USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > Biographical and genealogical history of the city of Newark and Essex County, New Jersey, V. 1 > Part 25
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SILAS P. GENUNG,
of Livingston township, has been identi- fied with the interests of Essex county since 1881. He is a native of Afton, Morris county, New Jersey, where he was born on the 21st of August, 1841, a son of Elias P. and Mary M. (Smith) Genung. Elias P. Genung also was a native of Morris county, where he passed his life, following the occupation of a farmer and was promi- nent in public affairs, being an old-line Whig and later one of the organizers of the Republican party in Morris county. He held several local offices, among them be- ing a chosen freeholder and chairman of the township committee during the civil war. He married Miss Mary M. Smith, daughter of William and Charity (Mutchmore) Smith, and they reared five children. His death occurred on the 12th of August, 1888, at the advanced age of seventy-three years, his wife surviving him at the present time. having attained the age of eighty-one years, and still retaining much of the mental and physical vigor of her youth. The grandfather, Thomas Genung, was born in Morris county and was a participant in the war of 1812. The family is of French ex- traction.
Silas P. Genung passed his youth on his father's farm, receiving his education in the district schools of the vicinity and remain- ing with his parents until the needs of his country caused him to enlist, on the 12th of August, 1862, in Company C, Fifteenth New Jersey Volunteer Infantry. He par- ticipated in all the battles with the Army of the Potomac, after the first battle of Fredericksburg, and was with Sheridan through the Shenandoah valley, where he was slightly wounded, which, however, did not disqualify him for active service, in which he continued until June 22, 1865, when he was honorably discharged. In Fox's report of regimental losses it is stated that in the battle of the Wilderness, at the "Bloody Angle," the Fifteenth New Jersey lost, in about twenty-five minutes' time, sixty-two and one-half per cent. of the men who went in. He returned to the farm and engaged extensively in the broom business, which he carried on for a number of years until his health failed him, when he retired from active work and, in 1881, came to Essex county.
Mr. Genung has given his support to the Republican party from the time he first ac- quired elective franchise, and he has repre- sented the board of freeholders in Morris county for three years. He was on the committee that had in charge the building of the soldiers' monument, and in 1896 he was elected to the board of freeholders of Essex county. He is an advocate of good roads and is doing what he can as a free- holder to promote improvements in this line. Socially he is a member of Madison Lodge No. 93, Free and Accepted Masons, and of A. T. A. Torbert Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of Morristown.
The marriage of Mr. Genung was soi-
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emnized in April, 1875, when he was united to Miss Lizzie Cook, a daughter of James B. and Harriet (Minor) Cook. One son, Lester C., was born and they subsequently moved to the old Cook homestead in Liv- ingston. Mr. Genung is a member of the First Presbyterian church, and in that faith his wife was summoned to her eternal rest on August 22, 1897.
JOHN P. CONDIT.
In the subject of this sketch, John P. Condit, of West Orange, Essex county, is found a representative of one of the early settled families of New Jersey.
Mr. Condit was born on the farm where he now lives, November 2, 1838, son of David W. Condit and grandson of Japhia Condit, both born on this same farm, the former, September 26, 1801; the latter, in 1760. Japhia Condit was a son of David Condit, born in 1734, son of Samuel Condit, the first grandson of the progenitor of the Condit family in this country. David Con- dit settled on this farm at the time of his marriage, and the old house in which he and his bride went to housekeeping still stands. He was a man of prominence in his day, was a participant in the Revolu- tionary war and held the rank of colonel. His son Japhia, when a boy, also took part in the Revolution. Japhia Condit married Miss Dorcas Dodd.
David W. Condit, the father of our sub- ject, at the age of thirteen years entered upon an apprenticeship to the trade of carpenter with his brother-in-law, and served until he was twenty-one, after which he worked at his trade in connection with farming, carrying on farming operations at the old homestead. He married Miss Cor-
nelia Perry, a native of this county, and a daughter of John and Rachel Perry. The Perry family have resided in this country for three generations. Mr. and Mrs. Con- dit are both deceased, his death having occurred May 11, 1884. They were mem- bers of the Presbyterian church of Orange, and, politically, he was first a Whig and later a Republican. The children born to them were as follows: Lewis, West Or- ange, New Jersey; Rosena, who died at the age of forty years; and John P., the sub- ject of this sketch.
