USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > Biographical and genealogical history of the city of Newark and Essex County, New Jersey, V. 2 > Part 62
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the family, were twins. The latter died at the age of eighteen months; and Ida, who grew to womanhood, became the wife of Mr. Chapman and has three children-May, Amos H. and Leslie. The mother of this family, Mrs. Mary (Hull) Van Horn, died in March, 1882.
Her father Gershon Hull, died in War- ren county, in 1819, and his wife, long sur- viving him, passed away in 1859. They had four sons and four daughters, as follows: Daniel, who lived to be eighty-three years of age, married and had one daughter; Car- oline; John married and had two children, Arili and Sarah; James married and had two children-Gershon and Irvin; Gershon mar- ried, and died November 24, 1897, at the age of eighty-six years; Hannah became Mrs. Gerhardt, and had a number of sons and daughters; Hetty became Mrs. Sherman, and with her husband removed to Wisconsin in 1845, in which state they reared their four children; Sarah became Mrs. Kechum, and with her husband re- moved to Michigan; and Mrs. Van Horn completed the family. All of the sons en- gaged in mercantile pursuits.
Amos H. Van Horn was born in Warren county, New Jersey, November 26, 1840, was educated in the schools of Danville, and received his business training principally under the tuition of his father. In 1855 the family removed to Newark and the father began the manufacture of chairs and furni- ture, fondly expecting to do a large busi- ness with the retail dealers of that city. Amos was employed mornings and evenings in the shop, going to school in the middle of the day, but his tastes were more for the cabinet-making tools than for text-books. The following year business was prostrated by the panic which swept over the middle
and eastern states, in fact affecting all the great industrial interests of the country. The manufacture of cabinetware met with the same fate that all other trades experi- enced for a time, and, finding idleness irk- some, Amos determined to go to his native town of Danville, hoping there to find em- ployment. He was not disappointed in this, and worked there through the winter, re- turning to Newark the following spring. The next few months he was employed as formerly, assisting in the shop, except dur- ing school hours, when he pursued the school course of study. Illness, however, overpowered him, and for about two years he was unfitted for even the lightest kind of employment. As he improved he became imbued with the desire to engage in busi- ness on his own account, and, obtaining his father's consent to this step, he borrowed five dollars of his brother, and in 1860, form- ing a partnership with a Mr. Holt, opened a small shop at the corner of Catharine and Market streets, where they carried on a fur- niture-repairing business for about a year.
When the war broke out, however, their trade rapidly decreased, and as their ex- penses were soon more than their income a dissolution of the partnership followed. Not dismayed by this unfriendly turn of for- tune, Mr. Van Horn soon opened an- other shop, in Harrison street, for which he agreed to pay four dollars per month rent. He then went to a prominent dealer, Julius Gerth, with whom he had a formal acquaintance, and, procuring paints and tools on time, announced him- self as a dealer in second-hand furniture, and solicited work from all those want- ing chairs and furniture repaired. Too poor to own a horse and wagon, he hauled his goods in a wheelbarrow to and from the
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homes of his customers. By his pluck and energy, as well as his excellent workman- ship, he won a business which steadily grew in volume and importance, and in six months' time he had realized enough to pay off his indebtedness to the man who had so generously befriended him in his hour of need, and also had a surplus of about eigh- teen dollars. It seems a small sum viewed in the light of his present prosperity, but to the young man who had begun with noth- ing, it meant much to be free from debt and have that amount as capital. Thinking now he might broaden his field of labor, he re- moved to Mrs. Campbell's, in the basement of Isaac Pierson's newspaper depot, No. 77 Market street, which he secured for a monthly rental of four dollars, and from February until September of that year his business had increased until the stock he had on hand represented seventy-five dol- lars, and all paid for.
But now another element entered into his busy life. The north had not conquered the south, as it was expected it would do, and the country was calling for more volun- . teers. Mr. Van Horn felt that it was his duty and desire to go, and he has never been known to falter at the call of duty. Ac- cordingly, he enlisted in Company A, Twenty-sixth Regiment, leaving a boy in charge of his store, and after being two weeks in camp procured a two-days leave of absence for the purpose of closing out the concern, during which time he succeeded in finding a purchaser, to whom he sold out for twenty-five dollars.
