USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > Biographical and genealogical history of the city of Newark and Essex County, New Jersey, V. 2 > Part 58
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Maryland, July 7th; served temporarily in the Eighth Army Corps from July 7th to August 8th; on garrison duty at Harper's Ferry and Martinsburg, August, 1863, to May, 1864; engagement at Newmarket, May 15, 1864; Lynchburg campaign, May 26th to June 29th; engagement at Pied- mont, June 5th; occupation of Staunton, June 6th; action near Lynchburg, June 17th and 18th; skirmish at Buford's Gap, June 20th; skirmish at Salem, June 21st; opera- tions in the Shenandoah valley, from July 3d to August 3d; defense of Harper's Ferry and Maryland Heights, July 3d to 4th; ac- tion at Charleston, West Virginia, July 19th; action at Bunker Hill and Martins- burg, July 25th; in compliance with special order No. 25 reported for duty in the Dis- trict of Harper's Ferry, July 27th; assigned to the defenses of Harper's Ferry, July 28th, reporting to General Max Weber.
Original members, except veterans, mus- tered out, and veterans and recruits trans- ferred to the Thirtieth New York Inde- pendent Battery, October 25th. This bat- tery served at Harper's Ferry and vicinity until January 2, 1865, and at Camp Barry, defenses of Washington, D. C., until June. Mustered out at New York city, June 23, 1865.
Thus for more than three years did Mr. Trepkau faithfully follow the old flag on southern battlefields, valiantly fighting for the cause it represented, and his military record is one of which he may be justly proud.
Mr. Trepkau was married in Orange, Au- gust 4, 1868, the lady of his choice being Elizabeth Volk, a daughter of Leonard and Barbara Volk. She was born in New York, October 31, 1845, and by her marriage be- came the mother of two children: Clara
Alvina, born April 3, 1872; and Fritz Leon- ard Martin, born June 14, 1881.
Mr. Trepkau is a member of various benevolent and social organizations, as John F. Morse Lodge, No. 183, I. O. O. F., of which he has served as past district deputy grand master; Orange Lodge, No. 186, D. O. H., of which he was treasurer for ten years, and in which body he also belongs to the grand lodge; is past commander of Uzal Dodd Post, No. 12, G. A. R., and was aid-de-camp to the commander-in-chief during 1893. He also belongs to the New- ark Pioneer Society and to the Saenger- bund of Orange. He is a member of the board of trustees of the German-English school, and for eight years was president of that body.
In his political views Mr. Trepkau is a stalwart Republican, and in respect to re- ligion he and his family attend the First German Lutheran church.
GEORGE W. PANCOST.
One who has attained a position of prominence in connection with the financial affairs of the national metropolis, who has rendered to his country the valiant service of a loyal son of the republic, and who has been a resident of Bloomfield, New Jersey, for nearly three decades,-it is certainly in- cumbent that he whose name initiates this review be accorded representation in this compilation, for he stands as an exemplar of that true citizenship and integrity of pur- pose which constitute the bulwarks of our national prosperity.
In the paternal line Mr. Pancost traces his genealogy to English origin, the Amer- ican progenitor having emigrated hither in early colonial days and having been a mem-
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ber of that noble organization, the Society of Friends, in common parlance designated as Quakers. Mr. Pancost may be truly said to be by birthright a member of this society, for in the maternal line also his an- cestors were Quakers, having been num- bered among the original settlers of Ulster county, New York.
George W. Pancost is a native of New York city, where he was born on the 17th of April, 1841, being the son of Samuel P. and Rachel (Vernoory) Pancost. His fa- ther was born in Waterford, Vermont, be- ing the son of Caleb Pancost, who was like- wise a native of the same state, where the family had been established for many gen- erations. The mother of the immediate subject of this review was born in West- chester county, New York, the daughter of Cornelius Vernoory, who was born in Ul- ster county, New York, of which section his ancestors were pioneers, as has been al- ready noted. George W. passed his youth in New York city, receiving his educational discipline in the public schools and com- pleting an effective course of study in the high school. In the year 1860 he initiated what has proved a most successful and honorable business career in the field of financial operations, securing a position as assistant bookkeeper in a bank, in New York, and retaining this incumbency until that hour when his intrinsically loyal and patriotic nature was roused to responsive protest and definite action, as the rebel guns thundered against Fort Sumter and the nation was menaced by armed rebellion.