John P. Condit's boyhood days were passed not unlike those of other farmer boys. He attended school in winter and worked on the farm in summer, and at the home place he has continued to carry on farming, as did his forefathers for three generations. He is enterprising and pro- gressive and keeps fully abreast with the times. An important feature of his farin is the dairy.
Mr. Condit was married November 2, 1865, to Miss Martha A. Baldwin, daugh- ter of Marshall and Catharine (Sipp) Bald- win. Marshall Baldwin was born in Ve- rona, New Jersey, in 1806, son of Aaron Baldwin, a representative of one of the first families of Verona; and was by trade a shoemaker, which vocation he followed through life. He and his wife reared six children, namely : Amelia, wife of Ephraim Jacobus, West Orange township, Essex county, New Jersey; George, a resident of Illinois; Martha, wife of John P. Condit; Lorana, wife of George Davenport, of Ve- rona, New Jersey; Edward, West Virginia; and Lewis R., Livingston, New Jersey. Both Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin are deceased. They were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. and Mrs. Condit
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have had seven children, three of whom are living-Elmer, Stewart and David. Ada, their first born, died in childhood, and they lost one child in infancy.
Mr. Condit holds to the same religious and political faith in which he was reared. He is a Republican and a Presbyterian, both he and his wife being members of the St. Cloud Presbyterian church.
JOSEPH LEE,
a contractor and builder of East Orange, was born near Manchester, Lancastershire, England, October 21, 1850, a son of Henry and Nancy (Ellor) Lee. The father was born and reared in Lancastershire and was one of a family of six children, the others being Esther, Alice, Thomas, James and Charles. The father of this family followed the occupation of farming, but Henry Lee, quitting the farm, learned the trade of fin- ishing and dyeing cloths and fabrics, which vocation he made his life work. In 1870 he came to America and resided with his sons in East Orange. A fall from a lumber wagon in July, 1873, caused his death, when fifty-three years of age. His estimable wife survived him until February 15, 1897, passing away at the age of sev- enty-three years. They were members of the Methodist Episcopal church and were people of the highest respectability, having the warm regard of many friends. Their family numbered eight children, as follows : John, who resided in England and at his death left one daughter; William, of Lan- castershire, England, who married Harriet Anderson and has six children; Thomas, who married an English lady and came to America, locating in Orange, where he died in 1888, leaving a family of five chil- dren; Joseph, of this sketch; James Henry,
who was married in this country and now resides in Bloomfield, Essex county; Alice Jane, wife of Samuel Coopper, of Bloom- field, by whom she has four children; Charles Andrew and Albert, who died in early life.
Joseph Lee acquired a district-school education in his native land and remained under the parental roof until nineteen years of age. Attracted by the opportunities furnished by the new world, and hoping to better his financial condition in America, he took passage on a westward-bound ves- sel which weighed anchor on the 4th of December, 1869, and on the 16th of the same month landed in New York. He then went to East Orange, where his brother William resided, and the following year the parents and other members of the family also crossed the Atlantic. Our sub- ject here followed the carpenter's trade, at which he had served an apprenticeship in his native land. His industry and thrift at length enabled him to begin business on his own account, and since 1889 he has been numbered among the contractors and builders of East Orange, though his labors have not been confined to this town alone. Many of the excellent structures of the lo- cality stand as monuments to his enterprise and handiwork, and in his identification with the building interests of the town he has also built up a comfortable competence for himself. He is very progressive and energetic, and is an active promoter of that activity which is the source of all pros- perity. In 1872 he purchased his present homestead and has made extensive im- provements thereon. He also erected and owns the building now occupied by the First Ward Republican Club, of East Or- ange.
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Mr. Lee is quite active in affairs of a public nature tending to the advancement of the best interests of the town, and is now acting as assistant chief of the fire depart- ment in East Orange, to which position he was appointed in 1890. He is a member of the East Orange Republican Club, is now serving as its treasurer and is an ar- dent advocate of Republican principles. .
Mr. Lee was married December 30, 1872, to Miss Elizabeth Bradley, a daugh- ter of George and Martha Ellen (Wilde) Bradley. They now have three children : Martha Bradley, wife of Joseph Longshaw, by whom she has one child, Elizabeth Lee; Mabel Alice, a graduate of the East Or- ange grammar school; and Henry George. Both Mr. and Mrs. Lee are sincere mem- bers of St. Paul's Episcopal church, of East Orange.
