USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > Biographical and genealogical history of the city of Newark and Essex County, New Jersey, V. 1 > Part 67
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78
Dr. Lafon was a man of very quiet and reserved manners, but of strong religious feeling and great decision. Wherever known he was highly respected and es- teemed, as well for his excellent judgment and skill as a physician as for his great kindness and benevolence.
WILLIAM ADEE WHITEHEAD
was born in Newark, New Jersey, February 19, 1810. His father was William White- head, the first cashier of the Newark Bank- ing and Insurance Company, which was the first bank chartered in New Jersey. His mother was Abby Coe, a sister of Aaron Coe, Esq., a highly respected lawyer of Newark. Until the age of fourteen Mr.
495
ESSEX COUNTY.
Whitehead resided with his parents in the town of his birth, enjoying the advantages afforded by its private schools, and espe- cially by the Newark Academy, an institu- tion at that time, as now, of good repute. In 1823 he removed with his parents to Perth Amboy, New Jersey, where Mr. Whitehead, Sr., had been invited to accept the cashiership of the Commercial Bank of New Jersey. Here at an early age he was entrusted by the bank in carrying its dis- patches and "exchanges" to New York, making weekly trips in the steamboat dur- ing the years 1825 to 1828, in which latter year he went to Key West, Florida, as assistant to his brother, John Whitehead, one of the four original proprietors of the island. This island he surveyed, and laid out the town which was built upon it. In 1830, while yet but twenty years of age, he was appointed collector of the port of Key West, and entered upon the duties of that office. In August, 1834, he made a visit to his former home in Amboy, and on this occasion was married to Margaret Eliza- beth, daughter of Hon. James Parker, of that place. Soon after this event he re- turned with his wife to Key West, where he resumed the duties of his position, and where he rapidly rose in public estimation by reason of his energy and zeal in every- thing that tended to advance the prosper- ity of the community in which he resided. He became in time a member of the town council, and afterward mayor of the city. The first church of the place numbers him among its founders, and it was here that he began those meteorological observations which he continued ever afterwards, wher- ever he resided, and for the last forty years of his life in Newark, New Jersey. At Key West he also showed a great interest
in educational matters, and was instrumen- tal in the establishment of a newspaper in that place. A point of the island and one of the streets of the town perpetuate his memory.
On the Ist of July, 1838, Mr. Whitehead resigned his office of collector of the port of Key West, and repaired to New York, in order to engage in business in that city. For several years he was in Wall street, and then for some time with the Astor Insur- ance Company. Subsequently he became treasurer of the New York and Harlem Railroad Company, and afterward was connected for many years with the New Jersey Railroad, at Jersey City.
In Newark, as well as at Key West, Mr. Whitehead manifested a great interest in the cause of learning. From 1861 to 1873, inclusive, he was a member of the board of education of the former place, and during the year 1871 was president of that body. For many years he was one of the trustees of the State Normal School, and was very active in promoting the welfare of that in- stitution. At the time of his death he was a trustee of the Newark Academy. As early as 1846 he became associated with other gentlemen of Newark in the estab- lishment of the Library Association of that city. He was the first secretary of its board of directors, and during the last thirty-two years of his life its presiding officer. Its annual reports were always prepared by him, and all its affairs were made to undergo his closest scrutiny. But the New Jersey Historical Society was, perhaps, to him an object of greater inter- est, and certainly one which afforded him a wider field for the exercise of his wonder- ful industry as a student, as well as of his great facility and pleasing manner as a
-
496
ESSEX COUNTY.