In 1861 Mr Pancost enlisted as a member of the Eighty-third New York Volunteer Infantry, Colonel John W. Stiles com- manding, and was ordered with his com- mand to Virginia, where he was an active
participant in the second battle of Bull Run. Later on he was in the very thick of the fray at the memorable battle of Antie- tam, where he received two serious wounds almost simultaneously. A gun-shot shat- tered the bone of his left arm, rendering amputation ultimately necessary, and he was also wounded in the left leg, at the knee joint, the injury permanently stiffening the joint. He was taken to the hospital, where he was confined for a period of three months, within which time he recuperated his shattered energies, though it was ever thereafter to be his portion to bear the un- mistakable badge of courage and of loyal service in more than the mere scars of battle. Mr. Pancost's injuries were such as to necessarily incapacitate him for further service on the field, and he received his honorable discharge in 1862. He forth- with returned to New York city, where he accepted the position of bookkeeper in the Bank of the Commonwealth, being retained in this capacity for a period of several years, when he accepted a similar incumbency in the Sixth Na- tional Bank of New York city,-an in- stitution in which his careful and conserva- tive methods, unmistakable ability, rare dis- crimination and unswerving fidelity were eventually to gain him distinctive official precedence. He advanced by successive stages until 1887, when he was chosen cashier of the bank, which responsible and exacting office he has since held consecu- tively, his administration of the practical affairs of the monetary institution having been such as to indicate the wisdom of the choice. The Sixth National is known as one of the stanch and impregnable banking houses of the Union, and its prestige has been assured by the careful and discrimi-
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nating methods brought to bear in its man- agement, as well as by the financial respon- sibility of those who stand as its sponsors.
In political adherency Mr. Pancost up- holds the principles and policies advanced by the Republican party, exercising his franchise in the support of the same at state and national elections, but maintaining a liberal attitude in local affairs, which he considers somewhat outside the domain of ordinary politics. He keeps alive his inter- est in his old comrades in arms and in the deeper associations of his military career, by holding membership in Lafayette Post, No. 140, G. A. R., of Bloomfield. He is known as one of the public-spirited and progressive citizens of Bloomfield, having a beautiful home at 220 Linden avenue. He has been a resident of Essex county since 1868, and in the attractions of the beautiful suburban district where he has so long maintained his home he finds rest and re- laxation from the thronging cares of the day, and it need not be said that his most tender associations are those that cluster ยท about his home.
In the year 1863 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Pancost to Miss Sarah Ter- willeger, of New York city, which figures as the place of her nativity. Mr. and Mrs. Pancost are the parents of one son and two daughters,-Warren L. is a resident of Glen Ridge; Florence E. is the wife of Henry Bogert, of Glen Ridge; and Jennie is the wife of John W. Knight, also a resi- dent of the same place.
ALBERT P. CONDIT.
For nearly forty-five years Albert P. Condit has been a member of the bar of Newark and has attained prestige as an
able representative of the legal profession, which stands as the protector of human life, liberty and property. He was born in Or- ange, New Jersey, on the 10th of Decem- ber, 1829, and received excellent educa- tional privileges, his literary education be- ing completed by his graduation in Yale College, in 1850, on the completion of a four-years course. He then took up the study of law in Newark and after a thor- ough course of reading was admitted to the bar as an attorney in November, 1853, and as a counselor in February, 1864. Since 1872 he has been associated in practice with William Silas Whitehead, and has had a fair share of the important litigation that has been heard in the courts of the district. He is a forceful speaker, a clear reasoner, logical in argument and ready in debate. He has been honored by his fellow-towns- men with public office, having been elected to the state legislature in 1867, while at the present time he is special master in chan- cery.
CAPTAIN BENJAMIN W. HOPPER,
a descendant of one of the distinctly con- spicuous families of New Jersey, whose loy- alty to the United States and public-spirited enthusiasm were made manifest both before and after the war of the Revolution, Captain Hopper is particularly deserving of mention in a compilation of this nature, as much on his own behalf as on that of his ancestors, who played so important a part in the his- tory of this nation.
