USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > Biographical and genealogical history of the city of Newark and Essex County, New Jersey, V. 2 > Part 22
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Mr. Pierson was married October 19, 1876, to Adelaide Decker, a daughter of John W. and Maria Louise (Hawes) Deck- er. They had two children: Albert H., who is now a student in Princeton College; and Alfred, who died at the age of five years. The wife and mother passed away May II, 1897. She was a consistent mem- ber of the Second Presbyterian church of East Orange, and her many excellencies of character won her the regard and friend- ship of all with whom she came in contact. Mr. Pierson also belongs to the same church and contributes liberally to every in- terest that will advance the moral, educa- tional, social or material welfare of the com- munity. His political support is given the Republican party, but he has had neither time nor inclination for public office. His attention is given to his business interests, in which he has met with signal success. Often do we hear it said of those who have attained prosperity that they have risen to position of affluence through advantageous circumstances, and yet to such carping criti- cismand lack of appreciation there needs be made but the one statement that fortunate environments encompass nearly every man at some stage in his career, but the strong
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man and the successful man is he who realizes the intrinsic value of minor as well as great opportunities; who stands ready to take advantageof circumstances and who even molds adverse conditions until they serve his ends. Mr. Pierson has recognized the opportunity for accomplishment when it was presented, and to this attribute of his character, combined with unfaltering in- dustry, may be accredited the gratifying success which he has won.
JOHN O. H. PITNEY.
Essex county, New Jersey, has its full quota of bright, up-to-date legal lights, and among the prominent and representative members of the bar of this county is found the above named gentleman.
Mr. Pitney is a native of New Jersey. He was born in Morristown, this state, April 14, 1860, son of Henry C. and Sarah L. (Halsted) Pitney.
In his native town Mr. Pitney was reared and received his early education. Then he entered Princeton University, of which fa- mous institution he is a graduate with the class of 1881, and on his return from col- lege he began the study of law in his father's office at Morristown. He was admitted to the bar in 1884, in June, and in September of that year formed a partnership with Frederick H. Teese, with whom he was as- sociated until the death of Mr. Teese, in January, 1894. Since that date Mr. Pitney has practiced alone. He is a young man well fitted for his profession both by in- herited and acquired ability, his make-up including all the qualifications of the first- class lawyer, and in consideration of the suc- cess he has already attained it is fair to pre- sume that he will at no distant day take
high rank with the most prominent lawyers of the state.
Mr. Pitney is a man of family. He was married in 1890, and resides in one of the pleasant homes of Newark.
MICHAEL MAHER.
Back to stanch old Irish stock does Mr. Maher trace his lineage; and that in his character abide those sterling qualities which have ever marked the true type of the Irish nation is manifest when we come to consider the more salient points in his life history, which has been one marked by persistent industry and unwavering honor, -which qualities have eventuated most na- turally in securing him a position in the respect and esteem of his fellow men.
He was born in county Tipperary, Ire- land, September 26, 1852, and is a son of Jeremiah Henry and Catharine (Griffin) Maher. He was the third in order of birth in a family of four children, namely: Jo- hanna, who is married and resides with her family in Australia: Mary, who is married and also lives in that country; Michael; and Bessie, who is a resident of Woonsocket, Massachusetts. The father of this family died in his native land, and the mother passed away in 1894, at an advanced age.
Michael Maher acquired his education in the common schools of Ireland, and when quite young began learning the black- smith's trade under the direction of his father and his uncle Jeremiah. When a youth of fourteen years he decided to come to America, that he might take advantage of the better opportunities afforded here. Crossing the Atlantic he landed at New York and finally located in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where he secured employ-
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ment at his trade, making that city his home until 1871, when he came to Newark. Entering the employ of John Bowne, he remained in his service as a journeyman for seven years, when he came to East Orange, in March, 1879, and began business on his own account. He has been very successful in his labors, and in 1892 erected his pres- ent block on Main street, where he is con- ducting a large and profitable business.
He is a self-made man whose frugality, enterprise and honorable dealing have brought to him a substantial reward for his labors.
Mr. Maher was married in Newark, Oc- tober 30, 1877, to Miss Mary Connelly, and they now have six living children, namely : Mamie Josephine, Elizabeth, James John, Genevieve, Augusta and Lauretta. Mr. Maher and his family are all communicants of the St. Rose of Lima church, Roman Catholic, at Newark.