writer. The rooms of the society pos- sessed an attraction for him that was only surpassed by that of his own fireside. Every book upon the shelves of the library seemed to be an intimate and dear friend with whom he delighted to advise and counsel, and no one knew better than he the exact value of their acquaintance. That he understood well how to draw enjoyment for others, as well as for himself, from those silent companions is well attested by the results of his unwearied studies. The valuable papers and reports by means of which he added so much interest to the proceedings of the Historical Society, the voluminous work entitled "East Jersey under the Proprietors," as well as that en- titled "Contributions to East Jersey His- tory," the seven large volumes known as the "New Jersey Archives," with the eighth, which is now in the press, give some idea of what he has laboriously and conscientiously done, without any pecuni- ary reward, for the pleasure and profit of his fellowmen. But if we add to these the hundreds of miscellaneous articles which he has written for the public press, the hundreds of long communications on his- torical matters drawn from him by letters from every section of the country, the hundreds of meteorological reports regu- larly furnished to the public and to the government, we must acknowledge that he has been a faithful steward, and that the time and talents allotted to him were not idly squandered. Time with him possessed a value which few comparatively place upon it, and although during his latter years he was not engaged in business, every moment seemed precious to him, and noth- ing appeared to annoy him so much as the presence of an idle person. No one could
be more agreeable than he in conversation, and no one more than he could enjoy a bit of pleasantry, but in all these matters he carried out his rules of temperance. By his death, which occurred on the 8th of August, 1884, the literary institutions of Newark and of the state of New Jersey suffered a blow from which they will but slowly recover, for his interest in them was not that of an admiring looker-on, but of an energetic worker, ready to do more than his share, and resolutely demanding a little aid, at least, from others. He was a noble Christian gentleman, respected and beloved by all. His widow, with a daugh- ter and son, Bishop Cortlandt Whitehead, of Pittsburg, Pa., survive him. Eleven grandchildren also live to mourn his loss.
THERON YOEMANS SUTPHEN, M. D.,
was born in Walworth, Wayne county, New York, June 6, 1850. His father was Dr. Reuben Morris Sutphen, whose family was of Freehold, Monmouth county, New Jersey; his mother, Hannah Virginia, nee Morris. He attended school in Walworth and later the Newark high school. He entered the Medical College of Bellevue Hospital in 1871, at which he was gradu- ated in 1873.
Dr. Sutphen came to Newark in 1867, and in that city settled to practice his pro- fession. For three years he was a general practitioner, and then made a specialty of the eye and ear, in which he has attained to a high degree of success. When in general practice, he was for one year, 1873, at- tending physician to the city dispensary. Later he was a district physician, and in 1889 was attending surgeon of the Newark Eye and Ear Infirmary, a public charity.
497
ESSEX COUNTY.
That Dr. Sutphen ranks high in his pro- fession is hardly necessary to say. He be- longs to the Practitioners' Club, to the Es- sex County Medical Society, the New Jer- sey State "Medical Society, the New York Academy of Medicine, the American Oph- thalmological and Anthological Societies. He is surgeon for the eye and ear at St. Michael's hospital, and in charge of that department of the hospital. He is eye and ear surgeon of All Souls' hospital, Morris- town, and consulting oculist of Memorial hospital, Orange.
Dr. Sutphen was married to Sarah Locke Vail, daughter of Dr. Wm. P. Vail, of Johnsonburg, New York. They have two sons, Edward Blair and Robert Morris.
CHARLES F. J. LEHLBACH,
physician, was born in Baden, Germany, March 16, 1835. He came of a family dis- tinguished in Germany for social and pro- fessional attainments. His father, the Rev. Frederick Augustus Lehlbach, was a distinguished scholar.
The subject of this sketch came to this country in 1849, and entered upon the study of medicine. His early education had been under the personal supervision of his father, and when he entered the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons, at the age of sixteen years, he was better equipped for the pursuit of his profession than the average student. He was gradu- ated with honors in 1856, and commenced practice in Newark, New Jersey. Three years later he was called to Philadelphia to become one of the editors of the Medical and Surgical Reporter. When the war broke out he enlisted as a private in the
District of Columbia Volunteers, and after- ward joined Battery B, First Pennsylvania Light Infantry. In 1863 he was appointed Assistant Surgeon of the Seventh Regi- ment, New Jersey Volunteers.
At the close of the war he resumed his practice in Newark, and became county physician in 1867. In 1871 and 1872, be- sides attending his practice, he filled the position of editor of the Freie Zeitung dur- ing the editor's absence in Europe. For several terms he filled the office of presi- dent of the Essex County Medical Society, and was permanent delegate to the State Medical Society. He was one of the regu- lar staff of the German Hospital.
Dr. Lehlbach died at his home, 225 Washington street, August 14, 1895. He was a man of varied attainments, and as a physician was regarded by his professional brethren as being without a peer in the city and county.