The records of Bergen county, New Jer- sey, show that an early Dutch emigrant located there near the date of the settlement of New Amsterdam, New York, and from 1623 an account of the family's private and
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public services demonstrates the fact that the members were ranked among the prom- inent people in their respective communi- ties. They were noted for their uncompro- mising patriotism to the United States dur- ing the struggle for freedom from the crown and also for their unstinted hatred of Eng- land in her pretensions of sovereignty over the colonies after the Declaration of Inde- pendence had been issued. The Hopper family not only contributed means to aid in prosecuting the war, but also sent forth men for active service in the ranks, some of whom shed their blood at the hands of the Tories upon the battlefields, while Cap- tain Jonathan Hopper was murdered by the Tories at New Barbadoes, Bergen county, New Jersey, on the 21st of April, 1779.
Abraham Hopper, the Captain's grand- father, married Charity Pulis, and to them were born fourteen children. Of this num- ber John A. Hopper, father of our subject, was born on the IIth of February, 1804, be- came a leading citizen of his county, and was one of the first to denounce the liquor traffic. He married Miss Keziah Wester- velt, a daughter of John and Charity (Ban- ta) Westervelt, the former of whom de- scended from Holland ancestry. To Mr. and Mrs. Hopper were born the following children : Abram J., a blacksmith, who died in Newark, in 1880; John W .; Thomas B., who died in early life; Benjamin W .; Mary, deceased; Henry, who is chief of police in Newark; William, deceased; Jacob, who has also passed away; and Levi, who is connect- ed with the Central Railroad at Newark.
Captain Benjamin W. Hopper was born in Bergen county, New Jersey, on the 15th of May, 1839, at the old homestead, and re- ceived but a meager education in the public schools there. At the age of sixteen he left
the farm on which he was reared and was apprenticed to the carpenter's trade, which he followed until the war of the Rebellion was inaugurated, when he offered his ser- vices in defense of the old flag, and on the 20th of September, 1861, enlisted as a pri- vate in Company E, Ninth New Jersey Vol- unteer Infantry. The regiment left the state in the following December, and at once went into active service. For efficient and gallant conduct on the field of battle Mr. Hopper was made a sergeant, and his brav- ery in that capacity attracted the attention of General Hickman, who promoted him to a lieutenancy. Soon thereafter he was commissioned captain, and as such con- tinued his service with unfaltering fidelity and capability until hostilities had ended. During an engagement at Fort Farling he received a wound in the hand, and two days later was injured in the breast and arm; but in spite of these disabilities he persisted in remaining with his company, which, being well drilled and equipped, could be relied upon for any duty required of it.
Among other complimentary references to Captain Hopper's service, the compiler of the history of the Ninth New Jersey Regi- ment says"he was held in the highest esteem by officers and men." The Captain was ap- pointed inspector-general of the Twenty- third Corps in front of Goldsboro, North Carolina, performing his duties in a master- ful manner and receiving encomiums from Sherman, Cox and Scofield regarding the same. The Ninth formed a part of the ex- pedition of Burnside against Roanoke Island, in January, 1862, which was disabled by a storm at Cape Hatteras, where many vessels were wrecked, thus delaying the at- tack until the 8th of February. After the battle of Newbern, North Carolina, the
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siege of Fort Macon and the skirmishing that followed these two engagements, the Ninth went to South Carolina, where it joined Hunter's army at St. Helena island, and in April, 1863, it returned to North Carolina, there aiding in the release of General Foster at Little Washington. In October of the same year the regiment was transferred to Newport News, Virginia, where the army went into winter quarters. ' The following spring Captain Hopper was granted a furlough for thirty days, return- ing to his regiment on the 8th of March, and on the 26th of April took the field, par- ticipating in the movements leading up to the battle of Cold Harbor, in which engage- ment Company E suffered a loss of seventy- six men out of ninety-eight, only twenty- two reporting for duty. The following sum- mer and fall, up to some time in September, were spent in the vicinity of Bermuda Hun- dred, and then the regiment returned to North Carolina, remaining at Carolina City until March 4, 1865, when it joined in the pursuit of General Johnston at Raleigh, and was almost in continuous action until John- ston's surrender. Captain Hopper's com- pany was ordered from the field on the 12th of July, and was mustered out of service at Trenton within a few days. At the close of the war the Captain was acting assistant ad- jutant-general on the staff of General Jim Stewart, Jr. He has in his possession the report of the company he commanded through the war.
