USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > Biographical and genealogical history of the city of Newark and Essex County, New Jersey, V. 2 > Part 7
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Seven children were born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Corb. Allina, who was born July 23, 1867, married E. H. Tyler, of New York city, and has three children,- Charles, John, and Margaret M .; Susan Viola, who was born March 11, 1870, mar- ried Carpenter Carey, who died April 22, 1895; a son born May 23, 1873, died the following day; Lucy Madee, born August 15, 1874, married George Garrabrant, and has two living children, Pearl and Jesse, and one deceased, Elsie; Harry William, born March 8, 1877, is at home; another son died on the day of his birth, June 3, 1880; and George Andrew, born May 13, 1885, is now attending school.
Mr. Corb and his family attend the Meth- odist Episcopal church and are people of prominence in the community, having many warm friends and occupying a high place in social circles. Our subject is a charter member of the United Order of Friends and is a comrade of Meade, Post, No. 7, G. A. R., of Passaic, New Jersey. In early life he was a Democrat, but is now a stanch Republican, and is well informed on the issues of the day. Very industrious and energetic, he is a man of unbounded
honor in all business and social relations, and is highly esteemed in the community in which he has so long made his home.
THE COLLAMORE FAMILY.
Davis Collamore, the only representative of his family name in the Oranges, was con- temporaneous with Haskell, Marcy, Tomes, and other enterprising men, who cleared the mountain forests of West Orange, mak- ing there a series of refined suburban homes. Belhurst, Mr. Collamore's beauti- ful country seat, with its gracefully sloping lawns, grand old forest trees, and its wealth of flowers and shrubs, will ever be associat- ed with memories of its owner, whose cre- ative genius and love of nature enabled him to emphasize the natural beauties of the lo- cation, so that it yielded the largest meas- ure of pleasure to the many who were per- mitted to enjoy his genial hospitality. Mr. Collamore was an exemplification of that rare development of qualities which, through successive generations, had char- acterized the family as one of marked in- fluence in its day.
In early colonial records the name is vari- ously spelled-Collymore, Colmore, Colly- mer, Collmer, etc. It is derived from Col- line, a small mound or hill. From the de- scription of the arms, given in Burke's Gen- eral Armory, it would appear that the fam- ily came from France, and the inscription on theshield indicates that its members were among the bold crusaders who followed the fortunes of Richard Cœur de Lion, and were knighted 1 for brilliant achieve- ments. The first of the family name men- tioned in the history of Plymouth colony, is that of Peter Collymore, who secured a grant of land at Scituate, Massachusetts, in
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1639, and whose home, Brook Hall, on the "Third Herring Brook," was on the direct road to Scituate Harbor. He was also an original proprietor at Seconset, now Little Compton. Peter became a freeman in 1643, and having no children he sent to Europe for his nephews, William Black- more (soon afterwards killed by the In- dians), and Anthony Collymore. By will, dated in 1684, Peter provided for "wife Mary, one-third of the income of my es- tate," also for children of William Black- more, and then to his nephew Anthony all other property.
Captain Anthony Collamore, was a prominent citizen, always taking part in military, civil and ecclesiastical affairs of his town. In 1666 he married Sarah, twin daughter of Isaac Chittenden, several times deputy from Scituate, member of the coun- cil of war, etc. Anthony was a captain of militia and master of a vessel, and lost his life December 16. 1693, in a wreck on the coast near his home, his vessel going to pieces on a rocky reef which still bears the name of Collymore's Ledge. In 1694, shortly after his death, there was printed in Boston a memorial, composed by the Rev. Deodet Lawson, under the title of "Threnodia, or a Mournful Remembrance of the Much-to-be Lamented Death of the Worthy and Pious Captain Anthony Col- lamore." Of Anthony Collamore's twelve children, only five lived beyond infancy : Peter, Mary, Sarah, Martha and Elizabeth. The last named was twice married; first to Jeremiah Rose and afterwards to Tymothy Symmes. Her great-granddaughter, Anna Symmes, married, November 22, 1795, William Henry Harrison, ninth president of the United States.
thony and Sarah (Chittenden) Collamore, was born in Scituate, Massachusetts, in 1671, and in 1695 married Abegail Davis, of Roxbury, Massachusetts. Their children were: Abegail, Sarah, Anthony, Peter, Mary, John, Isaac, Thomas and Samuel. Peter and Samuel died young; the de- scendants of Anthony went to New York state and Vermont; they adopted the "er" termination of the name. Among these was Hon. Jacob Collamer, who was post- master-general in 1849, and United States senator from Vermont, 1855 to 1865. The descendants of Isaac went to Maine and Rhode Island, while those of Thomas and John remained in Massachusetts.