HENRY CLAY McBRAIR,
known as a substantial citizen of Liv- ingston township, is a native of New York city, his birth having occurred on the 15th of July, 1847. His parents were also born in America's metropolis, but the paternal grandfather, James McBrair, was a native of Paisley, Scotland. Emigrating to Amer- ica, he became one of the directors of the Washington Fire Insurance Company of New York, and was very prominent in fire insurance circles. John McBrair, the fa- ther of our subject, was a dry-goods mer- chant in his early business career, but later engaged in the fire-insurance business as secretary of the Washington Company. When a young man he kept the first set of books of the Erie canal. He was a promi-
nent member of the volunteer fire organi- zation of New York city and in all com- mercial transactions managed his interests with an ability that brought him handsome financial returns. He married Margaret Ann Varian, whose ancestors were among the first settlers on Manhattan Island, New York. In August, 1865, his life's labors were ended by death, and his wife, sur- viving him for a number of years, passed away in April, 1880. They were the par- ents of twelve children, of whom three are now living, namely: Margaret, wife of William V. Hanson, of Brooklyn; Eliza, wife of Andrew Marshall, of Brooklyn; and Henry C., of this review.
At the parental home Henry C. McBrair was reared to manhood, and the public schools afforded him his educational privi- leges. At an early age he accepted a clerk- ship in the establishment of Harry Miller, a ship chandler of New York, with whom he remained for two years, after which he spent two years in the employ of E. & G. Blunt, dealers in nautical instruments on South Water street, New York. Since 1869 he has not been in active business, but has speculated in real estate, and has made some very paying investments in property whose rapid rise in price has brought him a handsome income. He is a man of ex- cellent business and executive ability, far- sighted in all transactions, and his sound judgment and keen discernment seldom allow him to make a mistake. His reliabil- ity, too, is one of his marked characteris- tics, and has won him the confidence of the public in a large degree.
On the 2d of February, 1870, Mr. Mc- Brair led to the marriage altar Miss Susan A. Winans, a daughter of William B. Win- ans, of Livingston township, and a native
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of Livingston. This union has been blessed with six children, as follows: Wil- fred Clayton, a resident of Essex Falls, New Jersey, who was born July 13, 1871, and married Dorinda Kent; Robert James, who was born September 15, 1873; Horace Linden, born June 26, 1877; Florence, born September 16, 1879, and died August 31, 1891; Bertha Marion, born April 22, 1887; and Annie Gladys, born August 27, 1889.
Mr. McBrair has maintained his resi- dence at his present home for a quarter of a century. To be a resident of this section of the county and not know Mr. McBrair, is to argue one's self unknown. His genial manner, affability and kindness have won him the warm regard of all with whom he has come in contact, and his sterling worth commands the respect of his fellow towns- men in an unlimited degree. He is now serving as trustee of the Olivet Chapel, of Livingston. In politics he is an independ- ent Democrat and has been very active and prominent, exerting a wide influence in his party. However, he has never consented to accept public office, content to fill the position of a "high private" in the ranks of American citizenship.
THE SMITH FAMILY.
If biography be "the home aspect of his- tory," as Willmott has expressed it, it is entirely within the province of true history to commemorate and perpetuate the lives and character, the achievements and honor of those who have lived and labored to goodly ends; and if any stimulus is needed in this behalf it may be found in the caustic words of Burke, that "those only deserve to be remembered who treasure up a history of their ancestors." Each state presents
with pride her sons as her jewels, and the annals of New Jersey bear up a wealth of historical data in connection with old and honored families established within her pre- cincts in the early colonial epoch. Well may the present and succeeding genera- tions hold in high estimation the record which touches the lives and labors of those who have wrought nobly for the common- wealth in the past, and in this connection there is peculiar interest attaching to that old-established family whose name is borne by the immediate subject of this review.