In October, 1865, having returned to the north, Captain Hopper entered the employ of the Central Railroad Company as bag- gage agent at the New York station, re- maining in that position until the middle of November, when he went on the road as
baggage master. Soon thereafter he was made a conductor, from which position he was promoted to that of ticket agent, being stationed at the foot of Liberty street, New York, the office at that time being in a freight car. After leaving that place he was given charge of a train on the Allen- town line, running between New York and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and on the Ist of July, 1869, he was appointed station mas- ter for the Central Railroad at Newark, en- tering upon his duties on the Ist of Au- gust. At present he is general agent for the Jersey Central Railroad at Newark, in which capacity he has given entire satisfac- tion to the company, while the public re- gard him as a most obliging official.
During the great railroad strike of 1877, when traffic had been completely closed for four days, the Captain was the one selected to pilot troops from Elizabeth to Phillips- burg, New Jersey, the headquarters of the strikers, and, if possible, put an end to the strike. So well did he succeed in this un- dertaking that he had the leading strikers under arrest and troops posted throughout Phillipsburg almost before the strikers themselves knew of his arrival. As soon as he saw his duty fulfilled he returned by spe- cial engine to his post at Newark. During the great blizzard of 1888, when the rail- roads throughout the country were com- pletely blocked, he could not understand why trains were not run between Newark and New York. The telegraph wires being rendered useless by the storm, he started out alone and on foot to see what could be done. He reached Bergen cut after a peril- ous trip over bridges crossing the Hacken- sack and Passaic rivers, and found two trains, five cars and three locomotives snowbound in the immense drifts, where
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they had been for twenty-six hours. He continued on to Communipaw, New Jersey, where he asked for four locomotives. When questioned concerning the purpose for which he wished them, and replying, "To open the line to Newark," he was laughed at; but the locomotives were procured, and after half a day's hard work he had the sat- isfaction of reaching Newark on the first train through from New York over any of the lines reaching this city. It is by deeds of this character that he has won the esteem and respect of the men in his charge, as well as the utmost confidence on the part of his superiors, who realize that he is the right man in the right place. He is spoken of in the highest terms by all who know him; friends do not hesitate to call upon him for favors, for if it lies within his possibility to grant them he never hesitates to do them. He shows the utmost consideration for the rights of those who work under him, and is a man of the broadest humanitarian prin- ciples.
The marriage of Captain Hopper was consummated on the IIth of May, 1870, when he was united to Miss Mary Wood Keller, a daughter of Edmund Keller, of Easton, Pennsylvania, who married Miss Rosa Troxell, and reared four children. Cap- tain and Mrs. Hopper are the parents of four children also. Edmund K., the eldest, born May 1, 1871, wedded Miss Mary Mal- colm, and is connected with the Prudential Insurance Company; Herbert W., who was born October 13, 1875, is first lieutenant of the Essex Infantry; Emelie S., born Decem- ber 18, 1878, and Clarence R., born August II, 1880, complete the family, and are still at home with their parents. Captain Hop- per owns the old home, in Morris county, where he was born.
Touching upon the social relations of Captain Hopper we may state that he is af- filiated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained to the thirty-second degree. He is also an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and an honor- ary member of the Essex Infantry, which he organized. He is also a member of the association of the Roanoke Survivors, which is composed of the survivors of the various commands who actively partici- pated in this battle, it being the first one in which they were engaged and practically the first victory of importance for the Union army.
He has always been a strong Republican in politics, and the early members of the family were old-line Whigs.
COL. GEORGE P. OLCOTT,
superintendent of the East Orange water- works, was born in New York city, June 16, 1850. He came with his parents to Montclair about 1860, and later to East Or- ange. His first knowledge of civil engi- neering was obtained as an employe of a railroad company. He was a member of the engineering corps which constructed the Passaic river dykes on the Newark meadows. On the completion of this work he became associated with W. H. V. Reimer, civil engineer, continuing until 1878. He then took up the special work of drainage and sanitary engineering. He constructed the works of the Orange Water Company, and has been superintendent of the company since 1882. He has served four years as a member of the East Orange board of education.
