USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > Biographical and genealogical history of the city of Newark and Essex County, New Jersey, V. 1 > Part 45
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Mr. Mitchell has a great reputation as a caterer, his meals being celebrated, espe- cially in the lines of poultry and game.
Personally, Mr. Mitchell is a gentleman well adapted for the business in which he is engaged. He possesses that genial, cordial
manner, generosity and hospitality, which from the beginning insured his success in the hotel business. He is married and has three children, John, Jessie and James.
WILLIAM C. NICOLL.
The progenitor of the Nicoll family in America was Matthias Nicoll, who came from England in 1630, locating in Islip, Long Island, where he passed the remain- der of his days and where some of his de- scendants have continued to reside. The father of our subject is the only member of the family who came to New Jersey, and he settled in Newark in 1871, since which time he has continued to make this city his home. He married Miss Catherine Crue, who was born in New York, a daugh- ter of Mangles Crue, the family being of German origin and of excellent stock. The paternal grandmother of our subject was a Miss Platt, who was related to General Der- ring, of Revolutionary fame. From the foregoing it will be seen that Mr. Nicoll's ancestral history is of the highest order and one of which he may feel justly proud.
The literary educational discipline of William C. Nicoll was carried on in the pub- lic and high schools of Newark, being grad- uated at the latter in 1890, after which he decided to devote his energies to studying the legal profession, and with this object in view he entered the Columbia Law School, where he obtained his degree of Bachelor of Law in 1893, and in the following year he was admitted to the bar of New Jersey, since which time he has continued in the successful practice of his chosen profession and has attained a distinct prestige in the legal fraternity of his home city.
In his political affiliations Mr. Nicoll
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gives his entire support to the Democratic party. Such was the popularity achieved by him that in 1896 he was nominated for the state legislature, and although defeated, he received the highest number of votes cast for any candidate on his ticket. His social adherency is with the Jeffersonian Club, of Newark. Mr. Nicoll is a bright, energetic and progressive young man, an attorney of undoubted ability and possessing natural qualifications for his calling, and there is every prospect of a brilliant career before him.
Mr. Nicoll consummated his marriage in 1897, when he became united to Miss Grace G. Kane, daughter of ex-Police Com- missioner Kane of Newark. Mr. and Mrs. Nicoll are both favorites in the society of their home city and enjoy the highest es- teem of a large coterie of friends.
EDWARD L. DOBBINS
is one of the leaders in insurance circles in America, being now secretary and treas- urer of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, of Newark, New Jersey. That one attains to leadership in such a line at once indicates the possession of superior business, executive and mental ability. The men who have achieved success are those that venture beyond the old trodden paths and carry their enterprise into new fields. This has been done by the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, one of the most reliable and profitable companies in the country, and not a little of its prosperity is due to the enterprising, progressive efforts of the gentleman whose name introduces this review.
Mr. Dobbins was born near Mount Holly, Burlington county, New Jersey, on
the 29th of July, 1838, and is a son of Sam- uel A. Dobbins, at one time a member of congress from the second district of New Jersey. He was also a prominent member of the lower house of the state legislature and served as sheriff of Burlington county. In politics he was an ardent Republican, and his strong individuality, many excel- lencies of character and broad understand- ing of the questions and issues of the day led to his selection as a leader of the Re- publican forces in Burlington, his native county. Farming was his occupation and he followed that pursuit throughout his entire life. He was a son of Samuel Dob- bins, Sr., also a farmer and for many years one of Burlington county's most esteemed citizens. The Dobbins family is of Irish extraction and its first settlement in New Jersey is antedated by that of few families. The mother of our subject was a daughter of Aaron Harker, a prominent farmer of Burlington county and also a representa- tive of one of the oldest and most influen- tial families of the state.
Edward L. Dobbins, the second of thir- teen children, was reared on his father's farm in the county of his nativity, and was educated in Pennington Seminary. Deter- mining to enter the legal profession, he became a law student in the office of the Hon. John L. N. Stratten, member of con- gress, at Mount Holly, under whose direc- tion he continued his reading for four years. In 1866 he was graduated at the Albany Law School, of Albany, New York, and was admitted to the bar in New Jer- sey, in 1867. He soon afterward located in Newark, where he practiced law until the Ist of June, 1871, when he accepted the responsible position of assistant secretary of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance
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Company. Upon the resignation of Ed- ward A. Strong, the former secretary, he succeeded to that office; and upon the death of Theodore Macknet, the treasurer, the duties of that position were also given into his keeping. If he were not a man of broad capability and splendid executive power he could not handle the voluminous business which now comes within his no- tice; but he is equal to the heavy labors that devolve upon him, and in their fulfill- ment has contributed not a little to the success of the company.
