USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > Biographical and genealogical history of the city of Newark and Essex County, New Jersey, V. 1 > Part 29
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The immediate subject of this review be- longs to the Stoughton or Canton branch of the Gill family, the progenitor of the division thus designated having been John Gill, who was a resident of Salisbury, Mas- sachusetts, in 1638. On the 3d of May, 1645, he married Phebe, daughter of Isaac Buswell, and their children were as follows : Elizabeth, born January 8, 1646; John, born October 10, 1647; Phebe, born Jan- uary 6, 1650; Samuel, born January 5, 1652; Sarah, born June 27, 1654; Moses, born December 26, 1656; Benjamin and Isaac.
Moses Gill (1), son of John and Phebe (Buswell) Gill, figures in the direct ances- tral line of the subject of this sketch. On March 25, 1678, he took the oath of fidelity, in company with his brother Samuel, and he became one of the original settlers of Stoughton, now known as Canton, Massa- chusetts. He received his lease from the Indians on the 23d of March, 1705, and his death occurred prior to 1716. He married Sarah, daughter of Isaac and Mary Estey, of Topsfield, Massachusetts. Mary Estey was one of the unfortunate victims of that fanatical and iniquitous institution desig- nated as the Salem witchcraft, and was brutally tortured until death finally released her from her suffering. The heroism of her martyrdom was unmistakable, as is evident from the fact that she refused to plead
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guilty to the impious charge made against her. The children of Moses and Sarah (Estey) Gill were two sons and two daugh- ters, the sons being Moses and Benjamin.
Moses Gill (2), son of Moses and Sarah (Estey) Gill, was born about the last year of the seventeenth century. He was the first representative-1731-3-to the gen- eral court, which was incorporated in 1726, and was again called to serve in this ca- pacity in 1737. Subsequently he attained still greater distinction, having been lieu- tenant-governor and governor of the com- monwealth of Massachusetts. He had no children, but adopted a son of his brother, Benjamin Gill, who was born about 170I. He married Abigail Fales, and after her death was united to Abigail Fisher, who bore him a son, Benjamin.
Colonel Benjamin Gill, son of Benjamin and Abigail (Fisher) Gill, was born at Can- ton, Massachusetts, on the 2d of June, 1730, and his death occurred April 23, 1807. On the 9th of January, 1752, he married Bethia Wentworth, who was born June 23, 1732, and who died March 22, 1817. He was actively concerned in all affairs touching the welfare of the community, and was par- ticularly prominent in church work. He was a deacon, 1768; selectman, 1776, and also represented his town in the general court. In 1766 he was lieutenant of militia. was made captain in 1773, and in Novem- ber, 1774, was elected lieutenant-colonel of the regiment commanded by Leonard Rob- inson, while in the succeeding year he was elected colonel, which represented the high- est military rank in the town. He was present with his regiment at the battle of Bemis Heights and at the surrender of Burgoyne, distinguishing himself for gal- lant service and effective manipulation of
his command. Upon his return home the gallant Continental patriot gave a grand dinner at his house to the officers of his regiment, the leading citizens of the town being among the invited guests. Colonel Benjamin and Bethia (Wentworth) Gill became the parents of the following named children, the respective dates of birth being given in the connection: Elijah, 1752; Rebecca, 1755; Bethuah, 1758; Benjamin, 1760; Sarah, 1762; Catharine, 1764; Sarah (2), 1767; Polly, 1769; John, 1772.
John Gill, the youngest child of Colonel Benjamin and Bethia (Wentworth) Gill, was born in Canton, Massachusetts, in March, 1772, and his death occurred on the 19th of April, 1816. He married Mary Withington, and among his children were four sons-Ira, Howard, Nathan and Charles. Ira Gill, son of John and Mary (Withington) Gill, was born at Canton, Massachusetts, in the year 1799. At an early age he removed to Walpole, a sub- division of the old town of Dedham, Massa- chusetts, and there became an apprentice at the trade of hat-making, in which indus- trial line he was destined to attain the most pronounced prestige and distinction. He eventually engaged in business for himself, and in 1823 began the manufacture of fur- napped hats, subsequently adopting fur felt. He was the successor of Rand & Hooper, and in 1804 figured as the oldest living manufacturer in the town, while his con- cern had gained rank as the second largest manufacturers of hats in the entire Union. He was the inventor of the hat-forming machine which bears his name, and through the medium of this ingenious and valuable device the work of manufacturing of fur hats was greatly facilitated and the production correspondingly increased. Ira
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Gill was a man of distinct individuality and marked business discrimination, being broad and liberal in his ideas and progres- sive in his methods. It is an undoubted fact that he contributed more to the ad- vancement of the hat industry than any other one man of his period. He married Caroline, daughter of Uriah Billings, of Walpole, Massachusetts.