The Practitioners' Club, of which Dr. Lehlbach, of this sketch, was a charter member, upon his death, recorded the fol- lowing minute upon its books: "Dr. Lehl- bach was one of the founders of the Prac- titioners' Club, and by voice and pen con- tributed largely to its successful establish- ment. He possessed a scholarly mind, richly stored by extensive reading and ob- servation. His keen logic, brought to bear upon the varied abstruse points in our discussions, readily separated the wheat from the chaff and made his presence among us invaluable. Admirably gifted with genial social traits, he embodied within himself those qualifications which it is the chief aim and design of the. Practi- tioners' Club to promote. With profound sorrow for the loss of our late associate, and grateful remembrance of his valuable
22
498
ESSEX COUNTY.
labors among us, the Practitioners' Club affectionately directs this minute to be re- corded."
CALEB SHEPPARD TITSWORTH,
deceased, whose eminent ability won him distinction at the Essex county bar, was born in Metuchen, Middlesex county, New Jersey, September 16, 1826. His father, Abraham Dunham Titsworth, was a whole- sale manufacturer of clothing and a man much esteemed: his mother's maiden name was Juliet F. Randolph.
Mr. Titsworth prepared for college at the DeRuyter Institute, of Madison county, New York, but before taking up his collegiate work engaged in teaching for some years. He followed that profes- sion in the public schools of Middlesex county, New Jersey, and subsequently as principal of the Shiloh Academy in Cum- berland county, this state. At the same time he was pursuing the study of law in the office of Hon. John T. Nixon, then practicing at Bridgeton, New Jersey, and afterward judge of the United States dis- trict court for the state of New Jersey. He spent the summer of 1847 in the Rutgers grammar school, of New Brunswick, and in the autumn of that year entered the soph- omore class of Union College, at which in- stitution he was graduated with high hon- ors in 1850. Thereupon he was initiated into the Phi Beta Kappa Society.
After his graduation at college, his health being somewhat impaired by close application to study, Mr. Titsworth jour- neyed southward and again engaged in teaching, securing the position of classical teacher in the Bridgeton grammar school, which is situated about nine miles from
Natchez, Mississippi. In 1853 he returned to his father's home. then in Plainfield, New Jersey, and entered the office of John Annis, Esquire, as a law student. Subse- quently he removed to Newark, completed his law studies in the office of Hon. Theo- dore Runyon, who was afterward chancel- lor of New Jersey and United States am- bassador to Germany, and was admitted to the bar in November, 1855, as an attorney. In 1858 he was licensed as counselor at law.
In January, 1866, Mr. Titsworth was elected city counsel of Newark and held that office until March, 1867, when he re- signed in order to assume the duties of prosecutor of the pleas of Essex county, serving in the latter position for five years. In 1874 he was elected by the legislature in joint meeting president judge of the court of common pleas and remained in that office for a full term, presiding with marked impartiality, his decisions being models of judicial soundness which fully sustained the majesty of the law. In addition to his legal business, he was one of the organizers of the Merchants' Insurance Company of Newark, and until his death served as its counsel and as a member of its directorate. In politics he was an ardent Republican with high ideals of political as well as per- sonal honor. In his religious belief he was a Baptist and served for many years as a member of the board of trustees of the First Baptist church of Newark. He was for some time president of the Harmonie Society and was the first president of the Essex County Bar Association, also the Essex County Law Library Association. He was the advocate of all educational, moral and social advancement and with- held his influence and support from no measure for the public good.
.
C. V. Filsworth
499
ESSEX COUNTY.
The Judge was married in 1858 to Miss Frances Caroline Grant, a daughter of Charles Grant, a well known citizen of Newark, whose family on both sides traced their descent from the early settlers of the town. They became the parents of five children: Charles Grant, who, adopting law as his profession, was his father's part- ner at the time of the latter's death and is now practicing in Newark, as a partner of Edward M. Colie and Francis J. Swayze; Caroline Juliet, who died in infancy; Mary, now the wife of Rev. Livingston L. Tay- lor, pastor of Plymouth Congregational church, of Cleveland, Ohio; Frances, now the wife of James P. Dusenberry, a promi- nent citizen of Newark; and Frederick Sheppard, now assistant superintendent of the Anaconda smelter, of Anaconda, Mon- tana.