After the return of his regiment, in June, 1863, Mr. Van Horn, now having a capital of two hundred dollars, rented a basement in Market street, near Broad street, for which he paid a rental of eight dollars, and
there developed a large business. He car- ried on repairing as before, but by visiting the auction rooms and sales at private dwel- lings, he rapidly enlarged his stock, and after three years was obliged to find more commodious quarters for his business. He then rented the first floor and basement of No. 79 Market street, and for twelve hun- dred dollars secured the whole stock and good will of Mr. Griffiths, the former pro- prietor. Success attended the new under- taking, and after a time he rented the en- tire building, paying eight hundred dollars per annum for the same. Another two years passed and further changes were de- manded, which led him to purchase the building at No. 73 Market street, which he remodeled throughout to meet his needs, and also erected a three-story brick building in the rear, to serve as a store room, repair shop and stable. He then decided to drop the second-hand furniture business entirely, and with that object in view disposed of his old goods and purchased a large stock of new furniture and other household goods, with which he filled the new store, it soon becoming known as headquarters for every- thing in that line. Thus gradually, step by step, Mr. Van Horn has built up a very ex- tensive concern. He now carries on a wholesale and retail furniture business, and in his large store and wareroom are found all grades of goods, to meet the varying de- mands of the trade.
In 1884 he erected an addition to his warehouse, five stories in height and ex- tending to Campbell street; in 1890 he erected an addition, fifty by sixty feet, six stories in height, to be used for stock and shipping purposes. In 1893 another addi- tion was made, with twenty-eight feet frontage, on Campbell street, and extending
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through to Bank street, six stories in height. The building was further enlarged in 1894 by the erection of a building from Campbell street, facing Bank street, where it has a frontage of seventy-five feet, built of hand- some pressed brick with appropriate archi- tectural finish. In 1893, in addition to the furniture trade, Mr. Van Horn embarked in the storage and warehouse business. He now has in contemplation the building of an additional structure, six stories in height, with a twenty-eight-foot frontage on Camp- bell street, which will make the entire front- age on that street one hundred and six feet. This building is connected with his Market street store by a large arched bridge. In 1899 Mr. Van Horn contemplates the erec- tion of an addition, in Market street, of twenty-nine feet and three inches, ten stor- ies in height, making a total frontage on Market street of fifty-one feet, extending two hundred feet deep to Campbell street, where the Market store is connected by a bridge with the warehouse and stock- rooms. The floor area of his entire estab- lishment is over three acres, and when his contemplated additions are made his es- tablishment will be the largest of the kind in the state.
What Mr. Van Horn has accomplished in the world of commerce cannot adequately be told in words. It is certainly not assert- ing too much to say of one who can direct and control a business of such magnitude, that he must possess, aside from mercantile foresight and sagacity, the happy faculty of reading and judging men, unusual powers of organization and executive ability-in a word, that he must be a master mind; and yet if one shall seek in Mr. Van Horn's ca- reer the causes that have led to his success, they will be found along the lines of well-
tried and old-time maxims. Honesty and fair dealing, promptness, truthfulness, fidel- ity-all these are strictly enforced and ad- hered to. Faithfulness on the part of em- ployes is promoted by the knowledge that good service means advancement as oppor- tunity opens and that neglect of duty will not be tolerated, and is further enhanced by the interest taken by the employer in the personal welfare of the deserving. Such characteristics have led to the splendid suc- cess which has crowned the efforts of Mr. Van Horn, who is one of the most prom- inent business men of New Jersey.
Amos H. Van Horn was married May 8, 1872, to Miss Emma Clark Wilcox, who was born in 1842, and is a daughter of James Clark and Hulda Wilcox, who had four children, as follows: Charles, who married Gussie Eveland and resides at Newark, New Jersey; George Edward, who married Mar- garet Blackwood, and resides at Newark; Carrie, who became Mrs. E. J. Anderson, of Newark, and died in 1880; and Mrs. Amos H. Van Horn, completed the family. Both the parents of these children have passed away, the father dying in 1850, and the mother in 1853. They were good and worthy people and in religious faith were Presbyterians. Mr. and Mrs. Van Horn at- tend St. Paul's church, Methodist Episco- pal. Mr. Van Horn is a charter member of Lincoln Post, No. II, G. A. R., at Newark, and is also an active member of the Newark Board of Trade. He is also a member of the Lincoln Republican Club, at Roseville, Newark.
THE BRUSH FAMILY.