John Gill, son of Ira and Caroline (Bil- lings) Gill, was born in Walpole, Massa- chusetts, on the 28th of November, 1835. He received his early educational discipline in the public and private schools of his native town. Having a distinctive predi- lection for business, Mr. Gill determined not to enter college, but to forthwith iden- tify himself with the practical affairs of life. Thus upon attaining his legal majority he became associated with his father in the manufacture of hats, and later in hat form- ing-an industry with which the name was then and has ever since been prominently identified. Mr. Gill has been a resident of Orange, New Jersey, for a full quarter of a century, and has been most conspicuously concerned in all that touches the prosperity and substantial upbuilding and improve- ment of the place. He located in Orange in the year 1872, and to-day he is recog- nized as not only one of the representative business men of Essex county, but his ability and his interest in public affairs have brought him prominently forward in posi- tions of high public trust and responsibility. He has proved himself ever equal to the duties imposed, and his character has been such as to command the confidence and unequivocal esteem of the local public. Upon coming to Orange Mr. Gill became associated with his brother in the establish- ment of a hat-forming shop on Lumber
street, now Essex avenue, the business being conducted under the firm name of J. & G. H. Gill. His brother retired in 1892, since which time the enterprise has been conducted by our subject individually.
For more than two decades has Mr. Gill been prominent in the public affairs of Orange. He served ten years as a member of the board of education, filling an un- expired term as president of this body. He represented his district in the state legisla- ture for four terms-1879-80 and 1883-8- and here he exerted a strong influence and did much to further wise and effective leg- islation. In the spring of 1894 he received the Republican nomination for mayor of the city of Orange, and achieved a note- worthy victory at the polls, leading his Democratic opponent by eight hundred votes, representing a gain of twelve hun- dred, since the normal Democratic ma- jority in the city was about four hundred. In reviewing his career, at the time of his initial nomination for the mayorality, the Orange Journal speaks as follows: "As a school commissioner he was indefatigable in his efforts to improve the schools of the city, and made one of the best members who ever sat in the board. As assembly- man Mr. Gill served the district he repre- sented with conspicuous ability and con- stant fidelity; no member of the Essex county. delegation stood higher than did he. He also gave much labor and thought to the introduction of the water supply of this city, as one of the water commissioners, and the economical way in which that great public improvement was made-the work having been done well within the estimate -contrasts strongly with the introduction of the sewer system, which cost nearly twice the original estimate. Mr. Gill is, there-
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fore, eminently fitted for the office to which he has been nominated. His long residence and successful business career in this city, his experience on the board of education, and his legislative experience fit him ad- mirably to discharge the duties of mayor in a way to conserve the highest welfare of the city." That the endorsement accorded his nomination was fully justified has been shown by results, and the appreciation of his able administration was shown most conclusively by his being chosen as his own successor as the city's chief executive in the spring of 1896. A recent publication speaks of his work and policy as follows: "Since the incorporation of Orange as a town, January 31, 1860, its affairs have never been administered in a more businesslike or satisfactory manner than during the past two years, ending April, 1896. Mayor Gill, although the nominee of the Republican party, has won the respect of his fellow citizens by his fearless, impartial and con- scientious discharge of the duties of his office." It is singularly characteristic of the man that throughout his entire life, whatsoever his hand has found to do, whether in his business, his official duties, or in any other sphere, he has done with all his might and with a deep sense of conscientious obligation. While not with- out that honorable ambition which is so powerful and useful as an incentive to activity in public affairs, he has ever re- garded the pursuits of private life as being in themselves abundantly worthy of his best efforts.
