USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > Biographical and genealogical history of the city of Newark and Essex County, New Jersey, V. 2 > Part 32
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John C. La Faucherie passed his boy- hood in attending the public schools of Trenton until he was fourteen years old,
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when he was appointed page to Governor Joel Parker at his first election, remaining in that capacity for a year and a half, and then, at the age of sixteen, he enlisted as a drummer boy in the First New Jersey Volunteers, and nine months later he was discharged for disability. Returning to Trenton, he re-enlisted, in the Thirty- seventh Regiment, as a private under Col- onel E. Bird Grubb, serving his full time and participating in the second battle of Fredericksburg, his regiment being in front of the city seven weeks, during which time it lost one hundred and sixty men killed. Mr. La Faucherie was wounded during this battle and was honorably discharged, but enlisted once more, this time in the Thirty- eighth New Jersey Volunteers, under com- mand of Colonel William J. Sewall, which performed garrison duty at Crows' Nest Battery and took part in a few skirmishes, until the close of the war, about three months later.
Returning to Trenton, Mr. La Faucherie learned the mason's trade and continued in the same for three years, when he began contracting and building. He took an active part in politics, as a Democrat: was elected assessor of the Third ward, was on the police force for three years, and in 1876 was appointed by the Centennial committee as a police officer at the exposition for one year. In the spring of 1877 he moved to Warren county, resided there a number of years and then came to Belleville, Essex county, where he continued as a contractor and builder. He still takes an active inter- est in politics; is secretary of the executive committee, commissioner, notary public and justice of the peace, and is prominently identified with the Belleville Building & Loan Association and is one of Belleville's
foremost citizens. In 1888, while living in Warren county, he was assessor of Inde- pendence township and was chairman of the Democratic county committee.
Mr. La Faucherie was united in marriage with Miss Susie W. Hall, of Trenton, in June, 1868, and they became the parents of the following three children: Hattie, born in 1869, married Jesse Ayers, of War- ren county, and she died in 1893, leaving one child, Leonore, who is with her grand- parents in Belleville; Hamilton Jay, born November 29, 1870, is associated with his father in business; he married Miss Katie Quinn, and they have an infant child; Susie, born on the 17th of February, 1886, is re- siding at home.
Touching upon the social side of Mr. La Faucherie's life, we may state that he is the commander of the Veteran Association of the Grand Army of the Republic in Belle- ville township; he is a trustee of Belleville Lodge, No. 108, Free and Accepted Masons; is a charter member of North End Lodge, No. 227, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; is affiliated with Belleville Lodge, Knights of Honor; and is a charter member of Sedgwick Post, No. 18, Grand Army of the Republic, at Hackettstown, New Jer- sey.
THE CADMUS FAMILY.
It is entirely within the province of true history to commemorate and perpetuate the lives and characters of those who have lived and labored to goodly ends. The annals of New Jersey afford a wealth of historical data in connection with old and honored families established within her precincts in the early colonial epoch. Among one of the old families of Essex county is that of Cad-
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mus. The founder of the family name in Essex county was Thomas Cadmus, who was born in Leyden, Holland, and came to America in 1634. A few years later he re- ceived a grant of land of six thousand acres, a strip running from the Passaic river to Eagle Rock. In 1657 he built the stone house which is still standing as one of the
ing, and had the honor on several occasions of entertaining General Washington at his home. He married Peterchie Cadmus, of Bloomfield.
His son, Thomas Cadmus, Jr., also was born in Bloomfield, and married Maria Egbert, of Speertown, now Upper Mont- clair. Their son, Cornelius Cadmus, was
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THE CADMUS HOMESTEAD.
landmarks of colonial days. It was remod- eled in 1763 by Colonel Thomas Cadmus, his grandson, who valiantly defended the colonies in the war with Great Britain for American independence. He was a schol- arly gentleman, well educated, and had an excellent private library; was a man of commanding presence and soldierly bear-
born in Bloomfield, in 1805, and had large land interests in Essex county. In the lat- ter part of his life he removed to Fowler- ville, Michigan, where his death occurred. George W. Cadmus, son of Cornelius Cad- mus, was born February 22, 1839, and served his country in the civil war, as ser- geant in Company F, Twenty-sixth New
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Jersey Infantry. He married Maria Van Riper, daughter of John Van Riper, of Belleville. She was born in Belleville, Sep- tember 29, 1839. Both are still living.