The connection of the Brush family with the Oranges began about twenty-five years ago, when Clinton E. Brush, the present
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representative, took up his residence in Or- ange and a few years later in South Orange. With a constantly increasing interest in his surroundings and a manifest desire on his part to promote social intercourse and ex- tend a helping hand to his neighbors, his influence in the community has gradually widened, and when he was finally induced to accept public office he fulfilled the duties connected therewith as an honest and fear- less citizen. Sterling honesty and unflinch- ing courage are distinguishing traits of the Brush family, the ancestor of whom was among the early Puritan settlers of New England. The ancestor of the Brush fam- ily was Thomas Brush, of Southold, Long Island, 1662; made a freeman of Connecti- cut, 1664, that part of Long Island being at the time under the jurisdiction of Connecti- cut.
Jacob Brush, probably a son of Thomas, was born at Huntington, Long Island, in 1689; died October 17, 1731. He had a son, Jacob Brush, Jr., who was born at Huntington, Long Island, September 6, 1727; died April 6, 1813. He had a daugh- ter, Sarah, born September 24, 1763; mar- ried John Rolph. They had a daughter, Sally Rolph, born September 27, 1795; died December 22, 1873. She married Joshua Brush, son of Jonathan, who was probably the son of Jacob Brush, Sr. Joshua Brush, son of Jonathan, was born December 14, 1794; died November 18, 1864. Married Sally Rolph, and had Jonathan Ethelbert and other children.
Jonathan Ethelbert Brush was born at Smithtown, Long Island, February 25, 1818; died February 6, 1889. He was a well known New York merchant and car- ried on the wholesale hardware business under the firm name of W. N. Seymour &
Company, for upwards of forty years. He was well known and highly respected among New York business men. He mar- ried Cornelia Turck, of Germantown, New York, a descendant, probably, of John Christian Turck, one of the commissioners appointed, in 1710, by Governor Hunter, who purchased six thousand acres, of Rob- ert Livingston, for the use of a colony of German settlers, who gave it the name of Germantown.
Clinton Ethelbert Brush, eldest son of Jonathan and Cornelia (Turck) Brush, was born in New York city, May 24, 1844. His educational advantages embraced every- thing except a collegiate course. He at- tended the University Grammar School, Grammar School No. 40, and the Free Academy. Thus equipped he entered at once upon a successful business career as clerk in the house of Hastings, Cook & Valentine. He did not remain long in a subordinate capacity, his industry, push and energy having won him the confidence of his employers and secured his rapid ad- vancement. In 1862 Mr. Hastings with- drew from the old firm and organized that of Hastings & Potter. Mr. Brush went with the new firm and in February, 1866, a new partnership was formed under the name of Hastings, Brush & Company. In 1874 he sold his interest and started on his own account, and soon established an ex- tensive trade. Three years later, with his brother as partner, he opened a branch house in Toronto, Canada. The business increased to such an extent that he became the largest importer of dress trimmings in the Dominion. He continued in this line with unvarying success for eight years. On January 1, 1885, he accepted a position from the Chicago Corset Company, manufactur-
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ers of the Ball corset, to take entire charge of their eastern department and establish a branch in New York city. It was a great undertaking, owing to the strong competi- tion in this line, but Mr. Brush was equal to the task. He was convinced that his goods were superior to those of his com- petitors, and he was not long in convincing the public of this fact. He began by a ju- dicious yet liberal system of advertising, and the first year opened sixteen hundred accounts and had orders in excess of the company's immediate ability to supply. He increased his amount of advertising from year to year, with a proportionate in- crease of sales, which now exceed one mil- lion dollars a year, probably the largest in amount of any house in this line of busi- ness in the world.
Although a mere boy in years and ap- pearance at the breaking out of the civil war, Mr. Brush rendered important service to his country during the most trying period of our struggle for existence as a na- tion. He joined Company B, Seventy-first Regiment, New York Militia, in Septem- ber, 1862, and served with it through the famous Gettysburg campaign of 1863, and later in the New York draft riots of the same year. He completed his full term of service, and in 1876 became a member of the Veteran Association of the Seventy-first Regiment. Mr. Brush moved to Orange in 1870, and in 1877 he purchased two and one-half acres on Irving avenue, being a part of the Gould farm. On this he built a fine house, where he has since resided. While active in social and religious matters, he took no special part in public affairs un- til 1893, when he was elected a member of the township committee. The accounts of the collector had been passed upon by the
committee year after year without question. When the annual report was submitted that year, Mr. Brush suggested as a matter of form the auditing of the collector's ac- counts, and he was appointed a committee of one to make the examination. He dis- covered that there was a deficit of fourteen thousand seven hundred dollars. This led to a more critical examination, and other irregularities affecting a large number of property-holders were discovered. He found that several pieces of property had been sold for taxes at different times and omitted from the records. Through the efforts of Mr. Brush a proper system of bookkeeping has been adopted, the town- ship. committee has been more watchful of the affairs, and a large amount has been saved to the township.