Mr. Dobbins is equally true and faithful to his duties of citizenship, and in military and civic service has manifested his patri- otic devotion to his country. In Septem- ber, 1862, he joined the United States vol- unteers as a member of Company I, Twen- ty-sixth New Jersey Infantry, for nine months. He entered the service as a pri- vate, but before going to the front was made quartermaster sergeant, later was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant of Company I, then became first lieutenant of Company D, and, on account of wounds which his captain sustained, commanded the company at the battle of Chancellors- ville. He also participated in the battle of Fredericksburg. In 1867 he was assistant secretary of the New Jersey state senate, and for about seven years was a member of the Newark board of education, serving as its president five years, but resigned in the spring of 1881, on his removal to Mor- ristown, where he has since made his home.
Mr. Dobbins was married in 1865 to Miss Anna M. Alcott, and they became the parents of five children, two of whom are now deceased. The only son, Harry A., died April 8, 1897, at the age of twenty- six years, after a very brief illness. He ac-
quired a good education, was admitted to the bar and practiced law for two years. He possessed strong mental endowments and intellectual vigor, was a thorough law student and had oratorical ability of a high order. With such qualifications, com- bined with energy, it seemed that a bril- liant future lay before him, but death ter- minated the youthful career and brought unspeakable sorrow into the household. The surviving children are three daugh- ters: Irene H., Viola and Jane A. Mr. Dobbins, his wife and daughters are all members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he has served as superintend- ยท ent of the Sunday-school for more than fifteen years and as trustee throughout that period. He is also a member of the mis- sionary board of the church, a trustee of the Drew Theological Seminary, at Madi- son, the Syracuse University and the Cen- tenary Collegiate Institute in Hagerstown, New Jersey.
JOHN G. TRUSDELL.
Among the distinctively representative and well known citizens of Essex county there are, perhaps, none more worthy of mention in this compilation than he whose name initiates this paragraph. For nearly forty years he has resided in this county and borne a conspicuous part in public af- fairs, and his life has been directed with en- ergy and enterprise and with noble purpose and endeavor. Born and reared on a farm, there he learned the first principles of in- dustry and gained his first ideas of the per- severance by means of which he has in the main accomplished success in life.
John G. Trusdell was born in Vernon township, Sussex county, New Jersey, on
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the 22d of May, 1831, and is a son of Jesse and Christiania Jane (Giveans) Trusdell. The paternal grandfather was Stephen Trusdell, who served through the period of the Revolutionary war and lived to the ven- erable age of one hundred and one years. He was a native of New Jersey, his ances- tors coming from Providence, Rhode Isl- and, who were originally from either Eng- land or France. The maternal grandfather of our subject came from the north of Ire- land and settled in Sussex county, New Jersey. The members of this branch of the family were in their religious faith adherents of the Quaker Methodist church.
Mr. Trusdell worked on the farm and at- tended the district schools until the fall of 1845, when he was engaged to teach the school in the district where he was born. He continued to teach school and to study under the Rev. J. M. Barlow (as tutor) until the spring of 1850, when he went to New York city, where he was engaged as salesman and bookkeeper in a mercantile establishment till 1860, when he entered the law office of the late Judge C. L. C. Gifford, of Newark; but in 1864, becoming interest- ed in some large real-estate transactions, which occupied him for several years, he did not apply for admission to the bar until 1872, when he was admitted as an attorney at law in the supreme court of New Jersey, and three years later as a counselor at law. Soon after his admission to the bar he be- came associated with his former preceptor, Judge Gifford, in the practice of law, under the firm name of Gifford & Trusdell, the partnership continuing until the death of the former, since which time Mr. Trusdell has practiced alone.