EUGENE L. R. CADMUS,
son of George W. Cadmus, was born in Middletown, Monmouth county, New Jer- sey, in 1872, and spent the greater part of his youth in Bloomfield. After finishing school he was first employed with a fire- insurance company, of New York, with whom he remained for a period of five years. After the death of his brother, Had- ley Cadmus, who had established a feed business, he assumed charge of the affairs. He afterward entered into partnership with Fred J. Ogden, under the firm name of Ogden & Cadmus, and they are now the recognized leaders in the line of mason's materials, coal, wood, and feed, in Bloom- field, doing a large and constantly increas- ing business.
In 1897 Mr. Cadmus was married to Miss Edith G. Godwin, of Brooklyn, New York. Socially, Mr. Cadmus is a member of Bloomfield Lodge No. 40, F. & A. M., also of the Sons of the American Revolution, and was formerly a member of the New York Naval Reserve.
HON. JOHN L. BLAKE, A. M.,
was born at Boston, Massachusetts, March 25, 1831, a son of the Rev. John L. Blake, D. D., and Mary (Howe) Blake. His father was born in Northwood, New Hampshire, and his mother was a native of Killingly, Connecticut. Having acquired a classical education, Mr. Blake, after his re- moval to Orange, New Jersey, took up the
study of law and was admitted to the bar as an attorney, in June, 1852, and as coun- selor in November, 1855.
Mr. Blake was elected to the general as- sembly in 1857, and in 1878 to congress. He has also been largely interested in vari- ous local affairs and for thirty successive years served as counsel for the township, town and city of Orange. He is a man of scholarly attainments and broad general culture, and Brown University conferred upon him the honorary degree of Master of Arts. He now maintains his residence in Orange, where he has in a great measure retired from active practice.
CHARLES E. WILLIAMS,
a pharmacist of Orange, is well known in the business circles of the town. He was born in Binghamton, New York, on the 2d of December, 1858, and is a son of Chauncey G. and Emily F. (Ward) Will- iams. The Williams family has been prom- inently connected with the development and progress of Essex county since the days of its early settlement, and since the Revolutionary war has been conspicuous in civil and social affairs in the eastern sec- tion of the state. The father of our sub- ject resided for some time at Binghamton, New York, and then took up his residence in Orange.
With his parents, Charles E. Williams came to this city, and having acquired his preliminary education in the common schools, when only twelve years of age he became connected with the drug business, entering the employ of N. F. Smith, of Orange, in whose service he remained for four years. He next entered the employ of R. E. Parsons, also of Orange, and after
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several years' connection with that gentle- man as an employe was admitted to a partnership in the business, under the firm name of Parsons & Company. They met with gratifying success in the undertaking, and this relation was maintained until Mr. Williams began business alone at the cor- ner of Main street and Essex avenue, where he has a well appointed establishment. He is a progressive and wide-awake business man, and by his careful management and well directed efforts has accumulated a comfortable competence, which is the just and merited reward of his own labor.
Mr. Williams was married on the 15th of April, 1879, to Miss Mary Isabel Ober, a daughter of Michael and Rosalie (Pferr) Ober, both of whom were of German line- age. This union has been graced with four children, namely: Authur Ward, who is now assisting his father in the drug store; Emily Rosalie, Mary Catharine and Charles Chauncey. The family attend the Epis- copal church of Orange, and Mr. Williams is a member of Union Lodge No. II, F. & A. M., also Plato Lodge, Knights of Pythias. In politics he is a Democrat of the pure Jeffersonian type.
ISAAC NEWTON TRAVIS.
The efficient superintendent of the Orange water works, Isaac Newton Travis, was born in Stockport, Cheshire, England, on the 28th of January, 1846, and is a son of Thomas and Ann (Nadin) Travis. His ma- ternal grandparents were John and Mary Nadin, also natives of England; and the paternal grandfather was James Travis, a hatter by trade, who resided in Cheshire, England, and married Miss Sarah Kelsal, by whom he had three children, viz .: James,
who married and became the father of six children; Thomas, the father of our subject; and Nannie, who married William Hyde and has five children, the oldest of whom, William Hyde, Jr., is principal of a boys' boarding school near Stockport, England.