Tradition,-which, however, is well forti- fied by authenticity,-pronounces that the original American ancestor of this particu- lar branch of the Smith family was one James Smith, who is accredited with having emigrated from Scotland to America as early as the year 1680, being at the time a mere youth and an orphan. The cap- tain of the sailing vessel on which he found passage landed at the old historical sea- port town of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and he assumed guardianship of the orphan lad who had thus come to seek his fortunes in the New World. The captain brought him to Newark, where he bound him out to serve an apprenticeship of seven years with Deacon Azariah Crane, son of Jasper Crane, who was one of the first settlers in what is now the city of Newark. Deacon Crane was a blacksmith by trade, and, ac- cording to the English custom, young Smith served the full apprenticeship cover- ing the period noted. After thus becoming eligible as a journeyman, Mr. Smith as- sumed domestic responsibilities by taking unto himself a wife, in the person of Mary, a daughter of Deacon Crane. He forth- with engaged in business for himself, his modest establishment, the scene of his con-
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secutive and sturdy endeavors, having been doubtless located within the present cor- porate limits of the city of Newark.
After a number of years Deacon Crane took up his abode on what he termed his "mountain plantation," having presented to his daughter, Mary, after her marriage to Mr. Smith, a small portion of this farm or purchase,-said portion having been lo- cated on the southerly side of the tract. The site of his house was on the east side of the mountain, near what is now generally known as the Bradwell house, in West Orange. The Crane plantation extended north to the Wheeler tract, running from the top of the south side of the Northfield road, thence along the southerly side of the Wheeler tract to Scotland street and including the property afterward owned by Caleb Harrison and still later inherited by his son, Simeon Harrison. About this time many of the residents began looking up lands in what are now known as the town- ships of the Oranges, Bloomfield and Mont- clair, and James Smith secured possession of a tract which eventually became known as Scotland Ridge, though he himself ap- plied to it the title of Bushy Plain. Said domain extended from the south side of what was then Peck tract, on Scotland road, -property now owned by Charles A. Lighthipe-which was the southerly side, the main street being the northern bound- ary of the same. James Smith was also one of the number who effected the Horse- neck purchase of the Indians,-the same in- cluding all the lands west of the Orange mountains and east of the Passaic river. He became a man of marked influence in the community, was successful in his efforts and was known for his sterling attributes of character.
It is conjectured that James Smith, the American progenitor, was born about the year 1665, and his death occurred, in Orange, about 1727, at which time he had attained the venerable age of seventy-two years. Of the children of James and Mary (Crane) Smith we make brief record as fol- lows: James, born 1694; Joseph, in 1701; John, in 1703; David, born in 1705, mar- ried Martha Freeman, daughter of Samuel Freeman; and besides these there were Ebenezer, Mary, Hannah, Sarah and Jane.
David Smith, who figures in the direct genealogical line in the ancestry of the im- mediate subject of this sketch, married Mar- tha Freeman, and they took up their abode in a one-story double house, with the gable end fronting on Scotland street. Accord- ing to family tradition the gable end and chimney were substantially constructed of stone, and it is recorded that the west gable was cracked from top to bottom by an earthquake which occurred in 1776. There is extant no definite information as to the time of the death of Martha (Freeman) Smith, but it is supposed that she died about 1805 or 1806, while she is said to have attained remarkable longevity, being a centenarian at the time of her demise. David Smith died February 5, 1777, at the age of seventy-two. Of the children of this marriage we accord such record as is acces- sible: Moses married Esther Campbell, daughter of John Campbell; James, 1740, married Eleanor, daughter of Amos Har- rison; Joseph married Phoebe Sargeant; Samuel, 1745, married Eunice, daughter of Ezekiel Baldwin; David went west prior to the war of the Revolution and all trace of him was lost; Phoebe, 1736, married Jabez Condit, son of Philip Condit of Morristown; Nehemiah was a cripple and of unsound
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mind; Martha married Isaac Harrison, son of Amos Harrison; Rachel never married.
Samuel Smith, son of David and Martha (Freeman) Smith, was born in 1745, and married Eunice Baldwin, who was born on Connecticut Farm, New Jersey, October 10, 1745, and who died December 19, 1831, aged eighty-six years. They lived in the homestead on the east side of Scotland street, south of Tremont avenue, where his death occurred February 13, 1800, at the age of fifty-five years. Their children were as follows : Caleb, born in July, 1778, married Sarah Garthwaite, and died July 4, 1867; David, born February 17, 1780, mar- ried Elizabeth Garthwaite (sister of Sarah), who was born March 27, 1790, and who died June 6, 1867; Rachel died in infancy.