JOHN A. INGERMAN,
manufacturer of fine harness and equip- ments for horses, in East Orange, is a na- tive of Sweden and possesses the sterling characteristics of his countrymen,-perse- verance, energy and progressiveness. It is these qualities which make the Swedish- American population so valuable an ele- ment in our citizenship. Mr. Ingerman was born in the county of Skaraborg Laen, in the central part of Sweden, June 15, 1858, and is a son of Charles and Lena (Anderson) Ingerman. The schools of his native land afforded him good educational privileges and he pursued his studies until fourteen years of age, when he was appren- ticed to a Mr. Peterson in the town of Kongsbacka, to learn the saddlery and harness-making trade. On the comple- tion of a four-years term of service he be-
gan work as a journeyman for Mr. Peter- son and continued in his employ for two and a half years more, but the possibilities and opportunities of the New World at- tracted him and he sought a home in the American republic.
It was in 1879 that Mr. Ingerman crossed the Atlantic, leaving home on the 2d of May, and landing at Boston on the 19th of the same month. He obtained a situation in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he worked at his trade for fifteen months, after which he removed to Wo- burn, Massachusetts, but in a short time went from there to Hartford, Connecticut, where he found employment with Smith & Born, with whom he remained for ten and a half years, one of their most trusted and skilled employes. He had their unquali- fied confidence and well merited their trust.
In 1890 Mr. Ingerman returned to the land of his nativity, spending a few months there, after which he again came to the United States, arriving here in the fall of 1890. He located in Newark, but in Au- gust, 1891, removed to East Orange, where he opened a store. The following year he removed to his present location and has since been engaged here in the manufacture of harness, saddlery and trunks, doing a large and successful busi- ness, receiving a liberal patronage from among the best people of East Orange and vicinity.
On the 25th of April, 1886, Mr. Inger- man was united in marriage to Miss Sophia Moren, a native of Sweden, and to them was born a son, John Henning, but they lost this only child, in June, 1889. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ingerman are pious members of the Swedish Lutheran church, and the former is a member of Plato Lodge, No.
12
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122, Knights of Pythias, of Orange. In among the successful men of his genera- his political sentiments he is a Republican tion. and manifests a commendable interest in all movements calculated to promote the general welfare. He has never had occa- sion to regret his determination of making America the place of his abode, for fortune has favored him here, and he has secured a good business, a pleasant home and many friends.
ANDREW KIRKPATRICK.
The incident of birth and family is one for which least of all attending man's life he can take credit; yet, when an ancestry of honorable record may be claimed, it is certainly a matter for honest, though un- spoken, pride. A name bearing a signal place in the judicial history of New Jersey and of the country is that of the Honor- able Andrew Kirkpatrick, justice of the su- preme court of New Jersey from 1793 to 1803, and thereafter, for twenty-one years, chief justice.
Andrew Kirkpatrick, the subject of our sketch, grandson and namesake of Chief Justice Kirkpatrick, was born in Washing- ton, D. C., October 8, 1844. His father, John Bayard Kirkpatrick, was a prominent merchant of his day, whose largest inter- ests were in foreign trade. Upon the com- pletion of his preparatory studies at Rut- gers grammar school, Mr. Kirkpatrick en- tered Union College, of Schenectady, New York, at which he was graduated in 1863. In the choice of a life work the bent of the young man's mind inclined rather to a lit- erary and professional career than to a mercantile life; following, thus, the steps of his grandfather, although, as proven in after life, not without the astute business faculties which gave to his father a place
Having decided upon the legal profes- sion, Mr. Kirkpatrick entered, as a law reader, the office of Hon. Frederick T. Fre- linghuysen, of Newark, New Jersey, and was admitted to the bar as an attorney in June, 1866, and as a counselor in 1869. As a practitioner Mr. Kirkpatrick soon made for himself a name of no small im- portance. While, as occupying a high social position, he always commanded a clientage among his associates, he has es- tablished a reputation as one who is no respecter of persons; the poor man and the rich alike claiming justice at his hand, and the man of low degree finding in him no less favor, upon that account, than his more important brother.