Being active in politics, as a Democrat, Mr. Trusdell became in the fall of 1863, a
candidate for state senator from Essex county, to which honorable preferment he was elected and served for the term of three years. He was appointed by Mayor Haynes. as one of the three arbitrators to settle the dispute as to the liability, to the city of Newark, of the bondsmen of the defaulting. clerk (Hall) in the city comptroller's office. The majority of the arbitrators held that the bondsmen were not liable, but Mr. Trusdell was of the opposite opinion and wrote a. strong dissenting opinion to that effect.
In 1890 our subject was by Governor Abbett appointed one of the commissioners on what was known as the "Sea Girt com- mission," to condemn the land taken by the state at Sea Girt for a military encamp- ment, and to fix the value for the same and adjust the matter between the rival claim- ants of said land. In 1891 he was appointed by Governor Abbett as judge of the first. district court of the city of Newark, New Jersey, for a term of five years, from April Ist, 1891, to April Ist, 1896, the full length. of which term he served, gaining for him- self a most excellent reputation. Judge: Trusdell is regarded as one of the ablest of his profesison in the state, and is held in. the highest esteem and respect by his breth- ren of the legal fraternity.
Fourteen children were born to the par- ents of our subject, three of whom died in: infancy, and of those who survive the fol- lowing record is given: Of the sons, be- sides the subject of this sketch, Bernard H .. a retired lawyer, now residing at Warwick, Orange county, New York; Abram K., a legal practitioner of Dixon, Illinois; War- ren, a broker of Newark; Samuel G., who is in business in New York; George R., a dentist, living at Hancock, New York; an 1 the following five daughters : Christiana J ...
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wife of Harrison De Kay, now living at Denver, Colorado; Mary E., wife of James T. Wisner; Lucretia, widow of George Brink; Amanda H., wife of John Sayer, all now living at Warwick, Orange county, New York; and Florence S., wife of Will- iam De Graw, now living at Homestead Station, Hudson county, New Jersey.
Mr. Trusdell was first married on Decem- ber 10, 1853, to Miss Catherine Decker, of Deckertown, New Jersey, and she died in March, 1858, leaving two children, Ade- laide E., who married Dr. H. H. Chase, of Duluth, Minnesota; and another, who died in infancy. The second marriage of our subject occurred on the 9th of April, 1859. when he was united to Miss Mary A. Adams, of Deckertown, and nine children have been the issue of this union, four of whom died at an early age.
Touching upon the social side of Mr. Trusdell's life, we may state that he became affiliated with the Masonic fraternity in 1860, when he was made a Master Mason and member of Northern Lodge No. 25, of Newark, New Jersey. Afterwards, in 1865, he was a charter member of Hope Lodge No. 124, at East Orange, and was exalted to the august degree of a Royal Arch Mason in Harmony Chapter, of New- ark, New Jersey. He is also a member of Newark City Council No. 494, Royal Ar- canum, and of the New Jersey Historical Society.
EDMUND CONDIT.
The records of the lives of our ancestors are of interest to the modern citizen, not alone for their historical value, but also for the inspiration and example they afford; yet we need not look to the past. Al-
though surroundings may differ the essen- tial conditions of human life are ever the same, and a man may learn from the suc- cess of those about him if he will but heed the obvious lessons of their lives. The name borne by the subject of this review is one which has been long and intimately identified with the annals of the state of New Jersey, and he may well take pride in the fact that he is himself a native son of the county in which he has lived and la- bored to so goodly ends.
Edmund Condit was born on the 10th of January, 1834, in Orange (now West Orange), Essex county, New Jersey, being the son of Ambrose and Ann (Gould) Con- dit, the former of whom was likewise a na- tive of Orange, where he was born in the year 1794. The mother was born in Cald- well, in the year 1802. The Condit family has figured in the history of Essex county from an early day and to the state has con- tributed men of sterling character and marked ability. In other sections of this volume many incidental references are made to the family. The father of our sub- ject entered into eternal rest in 1876, the mother's death having occurred in 1846.