The second of that family, Thomas Travis, acquired his education in the com- mon schools and then learned the hatter's trade, after which he worked as a journey- man for several years. Subsequently he en- gaged in the manufacture of hats on his own account, carrying on an extensive en- terprise, in addition to which he was also engaged in merchandizing, owning a store in Stockport and another in Preston, Lan- cashire, England. By energy and persever- ance he built up an extensive trade, and his honorable business methods won the esteem of all with whom he came in con- tact.
In 1854 he crossed the Atlantic to America and in Orange began the manu- facture of hats. Removing subsequently to Philadelphia, he made his home there for the ensuing twelve years. On the expira- tion of that period he went to Caldwell county, Texas, but at length took up his abode in Cherokee county, in the Lone Star state, where he died, at the venerable age of seventy years. His wife departed this life on the Ist of May, 1873, at the age of fifty-four years. They were both devout Christians and possessed the warm regard of a large number of friends.
They had five children, namely: Henry N., who was for three years a student in Oberlin College, Ohio, married Miss Amanda Foust, formerly a school teacher of Philadelphia: they reside in that city where for some time Henry Travis and our subject have been extensively engaged in
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the manufacture of hats, and the former still conducts the enterprise, under the name of Travis Brothers; Isaac Newton is the second of the family; George died at the age of twenty-two years, while attend- ing college at Oberlin, Ohio; James, who married Isabella Massey, resides in Los Angeles, California, where he is superin- tendent of the hat department of the Peo- ple's Store; Mary resides with her brother Henry in Philadelphia, and is the youngest of the children.
Isaac Newton Travis began his education in the schools of his native England and continued his studies in the public schools of Newark after his emigration to the United States, at the age of eight years. In early life he learned the hatter's trade, and after completing his apprenticeship worked as a journeyman in Orange and Philadelphia. In 1872, in connection with his brother Henry, he began business on his own account, under the name of Travis Brothers, opening a hat store on North Eighth street, in Philadelphia, at the same time successfully conducting establish- ments on North Ninth street and Ridge avenue in that city.
In 1879, on account of impaired health, he went to Texas and engaged in the culti- vation of cotton until 1881, when he re- turned to Orange and secured employment with the engineering corps in the construc- tion of the Orange water-works. He dis- played such ability and application in the discharge of his duties that he has been promoted from time to time, and in 1894 was appointed by the city council superin- tendent of the Orange water-works, in which capacity he has since served with marked fidelity and trustworthiness.
On the Ist of October, 1872, Mr. Travis
was united in marriage with Miss Susan Ann Collinson, a daughter of William Langley and Elizabeth (Dumpher) Collin- son, natives of Oxford, England. Her father was a son of Matthew Collinson, a native of Oxford and a trumpet major in the British army. He has three sisters liv- ing. One, Mrs. Franklin, is conducting a hotel in Oxford. Her son, Thomas Frank- lin, was editor of the Oxford Journal. An- other sister is Mrs. Timothy Heath, of Cleveland, whose husband was formerly superintendent of the gas works in Cleve- land, and a highly respected citizen. Her son now carries on the business in his father's place. Mrs. Heath's daughter, Lilly, married William Jenkins, who was principal and chaplain of the Deaf Mute Institute at Hartford, Connecticut, and who died in the spring of 1896, leaving his widow with four children. The third sister is Mrs. Mary Lee, of Toronto, Ohio, who had two sons-Joseph and Richard-who fought in the war of the Rebellion, in which the latter was killed. Matthew Collinson, the grandfather of Mrs. Travis, married Sarah Watts, whose brother, William Watts, went with Captain Cook on his ex- pedition around the world. William Collin- son, the father of Mrs. Travis, was a shoe- maker by trade. He married Mrs. Elizabeth Dempster, widow of William Dempster, by whom she had one son, William, who was in the naval service of the Union during the war of the Rebellion. Mrs. Collinson was a daughter of Charles and Sarah (Hazlitt) Dumpher, the latter a daughter of Squire Hazlitt, whose wife bore the maiden name of Howard. Her uncle, Charles Hazlitt, was a prominent Unitarian minister and the father of Will- iam Hazlitt, the well known literary critic.