Mr. Brush has been for many years active in both speculative and capitular Masonry. He was a charter member of Bunting Lodge, F. & A. M., of New York city, and dimitted from Sylvia Chapter, R. A. M., of Harlem, to Orange Chapter, R. A. M., of Orange. He is a director in the Orange Valley Y. M. C. A .; is treasurer of the First Presbyterian church of South Orange; a member of the South Orange Field Club, Village Improvement Society and other or- ganizations.
Mr. Brush was married, November 10, 1869, to Eliza Thompson, daughter of Wil- liam S. Whitlock, of New York city, whose wife was Rebecca Smith Fanshaw, daughter of Daniel Fanshaw (born 1788, died 1860), and a granddaughter of Thomas Fanshaw, an English clergyman.
William Schenck Whitlock, father of Mrs. Clinton E. Brush, was the son of John (born August 22, 1772, died December, 1859) and Mary (Schenck) Whitlock. John
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was the son of Lieutenant John Whitlock, a member of the Third Battalion, of Glou- cester county, New Jersey, in the war of the Revolution, also of Colonel Somers' battal- ion, state troops. He was killed at Nave- sink Highlands. He was the son of Thomas Whitlock, born about 1700, son of Thomas, born about 1666, son of Thomas, born about 1640, son of Thomas, born about 1615, living at Gravesend, 1664. Thomas, Sr., and Thomas, Jr., and another brother had a grant of land in Middletown, Mon- mouth county, New Jersey, in 1664. Mary Schenck, wife of John Whitlock, above re- ferred to, born 1786, died 1858, was the daughter of Captain John Schenck, born August 28, 1745, died August 28, 1834, an officer in the war of the Revolution, lived in Pleasant Valley, Monmouth county, New Jersey. A battle was fought on his farm. He was the son of Garret (born Au- gust 30, 1712, died August 20, 1757) and Jane (Van Cowenhoven) Schenck, son of Garret Roelofse (born October 27, 1671, died September 15, 1745) and Neitge Coer- lin (Van Voorhees) Schenck, son of Roulof Martinse (born 1619) and Neitge (Van Cowenhoven) Schenck, son of Martin Pe- terse Schenck, son of Peter Schenck, of Holland. The first of this name of whom any mention is made in history, is Edgar de Schencken, who, in A. D. 798, occupied the position of imperial seneschal to Charle- magne, emperor of Germany and France.
The children of Clinton E. and Eliza Thompson (Whitlock) Brush are: Rebecca Whitlock, born August 26, 1870; Cornelia, born September 19, 1872; William Whit- lock, born July 28, 1874; Grace Louise, born November 25, 1876; Clinton Ethel- bert, born March 22, 1879; Edward, born May 7, died May 9, 1881.
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THE ALLEN FAMILY.
Samuel Allen, the American ancestor of the Philadelphia branch and one branch of the New Jersey family of Allens, came from Bristol, England, in 1681, and settled near Philadelphia. He was a member of the So- ciety of Friends and, as is shown by the date of his arrival, preceded the settlement of the Penn colony. He had a son, Samuel (2), who had a son, Samuel (3), who had a son Samuel (4), who was born in Philadelphia. He married there, Sarah Brown, whose nephew General Jacob Brown, greatly dis- tinguished himself in the war of 1812 and was commander-in-chief of the United States army, 1821-1828. He had among other children, Samuel (5).
Samuel Allen (5), was born in 1782. He married Sarah W. Warner, of Bucks county, Pennsylvania. His eldest son was Joseph Warner, who was born near Bristol, Pennsylvania, July 22, 1811. He was by profession a civil engineer. His first ser- vice was in connection with the Delaware branch canal, from Easton to Bristol, Penn- sylvania. He was also connected with the construction of the Camden & Amboy Rail- road and various other railway enterprises in different parts of the country. In 1860, as chief engineer of the Hoboken Land & Im- provement Company, he completed the ยท construction of the Bergen tunnel, now owned by the Erie Railway Company. He was also chief engineer of the Dundee Water Power & Land Company, of Passaic, New Jersey. He represented Burlington county, New Jersey, in the state senate for several terms. He was appointed by Gov- ernor Charles Stratton (whose term of office was from 1845 to 1848) deputy quarter- master-general of the state of New Jersey.