Mr. Kirkpatrick, before his elevation to the bench, was a partner of Mr. Freling- huysen, and later of Hon. Frederick H. Teese. In April of 1885 he was appointed, by Governor Leon Abbett, lay judge of Essex county court of common pleas, to succeed Judge Ludlow McCarter, which position he held, by several successive ap- pointments, until December, 1896, when, having still an unexpired term of three years to serve, he resigned to accept the office of judge of the United States district court, of the district of New Jersey, ten- dered to him by President Cleveland, and which was made vacant by the death of the Honorable Edward D. Green.
As a jurist Judge Kirkpatrick holds claim to a position of eminence and dis- tinction; a man of wide reading and sound judgment, his opinions carry weight throughout the legal world, and, for their peculiar clearness of statement, possess a remarkable virtue, the quality which ren-
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ders them easy of comprehension by the lay mind. In addition, it is truly said of them, "they command respect for their lit- erary excellence and evidence of thorough scholarship."
In the social, as well as the professional, life of his state, Judge Kirkpatrick holds a prominent position. Through both his paternal and maternal ancestors he was qualified to become a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. In fact, he was one of the earliest and most energetic promoters of this organization. Of many local social clubs and organizations he is an active member, having been one of the founders of the Essex Club, of which he was one of the original governors and for fifteen years its treasurer.
Without being a strict partisan, the Judge has always been a firm supporter of the principles advocated by the Demo- cratic party. While his name has not been without mention in connection with party honors, he has declined their acceptance except in the line of professional advance- ment. He is, however, greatly interested in the welfare of the city of Newark and of its citizens, and finds time to give attention to matters pertaining to the public good.
At this writing he holds the office of a commissioner of the sinking fund of the city of Newark, which has in charge up- wards of three millions of dollars; he is one of the trustees of the Howard Savings In- stitution, a director in the Fidelity Title and Deposit Company, and in the Newark Gas Company.
To his friends Judge Kirkpatrick is known as a man of high instincts and warm heart, of gracious and courtly hospitality, a lover of music and art, a man of quick and ready wit.
Professionally he is recognized as a keen student of human nature, a man of insight and force of character. These qualifica- tions gave him, as barrister, great success, and have undoubtedly been to him, upon the bench, a secret of his decisions, as his familiarity with his profession and his thor- ough knowledge of precedents have been of his rulings.
This little sketch of the life of Judge Kirkpatrick would be incomplete, even as an outline, were no mention made of a transaction characteristic of the man, as he is known by his fellow citizens, among whom he is regarded not alone as an able jurist but as a man of highest executive and financial ability. Upon the failure of the Domestic Manufacturing Company (one of the greatest manufacturing con- cerns of the county), which occurred in 1893, Judge Kirkpatrick was appointed its receiver and given authority to continue the business of making and selling Do- mestic sewing machines. This he did, dur- ing a period of unexampled monetary stringency, and was thereby able not only to furnish employment to hundreds of working men, who would otherwise have been forced into idleness, but he was like- wise able to surrender the property to the stockholders as a going concern, with as- sets sufficient in value to pay its creditors in full. Indifference to such a record could not be justified in any right-feeling man, and not alone from its business, but also from its humanitarian point of view, the Judge may be congratulated upon his noble work in the discharge of the duties of this receivership.
In 1869 Judge Kirkpatrick married Alice, daughter of Joel W. Condit, of New- ark, New Jersey. Their children are An-
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drew, Jr., John Bayard and Alice Condit. In 1877 Mrs. Kirkpatrick died. The Judge married, as his second wife, Louise C., daughter of Theodore P. Howell; their children are Littleton, Isabelle and Eliza- beth.
The Judge belongs to Grace Episcopal church.
EDWARD WALLACE WEEKS
is numbered among the native sons of Eng- land who in the New World have achieved success in business, demonstrating the op- portunities which are afforded here to the young man of energy and enterprise. He was born at Exmouth, Devonshire, July 31, 1867, and is a son of Captain Henry George and Mary Ann (Harris) Weeks, both of whom belonged to old families of England. The maternal grandfather was Edward Harris. The paternal grandpar- ents were Henry and Elizabeth Weeks, na- tives of Exmouth, Devonshire, where they reared three children: Elizabeth, who died when about fifty-three years of age; Henry George; and Mary, who died at the age of forty-five years.