Mr. Gill is an attendant and trustee of the old First Presbyterian church of Orange. Fraternally he is identified with that time-honored order, Freemasonry, being a member of Union Lodge, A. F. &
A. M., and retaining his capitular member- ship in Orange Chapter, Royal Arch Masons.
In the year 1861 was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Gill to Miss Ellen Metcalf, daughter of David Metcalf, of Wrentham, Massachusetts. The American progenitor of the Metcalf family was Michael Metcalf, who was born in Tallerford, county of Norfolk, England, in 1586. He emi- grated to the American colonies and was admitted a townsman at Dedham, Massa- chusetts, July 14, 1637, joined the church two years later, and was made selectman in 1641. His name appears first on the committee chosen to "contrive the fabricke of a meeting house." Mr. and Mrs. Gill are the parents of three children-Emlyn and George, who are the founders and pro- prietors of the Gill Engraving Company, in Orange; and Rev. Charles Gill, who is a graduate of Yale and who is now a mis- sionary to China.
JOHN C. HANSON
is the senior member of the firm of Han- son & Son, leading contractors and build- ers of West Orange. He was born in the town of Oldenburg, Holstein, Germany, July 31, 1838, and is a son of Claus and Mary (Blesmer) Hanson, whose family of eight children was as follows: Dertlef, a schoolteacher in one of the towns of Hol- stein, Dorothea, Marcus, Margaret, John C., Augustus, Henry, and one who died in childhood. The father of this family died in 1845, at the age of forty-seven years, and the mother afterward married Henry Wachtegale, by whom she had two chil- dren,-Augusta and Henry. Her death
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occurred at the advanced age of seventy- four years.
Mr. Hanson, whose name heads this re- view, acquired his education in the district schools of his native town, and at the age of sixteen entered upon his business career as an apprentice at the cabinet-maker's trade, serving for a three-years term. He followed that business for twenty-two years and was then drafted into the army, remaining in the military service for six- teen months. On the expiration of that period he resumed work as a cabinet- maker, to which industry he devoted his attention for a considerable time. At the age of twenty-eight years he was united in marriage to Miss Mollie Mentzel, daugh- ter of Daniel H. Mentzel, the wedding be- ing celebrated on the 16th of May, 1866.
Soon afterward Mr. Hanson started with his bride for the New World, landing at New York on the 21st of July, of that year. He soon found work at his trade and finally located in Orange, where he worked at cabinet-making for two years. He then turned his attention to carpenter- ing, which he followed in the employ of others until 1886, when he entered into partnership with John Helbeck as a con- tractor and builder, under the firm name of Hanson & Helbeck. They located in West Orange and carried on business for a year, when the connection was discontinued and Mr. Helbeck was succeeded by Mr. Han- son's son, under the firm name of John C. Hanson & Son. They have taken many contracts for the erection of substantial and leading buildings in this locality and their patronage has been extensive and their business profitable. In 1891 Mr. Hanson built a saw and planing mill, and the branch of industry connected with this es-
tablishment has largely facilitated their business and added considerably to their income.
Mr. Hanson also erected a pleasant and commodious residence, supplied with all modern improvements. The home was blessed by the presence of three children, but the first born died in early life. John, who is in partnership with his father, was married January 16, 1897, to Christina North. Max, who is employed by Charles M. Decker & Brothers in the capacity of shipping clerk, was married in 1897 to Fannie Hoffman. The parents hold a membership in the North Orange Baptist church, and in his political views Mr. Han- son is a Republican, but the honors or emoluments of public office have had no attraction for him. He prefers to devote his time and energies to his business inter- ests, and in the legitimate channels of trade has won a creditable success. He started out in life empty-handed but with resolute purpose and strong determination to win a competence. He is truly a self-made man and the prosperity which he has achieved is the logical sequence of well directed and honorable effort.
FRANZ BERG.
In the anxious and laborious struggle for an honorable competence and solid career on the part of the average business man fighting the every-day battle of life there is but little to attract the idle reader in search of a sensational chapter; but for a mind thoroughly awake to the reality and mean- ing of human existence there are noble and immortal lessons in the life of the man who, without other means than a clear head, a strong arm and a true heart, conquers for-
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tune and gains not only the temporal re- wards for his toil, but also that which is greater and higher, the respect and esteem of those with whom his years of active life have placed him in contact. America is distinctively a cosmopolitan nation : she has drawn from the four quarters of the world and rapidly assimilated the heterogeneous elements. To no country does she, how- ever, owe more than to Germany, from whose provinces have come men of sturdy integrity, determined purpose and marked mental vigor-men who are both builders and conservators. The German-American is in the average case imbued most thor- oughly with the spirit of our national in- stitutions and brings to bear his strength of manhood to perpetuate and advance the higher interests of the republic.