He represented his district in the state legislature in 1893, and was re-elected the
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following year. During the latter term he introduced and urged the passage of the township school act. Of this, Mr. Poland, in his school report for 1894, says: "The passage of the Olcott school bill of 1894 will stand for years to come as one of the epochs in the school history of New Jer- sey." Colonel Olcott served six years in the National Guard of New Jersey, and was made quartermaster of Third Battalion in 1890, and in 1894 was made quartermaster- general with the rank of colonel. He is a member of the Gatling Gun Armory Asso- ciation, of East Orange, and other local so- cieties and organizations. He married Ella H. Condit, a native of East Orange, and has seven children.
WILLIAM W. LYONS.
That the plenitude of satiety is seldom attained in the affairs of life is to be con- sidered as a most grateful and beneficial deprivation, for where ambition is satisfied and every ultimate aim realized-if such is possible-there must follow individual apathy. Effort will cease, accomplishment be prostrate and creative talent waste its energies in supine inactivity. The men who have pushed forward the wheels of progress have been those to whom satiety lay ever in the future, and they have labored consecu- tively, and have not failed to find in each transition stage an incentive for further ef- fort. Laudable ambition has ever been one of the marked characteristics of William W. Lyons, and it is this that has gained him the present responsible position he occupies as secretary and manager of the Heller Tool Company, of Newark.
Born in Manchester, England, on the 3d of May, 1855, he is a son of William and
Ann (Guthrie) Lyons. The paternal grand- father was William Lyons, Sr., who emi- grated from the city of Darmstadt, Ger- many, to England about the year 1805. Locating in Manchester, he engaged in the manufacture of the celebrated Lyons inks, which have become known throughout the civilized world. The founder of this es- tablishment died in 1819, at the age of thir- ty-five years, and was succeeded by his son, William, the father of our subject. The father studied chemistry under the cele- brated Dr. Grace Calvert, of Manchester, England. William Lyons married Miss Ann Guthrie, a daughter of John and Ann (Palliser) Guthrie, both of whom were de- scendants of eminent English families. The father was a native of the village of Bishop Burton, in Yorkshire, England. The parents of our subject had a family of four sons : Hyman, who married, had one daugh- ter, and died at the age of fifty years; Joseph, who is married and with his family of three children resides at Southport, Eng- land; Henry, who died at the age of twenty- four years; and William W.
Mr. Lyons, whose name introduces this review, was educated in the grammar and collegiate schools of Manchester, England, and also pursued his studies in the Mo- ravian College, in the town of New Weid, on the river Rhine, in Prussia. He was graduated in that institution and later at- tended a private school conducted by the eminent Doctor Verson, at Dunquerque, France, where he remained for one year. He then determined to seek his fortune in South Africa, but after two years returned home, continuing in Manchester, England, until the death of his father in 1880. At- tracted by the opportunities afforded in the United States, he made arrangements to
WILLIAM W. LYONS.|
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leave the land of his nativity, and on the 14th of December, 1880, landed at New York. Taking up his residence in Newark, he here engaged in business in partnership with his father-in-law, James Dodge, and David Blake, under the firm name of Dodge, Blake and Lyons, in the manufac- ture of crucible steel. In 1884 Mr. Blake sold his interest to Elias G. Heller and re- tired from the firm. The business was then conducted under the firm style of Dodge, Heller & Lyons until 1890, when Mr. Dodge retired, selling his interest to Mr. Heller, and the firm was incorporated under the name of the Heller Tool Company, with Elias G. Heller as president, Ernest A. Geoffroy, treasurer, and William W. Lyons, secretary and manager. Under the wise and prudent management of these gentle- men the business has steadily increased and their trade has now assumed extensive pro- portions.
Mr. Lyons was married in Roseville, January 29, 1881, to Miss Cynthia Joseph- ine Dodge, a daughter of James and Cynthia Dodge. Her father was the founder of the business which is now con- ducted under the name of the Heller Tool Company, establishing the enterprise in 1882. He is one of the few American members of the Royal Society of Mechani- cal Engineers, of England, having received the gold medal by reason of his various inventions, which include the hammer-forg- ing and grinding machinery, and also the patented saw-grinding process. His testimonials were certified by John and Jacob Bright, Sir E. Armitage and other eminent men of England, as a tribute to the skill and mechanical genius of Mr. Dodge.
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