John Garthwaite, father of Sarah and Elizabeth, was an active participant in the war of the Revolution, entering the Con- tinental ranks at the beginning of the great struggle for independence and receiving an honorable discharge at the expiration of three years. He, however, continued to serve in the patriot army during the entire period of the war, receiving his discharge at the end of the seven-years conflict which had gained to the colonies the boon of freedom and had hurled oppression back for all time. He was twice taken prisoner, but managed to elude the vigilance of his captors on each occasion, without waiting for his liberty through exchange. He was once wounded, but did not leave his post on the field by reason of his injuries. The headquarters of his command were at Mor- ristown, and Mr. Garthwaite assisted in the building of the famous Fort Nonsense. He died in 1834, at the advanced age of ninety- two years.
Caleb Smith, son of Samuel and Eunice
(Baldwin) Smith, was born in July, 1778, and married Sarah Garthwaite, who was born October 27, 1787, and who died Oc- tober 26, 1847. They lived on Scotland street, occupying the southern half of the old homestead farm. Besides devoting himself to agricultural pursuits Caleb Smith carried on a successful enterprise in the manufacturing of harness and horse col- lars. He died March 16, 1866, at the age of eighty-seven years. Of his children we are enabled to offer the following record : Samuel, born November 14, 1804, married Caroline P. Tichenor, daughter of Stephen Tichenor, son of John; Mary, born No- vember 27, 1805, died in 1809; John G. married Martha Quinby; George married a Miss Edwards; Mary Ann died in 1894, unmarried; Albert married Naoma Gray, and after her death espoused Sarah Wood; Caleb Oliver, born November 8, 1815, died May 7, 1881, aged sixty-six; Edward G. was twice married, his second wife having been Margaret Roff; David G. married Phoebe Curry; Aaron Augustus was thrice married,-first, to Henrietta Gray, secondly to Mary A. Coleman, and thirdly to a Miss Ward; Elizabeth; George died October 12, 1846; and Sarah became the wife of Charles Lighthipe.
David Smith, son of Samuel and Eunice (Baldwin) Smith, married Elizabeth, daughter of John Garthwaite, and their children were as follows: William B., born April 26, 1809, married Mary Reynolds; Mary, born November 22, 1810, married John T. Tichenor; Jeptha, born March I, 1812, was married first to C. D. Connet and second to M. G. Halsted; Caroline, born September 19, 1813, married William H. Edwards; Susan, born August 10, 1815, married J. Burrows: Sarah A., born March
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17, 1817, married Foster Lent; Samuel M., born February 4, 1819, married Ann Vin- cent; Abby, born July 29, 1820, married Jacob E. Vandewater; Silas, born March II, 1822,married Jane Harrison; Robert B., born January 19, 1824, married Cather- ine Squire; Charles, born December 12, 1825, married Mary E. Knowels; Alon- zo, born February 23, 1828, mar- ried Nancy K. Halsted; Edwin, born July 26, 1830, married Lydia Morgan; Louisa, born April 28, 1832, married John W. Coleman; David, born December 25, 1834, married Ellen O'Nal. David Smith was a native of Orange, having been born on the old homestead, on Scotland street, February 17, 1780. He was reared on the paternal farmstead, receiving his education in the common schools and early in life learning the shoemaker's trade, which he followed in connection with his farming pursuits. Inheriting the intense loyalty and patriotism of his race, he was one of those who went forth to do valiant service in the war of 1812, and in acknowledgment of his services an appreciative government accorded him a bounty of one hundred and sixty acres of land in the west. This tract he sold without having seen it. He died July 4, 1867, and his wife, Elizabeth, had preceded him into eternal rest by about a month, her demise having occurred on June 6th of the same year.
