln called for one hundred thousand volunteers to serve for three years, a company was within a few days organized in Orange, and it was ex- pected that it would be attached to either the First, Second or Third Regiments of the First New Jersey Brigade, but as each regiment had already received its full quota this company was not accepted. It was commanded by Captain Owen Murphy, a generous-hearted Irishman, who had seen several years' service as captain of the Columbia O'Brien Rifles, a local military company, and had maintained its organiza- tion until it was accepted, in July, 1861, as one of the companies of the Seventy-First New York Regiment, Excelsior Brigade, raised by Daniel E. Sickles, subsequently major-general commanding the Third Corps of the Army of the Potomac. In this company young Matthews was offered the position of first lieutenant. He modest- ly declined the honor, however, for, as he said, 'having no military training, he might make a poor private, but could not hope to be a good officer.' The offer was several times renewed, up to the month of May, 1862, but he invariably declined for the reason stated. Every regiment connected with the Excelsior Brigade made a brilliant record, and none more so than the Seventy- First. What might have been the record of Private Matthews had he been influenced by motives of personal ambition, instead of modestly refusing because of his unfitness for the position, it is difficult to conjecture. It simply shows the spirit of unselfish, de- voted patriotism which animated the young men who filled the ranks of the Armies of the Potomac, the Cumberland and of the Tennessee-steadfast, faithful, undaunted,
never discouraged and never acknowledg- ing defeat, and which at last forced the armies of Lee into the last ditch at Ap- pomattox, and compelled the surrender of Johnston in North Carolina, where Captain Matthews was then serving with General Sherman."
This was the faith that made faithful, and there can be no less a tribute of honor paid these brave men who served for the sake of their country alone, with no thought of self-aggrandizement or personal glory, than to those who gained the higher dis- tinctions of office and perhaps greater in- dividual precedence. His military career is but one exemplification of the sturdy, un- flinching, noble characteristics which have made men honor and respect Captain Matthews in all the relations of life-such a sterling manhood can never be less than true to itself, and thus true to all that goes to make for the deeper humanitarianism, The safety of the republic depends not so much upon measures and methods as upon that manhood from whose deep sources all that is precious and permanent in life must at last proceed.
Ambrose Meeker Matthews has the dis- tinction of being a native son of that sec- tion of New Jersey in which practically his entire life has been spent and in which he has labored to goodly ends. He was born in Orange, New Jersey, on the 21st of Sep- tember, 1836, the son of John H. and Elima (Meeker) Matthews, representing promi- nent old pioneer families of the state and nation. On both sides the Captain's an- cestors were not only among the founders of Orange, but records extant show them to have had valiant representatives among the patriot soldiers in the war of the Revo-> lution. William Matthews, great-grand-
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