The youth of Edmund Condit was passed on the old homestead farm, where he waxed strong under the sturdy dis- cipline and incidentally gained a lasting ap- preciation of the dignity of honest toil. He secured his initial educational discipline in the district schools, after which he sup- plemented the instruction thus secured and assimilated, by completing a thorough course of study in the excellent academy of Warren Halt, at Montclair, New Jersey. After leaving school he returned to his home and renewed his identification with agricultural pursuits, which he continued
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Edmund Doudet 1
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to follow until he had attained the age of forty years, when he was called upon to de- vote his attention to service in the public behoof. He has been an uncompromising and consistent Democrat in his political adherency, and that his abilities and party fealty have been duly appreciated is evident from the fact that he has been called upon to serve in various offices of distinct pub- lic trust and responsibility. In 1862 he was elected township clerk and retained this incumbency for a period of four years, when he was elected a committeeman of the township, his tenure of this office con- tinuing through a full decade, showing in unmistakable way the esteem and confi- dence in which he is held by the people of the community, irrespective of political af- filiations. During his term as committee- man he was also the incumbent as township treasurer. He was a member of the board of chosen freeholders of Essex county for three years, was assessor for about ten years, and has been consecutively retained in public office of a local nature. In 1868 Mr. Condit was elected justice of the peace, and has ever since been the incumbent of this office,-his term having now extended over a period of more than a quarter of a century. He is also police justice of West Orange and is a notary public and commis- sioner of deeds. He has been signally faithful to every trust reposed in him, has rendered most efficient service and is wide- ly known and uniformly honored for his in- herent honesty of purpose and unswerving integrity in all the relations of life.
In the year 1857 was consummated the marriage of Mr. Condit to Miss Caroline Baldwin, a daughter of Jacob V. Baldwin and a member of the Baldwin family whose history has been inseparably linked with
that of Essex county from the colonial epoch. Of this marriage two children were born : Anna J., who is the wife of Clarence E. Headen, principal of the high school at Caldwell, this county; and Herbert W., who married Miss Amy L. Meeker, daugh- ter of Alfred Meeker, of Orange, by whom he has a daughter, Lillian.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Condit are devoted and zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in whose work they have maintained a lively and abiding interest. Mr. Condit is a steward of the local body of this denomination and is known and honored as an upright, public-spirited citi- zen and as one who, in an unostentatious way, has made each day of his long and ac- tive life count for some good to those about him. To such a one respect and high esteem are never denied, and such a life must ever bear its lesson and incentive.
THE HARRIS FAMILY
is one which has long been resident in America and which has figured prominent -. ly here. The name Harris is of Welsh ori- gin and means "the son of Harry," Harry being a nickname for Henry. The latter, as a Christian name, is given by Webster as being of "Old High German" origin, meaning "the head or chief of a house."
Colonel Frederick Halsey Harris, of whom we would speak more especially in this connection, is the eldest son of Will- iam H. and Phoebe H. (Baldwin) Harris, and was born in Newark, New Jersey, March 7, 1830. Moses Harris, the grand- father of Colonel Harris, was a resident of Morrisania, New York, and was prob- ably a descendant of Robert Harris, who came from Gloucestershire. England, be-
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fore 1642 and settled in Roxbury, Massa- chusetts. Descendants of this family moved first to Springfield, Massachusetts, thence to Westchester county, New York.
William H., the father of Colonel F. H. Harris, married Miss Phoebe H. Baldwin, daughter of Robert, the son of Zadock Baldwin, who served in the New Jersey militia in the Revolution. Her mother was Mary Gould, daughter of General William Gould, a soldier of the Revolution. Gen- eral Gould's wife was a sister of Major Nathaniel Crane, son of Noah, son of Na- thaniel, son of Azariah 2d, son of Azariah Ist, who purchased previous to 1680 the large tract of land known subsequently as Cranetown or West Bloomfield. William H. Harris was born in New York city, and removed with his father, Moses, to New- ark, about 1804, when he was a few weeks old. He was an architect and builder, and carried on business for some years in New- ark. About 1842 he purchased a quarry at Little Falls, New Jersey. He furnished the stone for the construction of Trinity church, New York; and from' the Little Falls quarry and his quarries at Newark he supplied the stone for St. George's church and public buildings of New York; also for Boston and other places. Disposing of his quarry interests in 1853, he bought one hundred acres in West Bloomfield (now Montclair) formerly known as Cranetown, it being a part of the original purchase of Azariah Crane, and by him left in trust at his death for the support of the ministers of the first Presbyterian church in West Bloomfield. The boundaries began about two hundred yards east of the Orange road and extended to the top of the mountain. Mr. Harris laid out the property and cut the streets and avenues which were run
through it. He occupied the positions of chosen freeholder, United States govern- ment assessor, director of the Newark &. Bloomfield Railroad, in which he took an active part, especially the negotiation be- tween the Morris & Essex Railroad Com- pany and the Newark & Bloomfield Com- pany, which resulted in the building of the latter road; and was trustee of the Presby- terian church for several years. He died in June, 1887, leaving issue as follows : Frederick Halsey, Mary C., William J., Frances C. and Robert B.