Judge Titsworth died May 28, 1886. He was a man much loved for his hearty, genial ways, which were but the natural expression of a heart that was full of love for his fellowmen. His tenacity of pur- pose and his devotion to any cause he espoused knew no bounds save those of honor.
AARON K. BALDWIN, M. D.,
son of Dr. Milton Baldwin, elsewhere no- ticed in this volume, was born in Newark, New Jersey, June 8, 1849. Having been graduated at the Newark high school, he entered his father's office as a student of medicine, and in 1871 was graduated with honor in the medical department of the University of the City of New York. He began the practice of medicine at once in his native city. In 1875 he received the appointment of police surgeon, and again,
in January, 1884, was appointed to the same office. From 1873 to 1880 he was the house surgeon of St. Michael's Hos- pital, in Newark, New Jersey.
WILLIAM BURNET,
who was born December 2, 1730, was graduated in Newark, in 1749, while the College of New Jersey was located in that place, and settled there as a physician, after a course of medical studies in the city of New York. With large experience in his profession, he entered the service of his country, at the commencement of the Rev- olutionary war, as a surgeon of the Second Regiment of Essex county, being the same with which Dr. Uzal Johnson was connect- ed, as is recorded, both receiving their ap- pointments on the same day, February 17, 1776. But nearly a year prior to this time, namely, on the 4th of May, 1775, Dr. Bur- net presided at a meeting of the "Free- holders and Inhabitants of the Township of Newark," at which a resolution was adopt- ed in which we find the same sentiment which more than a year afterward was em- bodied in the famous "Declaration of Inde- pendence." This resolution, after rehears- ing the "openly avowed design of the min- istry of Great Britain," and expressing the horror felt by the people of Newark "at the bloody scene now acting in Massachusetts Bay," thus closes :
"Withthearts perfectly abhorrent of slav- ery [we] do solemnly, under all the sacred ties of religion, honor and love of coun- try, associate and resolve that we will per- sonally, and as far as our influence can ex- tend, endeavor to support and carry into execution whatever measures may be rec- ommended by the Continental congress or
.
500
ESSEX COUNTY.
agreed upon by the proposed convention of deputies of this province for the purpose of preserving and fixing our constitution on a permanent basis, and opposing the execu- tion of the several despotick and oppressive acts of the British Parliament, until the wished-for reconciliation between Great Britain and America on constitutional prin- ciples can be obtained."
Dr. Burnet took a very active part in the cause of freedom, and at different timesheld various offices under the government of his native state. He was chief physician and surgeon in an important section of the Con- tinental army during the war, and was a member of the congress of the United States for 1780-81. In 1754 he married Mary, daughter of Nathaniel Camp, by whom he had eleven children, among whose descendants we find the names of many of the most eminent citizens of New Jersey. Dr. Burnet was highly esteemed as a very skillful and successful physician. He was one of the founders of the State Medical Society, and was its president in 1767, and again in 1786. In domestic and social life he exhibited all the qualities of a true gentleman and an earnest Christian. He died on the 7th of October, 1791, mourned by all who knew him, and by none more than by the poor, to whom he had always been a most liberal friend.
Of his six sons, one died at the age of ten years, one became a merchant, three be- came lawyers, and one, the eldest was WILLIAM BURNET, Jr., who was born in 1754, studied medicine, and settled in Belleville, where he entered upon the prac- tice of his profession. He inherited the patriotism of his father, and like him gave the benefit of his medical knowledge to his country during the Revolutionary war, be-
ing commissioned surgeon, general hospital Continental army. He married Joanna, daughter of Captain Joseph Alling, another of the patriots of the Revolution, who com- manded a company of minute-men in the township of Newark, and by her had three daughters, of whom Abigail married Caleb S. Riggs, a lawyer of New York; Mary married Chief Justice Joseph C. Horn- blower; and Caroline married Governor William Pennington.
JAMES BEZA PINNEO,
deceased, was president of the Newark Na- tional Banking Company. He was born in Milford, Connecticut, April 14, 1806. His father, Rev. Beza Pinneo, pastor for fifty- three years of the First Congregational church of the latter place, was a man of great learning and piety. Under the im- mediate supervision of his accomplished father, Mr. Pinneo pursued his studies until the age of sixteen years, when, determin- ing to fit himself for a business life, he went to the city of New York, and there, as a clerk, entered a dry-goods store. In this capacity he exhibited so much fidelity and business talent that at the expiration of six years he was taken as a partner into the establishment.