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He was serving in this capacity when the war broke out in 1861, and, as a member of Governor Olden's staff, his wide experience as a civil engineer in the handling of large bodies of men enabled him to render im- portant service to his country in the organi- zation of the three-months men and of the first eight regiments of three-year men. In September, 1861, he raised the Ninth Regi- ment, New Jersey Volunteers, of which he was commissioned colonel by Governor Olden. This regiment contained twelve hundred men, being composed of twelve companies of one hundred men each,-the first regiment ever organized on that basis in this country. This unique plan of organi- zation, although abandoned by the regi- ment after his death, has recently been adopted by the United States Army. The regiment was attached to the Burnside ex- pedition, but Colonel Allen, who accom- panied it, was drowned at Hatteras Inlet, January 15, 1862. Colonel Allen married Sarah Burns Norcross, daughter of James S. Norcross and Isabella Burns, of Borden- town, New Jersey. The children of this marriage were: Bethea Burns, who mar- ried Dr. I. D. Young, of Bordentown, New Jersey; Joseph Warner, deceased, married . Emily Beaston, of Camden, New Jersey; William Frederick and Edwin Stevens.
William Frederick Allen, third child of Colonel Joseph and Sarah Burns (Nor- cross) Allen, was born in Bordentown, New Jersey, October 9, 1846. His early educa- tion was received at the Model School, at Bordentown; he was afterwards sent to the Protestant Episcopal Academy, and his studies were chosen with a view of his en- tering upon a course at West Point. As a schoolboy he was a warm friend of Mr. Gil- der, the present editor of the Century
Magazine, and when thirteen years of age he and his elder brother, with young Gilder, started a little campaign paper in which that gentleman was equal partner. The death of his father left the family entirely depend- ent on William and his elder brother. Wil- liam became a rodman on the Camden & Amboy Railroad in 1862, and after a year was promoted to the position of assistant engineer. He had charge of the party sur- veying the Pemberton & Hightstown Rail- road and the Camden & Burlington Coun- ties Railroad. He was also assistant en- gineer on the survey and construction of the old Long Branch & Sea Shore Rail- road and soon afterward, in 1868, he be- came resident engineer of the West Jersey Road. This position he resigned in 1872 to assume the chair of assistant editor of the Official Railway Guide. The following year he became its editor. In 1875 he was elected permanent secretary of the Railway Time Convention, now the American Rail- way Association, in which nearly all the railway companies of the country are mem- bers and are represented through their presidents, general managers or superin- tendents. When the association was re- organized, in 1886, Mr. Allen was again elected its secretary, which office he now holds. Mr. Allen has achieved a world- wide reputation in' his successful efforts to perfect and secure the adoption of the sys- tem of standard time now in general use throughout the civilized countries of the world. The adoption of a practical system of standard time had long been considered "a consummation devoutly to be wished," but exceedingly difficult to accomplish. Numerous schemes had been proposed from time to time by various men of science at the national councils of the railway au-
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thorities, but none of them were so well de- fined as to admit no doubt of their success- ful operation. The first to give the matter much attention was Professor C. F. Dowd, of Saratoga, who proposed a system of time standards with hour differences, in 1869, but the scheme was not worked out in de- tail to the satisfaction of railroad managers and the matter was accordingly abandoned. "The system subsequently adopted and the first practical one ever devised was," says a well known authority on the matter, "we are constrained to say, after the most dili- gent investigation, perfected and carried through by Mr. William F. Allen, editor of the Official Railway Guide and secretary of the American Railway Association.
Mr. Allen was appointed in 1884, by President Arthur, one of the five delegates to represent the United States at the Inter- national Meridian Conference, which met, by invitation of our government, at Wash- ington, in October of that year, at which meeting twenty-five different nations were represented. At this conference the merid- ian of Greenwich was chosen as the inter- national prime meridian and standard of time reckoning. This system of standard time has since been generally adopted in Europe. Great Britain, Holland and Belgium use the time of the first hour section; Germany, Austro-Hungary, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Sweden and western Turkey use the time of the second section, and Bulgaria, Roumania and eastern Turkey that of the third. The same system has also been adopted by Japan and recently by the Argentine Re- public and in Australia. In June, 1895, he represented the American Railway Associa- tion at the International Railway Congress, held in London, England, having been se-
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