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Sarah Hazlitt attended a boarding school on the Isle of Wight and there became acquainted with Charles Dumpher, to whom she gave her hand in marriage. He was a son of a market gardener who was extensively engaged in raising vegetables and small fruits. Charles Dumpher re- moved with his wife to the old town of Winchester, where he served for thirty years in the position of postman. Their children were Charles, who was the pro- prietor of a bakery, which is now conduct- ed by his son at the same place where he carried on business; George, who en- gaged in the manufacture of cut glass for many years; Sarah, an exceptionally de- vout Christian and greatly beloved by all who knew her; Mary, who became the wife of Charles Adams and removed to London; and Elizabeth, mother of Mrs. Travis. Mr. and Mrs. Collinson came to America about the year 1851, accompanied by their three children-Mary, Susan and Joshua, and by his two children of a former marriage,- Helen and Jesse R. H. The latter married Ann Higgins, daughter of Robert P. Hig- gins, owner of extensive farm lands in West Orange, and with his wife and four chil- dren removed to Detroit, Michigan. There, during the early part of the civil war, he entered Company B, Twenty-fourth Regi- ment of Michigan Infantry, of the "Iron" brigade, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Albert M. Edwards, of Detroit. Mr. Collinson was a great favorite of Col- onel Edwards, who strongly commended him for his great bravery in the many bat- tles in which he fought. While on duty in the battle of the Wilderness he received a severe wound in the head and was taken to the Columbian hospital, at Washington. As soon as he had sufficiently recovered to
shoulder a musket he volunteered to en- gage in the battle of Cedar Creek in the Shenandoah valley, and was shot through the knee, from which wound he suffered in the hospital for months. As soon as he was able he again enlisted and remained with his regiment to the end of the war. Colonel Edwards was a brave, patriotic man and greatly honored and beloved by all his regiment. In 1891 he wrote to Mr. Collinson, telling him that he had kept track of all his men since the war. At that time he said there were twenty-four living. Mr. Collinson died January 28, 1897.
Helen, daughter of William and Eliz- abeth Collinson, married Robert Howe, and removed to Bethel, Maine. Mary, the eldest child, became the wife of Steven W. Herdman, and their children are Horace P., Susie E. and Joseph W. The first named completed his education in Miller's Busi- ness College, in Newark, and was then em- ployed as bookkeeper by the building firm of Cook & Berryman until his death, in July, 1890, when he had attained the age of twenty-six years. He left a widow, whom he had wedded only six months previously and who bore the maiden name of Florence Fairchild. Susie Herdman, the second of that family, was graduated in the Orange high school and completed her education in the State Normal School, in Trenton. She was a teacher in the Franklin public schools, of East Orange, New Jersey, for ten years, and then married Herbert Bloom- field, with whom she removed to Walton Mills, Suffolk, England. In 1897 she re- moved to Cape Town, South Africa, where she is now living. Joseph W. Herdman, the third child, completed his education in the Franklin public school and is now en- gaged in the plumbing business.
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Mr. and Mrs. Travis had four children. Isaac Newton, Jr., was born in Philadel- phia, July 29, 1873, and after accompany- ing his parents on their trip to Texas re- turned with them to. Orange in 1881. He was graduated in the grammar schools of West Orange, and at an early age dis- played unusual ability and zeal in the study of natural sciences, especially natural his- tory. Without the advantages afforded by a collegiate education, he began the study of ornithology, and subsequently became an expert taxidermist, pursuing that profes- sion with remarkable success. Being a sportsman, he made frequent trips into the country, where with his dog and gun he secured many specimens. He was also an expert in the use of the camera and became a member of the Orange Camera Club. He soon found a broad field for his labor, being employed as taxidermist in the Amer- ican Museum of Natural History, in Cen- tral Park, New York, where his superior workmanship soon won him high honors. He was appointed to represent the Museum of Natural History, as naturalist and taxi- dermist, on the Dr. Cook-Peary relief ex- pedition to the Arctic regions. The expedi- tion sailed with the steamship Miranda, July 7, 1894, and were shipwrecked off the coast of Greenland, losing everything and barely escaping with their lives. . They were rescued by Captain Dixon, of the fishing schooner Rigel.
After returning home Mr. Travis con- tinued with the Museum of Natural His- tory until December, 1895, when he ac- cepted the position of superintendent of the ornithological department of the Field Columbian Museum, Chicago, where he re- mained ten months, when he resigned and resumed his former position in the Museum
of Natural History, Central Park, New York, which position he held at the time of his death, August 28, 1897. It is seldom that a man so young becomes so noted as a specialist, but Mr. Travis took rank among the most prominent in his line in the en- tire country, and his death proved a great loss to the scientific world as well as to his family and friends.