Acquiring at an early age a great fond- ness for reading and study, it was quite natural that he should seek the means of gratifying his taste, and finding that the New York Mercantile Library Association afforded the desired facilities he soon be- came not only a constant and delighted fre- quenter of its rooms, but, in time, one of its active members and directors. Of this in- stitution, Mr. William B. Kinney (else- where noticed in this volume), who was
50I
ESSEX COUNTY.
afterward well known as editor and pro- prietor of the Newark Daily Advertiser and United States minister to Sardinia, was the librarian. A good scholar himself, he nat- urally conceived a great liking for young Mr. Pinneo, with whom he daily met and with whose fine tastes and excellent busi- ness qualifications he could not fail to be- come acquainted. A friendship sprang up between them, and Mr. Kinney, in his ex- plorations with a view to find a field where- in to employ more profitably his literary abilties, having discovered in Newark, New Jersey, a printing office and an established newspaper for sale, persuaded young Pin- neo to join him in the enterprise. To New- ark they both removed, and the Newark Daily Advertiser on the 16th day of July, 1833, leaving the control of the associate of the New Jersey Railroad Company, by whom it was founded, in order to secure their charter, came forth under the direc- tion of J. B. Pinneo & Company. By the skillful management of Mr. Pinneo and the powerful and felicitous pen of Mr. Kinney, the paper was placed upon a foundation which, during the forty years that have since elapsed, has grown firmer and broader.
But Mr. Pinneo's peculiar aptitude as a man of business and a financier became so marked during his three years' connection with the Daily Advertiser that the great manufacturing firm of William Rankin & Company invited him to take charge of their extensive and complicated monetary matters. So bravely did this great house withstand the financial tempest of 1837 that on its enlargement, in 1839, Mr. Pinneo was once more honored by being taken into a partnership which he had not sought or ex- pected. Here he remained during the fol-
lowing thirteen years, when (1852) he re- tired with what was then considered a handsome fortune. In 1842 he became a director of the National Newark Banking Company, and in 1854, succeeding Mr. John Taylor as president, continued to hold that office until his death.
The Howard Savings Institution, which every financial panic with its attending raid only strengthens and enriches, had Mr. Pin- neo as one of its managers and a member of its finance committee since its organiza- tion.
In the establishment of the Newark Li- brary Association Mr. Pinneo took an ac- tive and prominent part, and remained a member of its board of directors until, at his own request, he was suffered to retire.
As a member of the common council of the city of Newark in 1852, he was careful of the city's interests, and to him the people are largely indebted for the establishment of Center Market, at a time when it was so greatly needed.
With all his great abilities as a man of business, Mr. Pinneo was, by a large class of his fellow citizens, better known as a man of exceeding benevolence and of a truly Christian spirit. To the High Street Presbyterian church, which was established mainly through his personal efforts, he not only gave generously of his wealth, but of his time and of the labor of his hands. The Wesleyan Institute, although a school belonging to a religious denomination with which he was not connected, sought his counsel and aid, and placed him on its board of trustees. His numerous private charities and benefactions will never be fully known by his fellowmen, and doubtless many of them were forgotten by himself.
The death of Mr. Pinneo was a blow not
502
ESSEX COUNTY.
only to his family and friends, but to the religious, charitable and financial interests of the city where he had passed a long life of honor and usefulness.
ALEXANDER ROBERT FORDYCE
was born January 4, 1845, in Turriff, North Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the home of his ancestors. He received a common-school education and served his apprenticeship with his father, who was one of the largest builders in the north of Scotland. At the age of eighteen years he left home, work- ing his way in most of the principal cities of Scotland and England, and finally reach- ing London, where he resided for a year and a half, pursuing his trade with success. In 1868 he emigrated to the United States, landing in New York city, where he re- sumed labor at the trade which he learned in his native country. From that time un- til the present writing, a period of forty- six years, Mr. Fordyce has conducted a successful, lucrative business as a builder and contractor in the cities of New York and Newark, New Jersey.
In 1870 he was married to Margaret Livingston Hall, by whom he has four children now living: a son, Alexander Robert Fordyce, and three daughters,- Margaret Livingston, Barbara Booth and Mary Alice.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.