Frederick Halsey Harris received his pre- paratory education in private and boarding schools and intended to enter Princeton College, there to prepare himself for the practice of medicine. Owing, however, to his father's ill health, he abandoned his stud- ies at that time and devoted his attention to assisting his father in the extensive quar- ry business above referred to. After his. father sold the Little Falls quarry, young Harris continued in the employ of the com- pany that had purchased it. He moved to- Montclair in 1853, and continued in that business until 1858. A professional life,. however, was the one upon which he had set his heart, and, having some years before given up the study of medicine, he now turned his attention to the law. He was. admitted to the bar in 1862.
Shortly after this he commenced raising a company for the war,-Company E,- which formed a part of the Thirteenth Regi- ment, New Jersey Volunteers, and of which he was made captain. Just before he left for the war he was presented with a sword by the citizens of Montclair, the speech being made by Julius H. Pratt, Esq. There. was inscribed on it the following: "Pre- sented to Captain Frederick H. Harris by
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his friends, Montclair, N. J., August 21, 1862." With the exception of the battle of Antietam, when he was on the sick list, Col- onel Harris was with his regiment in every engagement in which it participated. It was attached to the First Division, Twelfth Army Corps. He took part in the battle of Chancellorsville, May 1, 2 and 3, 1863; Get- tysburg, July 1, 2 and 3, 1863; and in the autumn following, his regiment, as a part of the Twelfth Army Corps, was sent west to join the Army of the Cumberland, and par- ticipated in the several engagements of Sherman's campaign, including his famous "march to the sea" and his campaign through the Carolinas with the Twentieth Corps, which was made up by the consoli- dation of the Eleventh and. Twelfth Corps. He was commissioned major, August 16, 1864, and on the 12th of October following he was placed in command of the regiment as senior officer, owing to the illness of the lieutenant-colonel, the colonel having been placed in command of the brigade.
At the battle of Bentonville, fought March 19, 1865, "his regiment held the key to the situation," and he distinguished him- self by his coolness and the splendid man- ner in which he handled his men, under the most trying circumstances. John Y. Fos- ter, in his "History of the New Jersey Troops in the War," gives a minute de- scription of the part taken by the Thirteenth in this battle; and from him we quote the following: "The action in this, the last bat- tle of the war, was, throughout, of the most gallant character. Had the regiment failed to hold its position, either through in- capacity on the part of its officers or want of steadiness among the men; had the line given way under pressure of the stragglers from the front and fallen in the ebbing tide,
the battle must inevitably have been lost and the final victory over Johnston's army delayed, perhaps, for weeks." The regi- ment was highly complimented by corps, division and brigade commanders. Colonel Hawley, commanding the brigade, said : "You are entitled to the thanks of this whole army, for you have saved it." In re- ply to Lieutenant Colonel Harris, who asked for orders, he said: "I have no orders to give, for I know you will hold your position without." General N. J. Jack- son, commanding the division, upon hearing of the action of Colonel Harris, and the Thir- teenth Regiment, and in his official report of the battle said: "The officers and men deserve especial mention for their gallantry in holding an exposed position on which in a great measure depended the fortunes of the day," and further remarked at the time, in reference to the action of Lieuten- ant Colonel Harris: "He ought to be bre- vetted a brigadier general for that."
Major Harris had been promoted Lieu- tenant Colonel previous to the battle, but his commission had not reached him. On the 26th of March following he was regu- larly mustered in as lieutenant colonel, and continued in that capacity until mustered out of the service. He was twice brevetted, once for gallant and meritorious service in Georgia and the Carolinas, and again for his gallantry at the battle of Bentonville.
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