Annie Nadin, the second of the family, was graduated at the East Orange high school and is now a student in the State Normal School, Trenton.
George Thomas is a graduate of the New Jersey Business College, Newark. For five years he was employed in the mirror department of the Van Horn Griffin Glass House, of New York, as shipping clerk, paymaster and assistant manager. He is now proprietor of a prosperous bicycle store in Orange. Mary Marcella, the youngest, is a graduate of the East Orange high school.
Mr. Travis' family attend the Grace Episcopal church. Socially, Mr. Travis is connected with Corinthian Lodge No. 57, A. F. & A. M., and is also a popular mem- ber of Garfield Lodge No. 2775, Knights of Honor, of Orange, and of the Orange Conclave No. 475, Improved Order of Heptasophs.
ISAAC PRESTON BALDWIN,
who represented one of the oldest families of the county, was born at the homestead on Scotland street, Orange, June 17, 1821, and descended from sturdy ancestry noted for longevity. Jonathan Baldwin removed from Branford, Connecticut, to Newark, New Jersey, in 1668, and settled at the foot of the mountain, in which locality the town
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ISAAC PRESTON BALDWIN.
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of Orange was afterward builded. Since that year the representatives of this family have all been born in Orange, a record that can hardly be paralleled in the history of another family of the community, and their history is also remarkable for the longevity of those who bear the name of Baldwin, very few having passed away be- fore the age of eighty years, while many have been nonagenarians. Caleb Baldwin, who resides in Orchard street, Newark, is now in his ninety-ninth year. The parents of our subject were Isaac and Nancy Bald- win.
When Mr. Baldwin of this review reached the age of twelve years his school life was completed, for his father at that time secured him employment in the store and shoe factory of Ichabod Condit, who car- ried on business on Mount Pleasant ave- nue, at the foot of the mountain. The young employe was mostly engaged in packing shoes and became quite expert in that line of work. In 1838 he was appren- ticed to Henry Stryker, under whose direc- tion he learned the trade of a hatter, and when his term was completed he had ac- quired a thorough knowledge of the busi- ness, from the bowing of the fur to the finishing, trimming and packing. While al- ways faithful to his duties, Mr. Baldwin found time for a great deal of boyish en- joyment, and in later years took great de- light in relating many of the pranks and practical jokes that were perpetrated in that vicinity by himself and companions. The Stryker shops stood on the northwest cor- ner of Main and Center streets, with the Condit shops on the opposite side of the street.
In the year 1848 Mr. Baldwin became the proprietor of the Park House, then the
principal hotel in the Oranges, but after one year abandoned that enterprise to en- ter the employ of the Golden Rule, a publi- cation of that day. Later he became con- nected with the United States Express Company, and in 1853, in partnership with Jonathan and Alexander McChesney, under the firm name of McChesney & Bald- win, he began the manufacture of hats in the shops that stood on Main street just op- posite the west end of Military Common. In this undertaking he was prosperous; he was a progressive man, ready to turn all im- provements to advantage. It was while here that he introduced the first labor- saving machine used among the hat-manu- facturers of this section of the country. This was a sewing-machine, the first of any kind ever brought to Orange.
The firm of McChesney & Baldwin con- tinued until 1857, when Mr. Baldwin with- drew and embarked in business on his own account.
Soon afterward he was appointed post- master of Orange by President Buchanan, and distributed the mails from a little office that occupied a part of the drug store of Cyrus S. Miner in the Gerbert building. ad- joining the corner of Main and Canfield streets, where he remained until 1859, when for the first time in its history the postoffice was located separate from other busi- ness interests. This change was great- ly appreciated by the people, as were many others introduced by Mr. Baldwin, which greatly increased the postal facilities of the office. During the period of his incum- bency in the postoffice Mr. Baldwin ren- dered signal service to the people along the entire line of the Morris & Essex Railroad. In those days Edward Jackson, of Dover, was the only postal clerk on the trains of
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that line. He made two trips over the road each way daily, and it not infrequently occurred that from one cause or another he failed to make connection and there would be no one to take on, assort and throw off the mails. Mr. Baldwin, in these instances, would board the train and perform the work, until Jackson's train was met, when they would exchange places. The railroad company's recognition of this valuable ser- vice was a pass over their road given to Mr. Baldwin. His connection with the post- office ceased in 1860.
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