Captain Henry George Weeks was reared in Devonshire and attended its com- mon schools until about seventeen years of age, when he shipped before the mast on a vessel called the Speck, which was owned by Captain Edward Harris, who subse- quently became his father-in-law. Mr. Weeks, having served a complete appren- ticeship under Captain Harris, continued to follow the sea until thirty-five years of age. He was given charge of the vessels of which Captain Harris was owner and be- came commander of the Anti-Xerxes. While thus engaged he visited the principal
ports of Europe, where he shipped and re- ceived cargoes. He was known as a skill- ful and careful navigator. At last he lost his life in a storm, the vessel being ship- wrecked on the Goodwin shoals in the river Thames. All on board were drowned save the Captain, who, by the aid of a New- foundland dog, Nero, was enabled to reach the shore; but he lived only a short time afterward. The faithful dog who had res- cued him was tenderly cared for by the family throughout his life. Captain Weeks died December 25, 1871. His two sons, Edward Wallace and Henry George, still survive him. The latter, born June 10, 1869, wedded Mary Daley and now resides in Bloomfield, Essex county.
In his native town Edward Wallace Weeks pursued his studies in the public schools, but his educational privileges were somewhat limited, for at the early age of twelve years he was apprenticed to learn the butcher's trade. He served for three years and when sixteen years of age crossed the Atlantic to America, sailing from Eng- land on the 23d of August, 1883. He landed in New York on the 7th of Sep- tember, and soon afterward secured a posi- tion in Elizabeth, New Jersey, with the Singer Sewing Machine Company. In 1885 he came to Orange and worked at his trade in the employ of F. J. Skinner. He embarked in business on his own ac- count in 1893, and now has a well ap- pointed meat market and provision store. He enjoys a good trade and his honorable business methods and careful management commend him to the confidence and good will of all. He is an energetic and perse- vering man and is regarded as a worthy citizen.
Mr. Weeks exercises his right of fran-
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chise in support of the men and measures of the Democracy, and socially he is con- nected with Lafayette Lodge, No. 12, I. O. O. F., at Orange. He was married on the 20th of February, 1888, to Miss Mary E. Donahue, and they now have one child, Henry Edward, who was born on the 4th of January, 1889. They attend the Grace Episcopal church and are widely and favor- ably known in this community, having gained many warm friends during their residence here.
JAMES A. MCCARTHY
is one of the leading citizens of Newark who has attained a distinct recognition for services performed by him in advancing the welfare and prosperity of his home city, and who has been prominently identified with public affairs ever since reaching man- hood's estate. He was born in Newark on the 3Ist of July, 1866, and is a son of Mich- ael and Mary A. (Cleary) McCarthy, both of whom were natives of Ireland. His edu- cation was acquired in the parochial schools attached to St. James' church, in the city of his nativity, and after finishing there he began to learn the plumber's trade, at the age of seventeen, working at that vocation for five years, at the end of that time em- barking in business for himself in the twelfth ward, at the corner of Bowery and Richard streets, where he has since coll- tinued, meeting with that success that in- variably attends industry, perseverance and an integrity of character that gains for its possessor the confidence and respect of all with whom he comes in contact.
Mr. McCarthy has always taken an active part in politics, and for a number of years he has been a prominent factor in the ranks
of his party. Before he was twenty-two years of age he was tendered the nomina- tion for assemblyman, but declined the honor. In 1895 he was nominated by the Democrats of the fifth ward for alderman, and after a bitter fight was elected by a ma- jority of seventeen votes, being the only new man elected by his party that year, and one of the only two successful candidates on the ticket. That year he served as a member of the committee on printing and stationery, the committee on hospitals, and the committee on elections. During the second year of his term he served on the committees on fire departments, hospitals, and elections. In 1897 Mr. McCarthy was reëlected by a majority of five hundred and forty,-the largest received by any Demo- cratic candidate that year. He is at the present writing chairman of the committee on public buildings, which is the most im- portant committee in the body, as it has charge of the new city hospital now in course of erection, and is also on the com- mittee on fire departments. Mr. McCar- thy is a trustee of the Newark City Home, and is chairman of that institution, this being the second year he has held that posi- tion. He is a member of the St. James Young Men's Christian Association and of the Newark Rowing Club. He is a pro- gressive, energetic young man, well read on matters of current issue, and one of whom the city of Newark may well be proud.
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