Jeptha Smith, son of David and Elizabeth (Garthwaite) Smith, was born in Orange on the Ist of March, 1812, learned the shoe- making trade and in 1837 removed with his family to Newark, Ohio, where he engaged in the shoe business, which he continued until 1858, when he returned to the east, locating at Brooklyn, New York, where he became concerned in the manufacturing of
shoes, under the firm name of J. A. Smith & Brothers. The enterprise soon attained extensive proportions and became one of the most important industries of the sort in the Union. He continued to be identified with this magnificent business until 1887, when, by reason of his advanced age, he retired from active life, disposing of his interests to Ephraim Martin. He is now maintaining his home with his daughter, in Passaic, New Jersey. He married Cather- ine D. Connet, a native of Morris county, New Jersey, and a descendant of one of the most prominent of the old families of the state. Their children were as follows: Ed- ward P., the immediate subject of this sketch; Mary E., who is the wife of J. W. Clements, of Passaic; James L., who died in California; Horatio Nelson, now deceased; Sarah C., the wife of Ephraim Martin, of Brooklyn, who is carrying on the shoe- manufacturing business established by her father; Alfred W., who is engaged in the shoe business at Lynn, Massachusetts. Mrs. Catherine (Connet) Smith died De- cember 26, 1884,
Edward P. Smith is a native of Orange, New Jersey, where he is known as one of the most prominent builders and contract- ors of the section and as one of the repre- sentative citizens of the locality where his family has been established for so many generations. He was born August 17, 1834, and was but two years of age at the time of his parents' removal to Newark, Ohio, where he was reared to manhood, receiving his educational discipline in the public schools and assisting his father in the store. Upon attaining his legal ma- jority he determined to prepare himself for the practical duties of life by learning a trade. Accordingly, in 1854, he came to
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Newark, where he served an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade, under the firm of Calaway & Headley, after which he was em- ployed as a journeyman until 1864, when he began operations upon his own respon- sibility, associating himself with Thomas Williams, under the firm title of Williams & Smith. They opened an establishment in Orange and the partnership continued for a term of years, when it was dissolved and Mr. Smith formed a business alliance with John Edwards, under the name of Smith & Edwards, which association has ever since obtained, the firm's headquarters being lo- cated at 24 North Center street, Orange. They carry on a general contracting and building enterprise and have erected many of the beautiful homes which have made the Oranges so attractive as a residence sec- tion.
In his political adherency Mr. Smith ren- ders a stanch allegiance to the Republican party, and as a progressive, public-spirited citizen he has been called upon to serve in positions of distinctive trust and respon- sibility. He served as township committee- man for four years and as chairman of the board for one year of this time, while at present he is township treasurer. Frater- nally he is identified with the Masonic order, being a Master Mason in Union Lodge, No. 11, F. & A. M., of Orange, while his life has been so ordered as to gain and retain to him the respect and confi- dence of all with whom he comes in contact.
On the 10th of December, 1862, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Smith to Miss Emily Knapp, a native of Tory Cor- ners, West Orange, and a daughter of Is- rael and Dorcas (Williams) Knapp, both of whom are representatives of old New Jer- sey families. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have one
child, Willard K., who is connected with the Chronicle, the leading newspaper of Orange. He married Bertha Gunther, of Newark. The family residence is one of the attractive homes of Orange, being of modern architectural design and showing in its surroundings and equipments the most artistic and cultured taste. The house is situated on a most beautiful site, at the foot of the Orange mountains, near the celebrated Eagle Rock, and within a few minutes' walk from the beautiful Llewellyn park.
JOHN TOLER,
deceased, was numbered among the manu- facturers of Newark who aided in making this one of the leading industrial centers of the east. He established the John Toler & Sons Company, manufacturers of mal- leable-iron wares and iron castings for piano frames. In trade circles he was re- garded as a most reliable and trustworthy man, and his reputation in this direction, added to the excellence of the wares which he manufactured, brought him an exten- sive and profitable business.
Mr. Toler was a native of Ireland, his birth having occurred in county Clare in 1815. His education was rather meager, for the advantages which he received were limited to those afforded by the common schools of the neighborhood. With his parents he came to America in 1831, tak- ing up his residence in New York city, where he was apprenticed to learn the busi- ness of manufacturing surgical instruments. On the completion of his term of service he worked as a journeyman for a short time and then became engaged in the man- ufacture of furniture castors in New York
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city. In this venture he soon succeeded in building up an excellent trade, but the high rent which he was forced to pay in New York led him to remove his business and factory to Newark. He accordingly located in the Heddenburg building on Warren street, where he remained for six years, when he erected a suitable building for his foundry work on Chambers street. In 1868 he purchased the tract of ground on Adams street and erected there commo- dious buildings in which to conduct his business, this step having been necessitated by his rapidly increasing trade. In 1871 he took up the general iron-foundry work and engaged in the manufacture of castings for pianos, this enterprise proving a valuable addition to his already successful business.
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