The subject of this review is known and honored as one of the representative and public-spirited citizens of Orange, where he is now living in practical retirement after a long and successful career in the world of active business. He has been a resident of Orange for more than a quarter of a cen- tury and has had an abiding and practical interest in all that has touched the pros- perity and consecutive advancement of this favored section of Essex county. Born in Hessen, Germany, on the 3d of March, 1849, he received his educational discipline in the excellent schools of the fatherland, after which he turned his attention to the practical affairs of life by engaging himself to learn the hatter's trade. He had not, however, completed his apprenticeship, and was but a youth of eighteen years, when he decided to sever the tender ties which bound him to his home, and to seek a broader field for individual effort in the United States. Arriving here he entered
the hat-manufactory of his uncle, Frederick Berg, at Orange Valley, this county, and under his effective direction became a skilled workman, familiar with all details of a business which has long figured as one of the most important industrial enterprises of Essex county. He remained with his uncle for twenty-two years, and he was for seven years the foreman of the manufac- tory. In 1875 he was admitted to a full partnership in one of the most extensive manufactories of the sort in the Union, and he continued in this connection until 1889, when he located in Newark, where he was engaged in a similar line of enterprise for a period of four years, after which he retired from active business life and is now enjoy- ing the fruits of his former toil.
Mr. Berg became a resident of Orange in 1867, and for many years he has taken a distinctive interest in public affairs of a local nature, being stanchly arrayed in the support of the principles and policies ad- vanced by the Republican party, and hav- ing labored zealously for its cause. In 1896 he was elected alderman from the fourth ward, whose normal political com- plexion has always been strongly Demo- cratic-a circumstance which bears ample testimony as to his personal popularity and to the respect and confidence in which he is held in the community. Mr. Berg is presi- dent of the German-English school at Orange, is a member of the Orange Valley Army Corps, and in his fraternal relations is identified with the Masonic order, being a member of Corinthian Lodge, No. 57, A. F. & A. M. and of Orange Chapter, No. 23, R. A. M., of Orange.
In the year 1872 Mr. Berg was united in marriage to Miss Margaretta G. Gruner, a daughter of George F. Gruner, of New
14
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York, where she was born. Mr. and Mrs. Berg are the parents of the following named children : Matilda, Maria, Annie, Joseph, Graugott, and Alexander. Our subject and his wife are members of the Orange Valley Congregational church, and their attractive home is a center of sincere and gracious hospitality.
LESLIE DODD WARD.
Leslie Dodd Ward bears the names of two of the early settlers of the town of Newark, the records of which afford abun- dant evidence of their important services in building up the settlement, and making it ultimately the foremost city in New Jer- sey. His earliest ancestor in this state was Josiah, son of George, of Branford, and the first, traditionally, to place foot on shore at the landing of the pilgrims on the Passaic.
The father of the subject of this sketch was Moses Dodd Ward, who, in the early part of the present century, removed to Madison, in Morris county, New Jersey, where Leslie Dodd Ward was born, July I, 1845. In his native place the lad re- ceived his preliminary education, and sub- sequently became a pupil in the old and famous academy at Newark, New Jersey, with a view to a preparation in this insti- tution for entrance into the College of New Jersey, at Princeton. It was near the close of the summer term of the acad- emy, in June, 1863, that the Confederate army, under General Robert E. Lee, in- vaded Pennsylvania, creating profound and widespreading alarm through the entire northern states. An appeal was made by the governor of Pennsylvania to the gov- ernors of the adjoining states, and in re- sponse thereto the governor of New Jersey
called for volunteers to go to the aid of Pennsylvania in this emergency. In an- swer to this call eleven companies, consist- ing of seven hundred men and officers, went to the seat of war. Among them was the subject of this sketch, as a corporal in Com- pany F, commanded by Captain William J. Roberts. It was a short campaign, and when completed the young soldier returned to his home and the resumption of his academic course. This he continued to pursue with so much credit to himself that at the approaching commencement exer- cises, when he was to be graduated, he was awarded a position of honor among the orators of the occasion. His name was called, and the subject of his oration an- nounced; but while the audience awaited his appearance the master of the academy stepped forward and apologetically stated that young Mr. Ward had just enlisted in the Thirty-seventh Regiment, and that his duties as first sergeant of Company G pre- vented the delivery of his speech. A shout of applause burst from the audience which no speech could ever have elicited. It was a fact that young Ward had, for the second time ere he had reached the age of nine- teen, enlisted as a soldier in the army of the Union. The commander of the regi- ment in which he last served was Colonel E. Burd Grubb, and with him he remained until the regiment was mustered out of ser- vice, in October, 1864.
It was his experience among the sick and the wounded during his term of ser- vice in camp and field that led the young soldier to believe that the life of a physi- cian was one that he ought to adopt. Re- turning to his home fully convinced of this, he entered, after a short rest, the office of Dr. Fisher, a well known
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physician of Morristown, New Jersey, where he began the study of medi- cine. In due time he became a stu- dent in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York city, and was grad- uated at that institution in 1868. Having determined to make Newark the field of professional labors, he became associated in practice at first with Dr. Lott Southard, a well known and esteemed physician of that city. This connection continued for two years, when Dr. Ward opened an office of his own, and soon made himself well and favorably known as a medical practitioner. In 1876 he became a member of the medi- cal board of St. Michael's hospital, the old- est institution of the kind in Newark, and for several years was secretary of this board. He was also visiting surgeon to St. Barna- bas' hospital, a position which he held with credit to himself and with benefit to those who came under his care. In 1877 he was appointed county physician of Essex county, an office which devolved upon him many duties that had been performed prior to 1876 by coroners and magistrates.
In the organization of the Prudential Insurance Company of America Dr. Ward took an early and active part. He was one of its corporators and a member of its first board of managers. As early as October, 1875, when it issued its first policy, he was its medical director, and continued in that position until 1884, when he was chosen its first vice-president. The duties of this office, which are largely of an executive character, he still performs, and it may be truly said that, for its admirable discipline and the promptness with which its daily work is performed, this mammoth institu- tion is greatly indebted to Dr. Ward's ad- mirable executive ability.
Dr. Ward was married March 5, 1874, to Miss Minnie, daughter of James Perry, Esq., of Newark, New Jersey, and by her has two sons. The elder, Leslie P., is a student at Yale University; the younger, Herbert E., is at Harvard.
WILLIAM S. ASHBY,
a public-spirited citizen of Essex county and an agriculturist of advanced ideas, was born in Chatham, Morris county, New Jer- sey, on the 4th of January, 1838, his parents being William and Julia (Spencer) Ashby. The father was a native of Canterbury, Kent county, England, and remained in the land of his birth until attaining his ma- jority, when he came to the United States and located in West Livingston, New Jer- sey, where he engaged in farming. He married Miss Julia Spencer, who was born in Chatham, a daughter of William Spen- cer, an old settler of New Jersey, and of their five children four survive, namely : George, of Millburn; John H., who lives in Nebraska; William S .; and Amelia, the wife of Edward F. Stiles. Mrs. Ashby died in 1843, being survived by her husband until 1880.
William S. Ashby began to earn his own living at the early age of ten years, and was employed at various places until reaching his twenty-first year, when he purchased a farm in Livingston township, which he has continued to improve and upon which he at present resides. He has fifty-seven acres of excellent land and is regarded as one of the progressive farmers of the township.
On the 3d of July. 1859, Mr. Ashby was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Agar, who was born in Ireland and who, when a child, was brought to America by
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her parents, James and Eliza (Whitaker) Agar. They settled in Northfield, Living- ston township, where Mr. Agar engaged in farming, continuing in the same until his death, in 1882, his wife having passed away when Mrs. Ashby was still young. Three children were born to them: John, of East Orange; Thomas, of Newark; and Mary A. Mr. and Mrs. Ashby became the par- ents of the following children : Harvey J., of Honesdale, Pennsylvania; John, of West Orange; Eliza, the wife of J. L. Brown; Affie, the wife of Wallace J. Smith, of Or- ange; William E .; Alfred, who died at the age of twenty ; Lillian died when nine years old; and Julia died at the age of sixteen months.
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