John Collamore, sixth child of Peter and Abegail (Davis) Collamore, was born in Scituate, in 1704, and died April 17. 1755. He married Margaret Whiton, daughter of Enoch Whiton, of Hingham, Massachu- setts, April 27, 1732. Their children were : Sarah, Mary, Betty, John and Enoch.
Captain Enoch Collamore, fifth child of John and Margaret (Whiton) Collamore, was born in Scituate, Massachusetts, June 27, 1745, and died April 22, 1824. In the war of the Revolution he "marched for the Relief of Boston in the Lexington Alarm." April, 1775, and March 17, 1777, was elect- ed one of the committee of correspondence, inspection and safety, serving till the close of the war. He represented Scituate in the first state legislature in 1781-2-3, and again in 1806-7-8. His title of captain was gained in the militia. He married Hannah Cushing, daughter of Captain Pyam and Hannalı (Lincoln) Cushing, whose ances- tor, Matthew Cushing, came in the ship Diligent from Hingham, in old England. and settled in Hingham, in New England,
Peter Collamore, son of Captain An- in 1633. Hannah was a granddaughter of
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the Hon. Benjamin Lincoln, who was a representative of the general court in 1746- 47-48, and a niece of General Benjamin Lin- coln, who served through the Revolution and was secretary of war in 1781. Their nine children were: John, Hannah, Sarah, Enoch, Sophia, Anthony, Gilman, Horace and Susannah.
Colonel John Collamore, eldest child of Enoch and Hannah (Cushing) Collamore, was born in Scituate, Massachusetts, July 9, 1775, and died March 18, 1859. He was a manufacturer and farmer, cultivating the acres of his ancestors with success. Like others of his race, he was prominent in the affairs of his native town. The military in- stinct was inherited naturally, and from the time he received his first commission as en- sign, from the Hon. Samuel Adams, in No- vember, 1795, until the expiration of that of colonel, given him by John Brooks, in 1820, he was a commissioned officer in the militia of the commonwealth of Massachu- setts for thirty years. It is recorded that he was never superseded, and was, during the entire time, never but once absent from any regularly appointed training or review. In civil life he served as selectman, assessor, justice of the peace, school committeeman and county commissioner, and also as a member of the convention, held in 1820, to revise the state constitution. Colonel Collamore was also a deacon in the Baptist church, and widely esteemed as a man of sterling integrity and fervent piety. He was twice married, first on October 4, 1801, to Michal Curtis, daughter of Ebenezer Curtis, of Hanover, Massachusetts, one of his contemporaries in the Revolutionary service. Her grandfather, Bazaliel Curtis, was made one of the committee of corre- spondence, inspection and safety for Han-
over, in 1775. The children of Colonel John and Michal (Curtis) Collamore were : John and Michal (twins), born August 13, 1802; Sarah, July 26, 1804; Mary, March 7, 1806; Betsey, November 5, 1807, Eben- ezer, September 5, 1809; Williams, July 23, 1811; Lucinda, March 28, 1813; Will- iams and Lucinda (twins), August 13, 1815; Andrew Fuller, September 11, 1817; Davis, October 7, 1820. Colonel John Collamore married, second, Polly Little, of Marsh- field, and had issue: Almira Amanda, George Enoch, William Ward, Gilman.
Davis Collamore, twelfth child of Colonel John and Michal (Curtis) Collamore, the seventh generation of the name in America, was born in Scituate, Plymouth county, Massachusetts, October 7, 1820. Having received a thorough academic education, he came to New York in 1836, to enter the employ of his brother, Ebenezer, an im- porter of fine china and glass, then located at 151 Broadway, and lived with his broth- er, whose home was in the neighborhood of St. John's park. After six years with his brother, during which Davis not only mas- tered the details of the business as then con- ducted, but made as well a study of ce- ramics, he founded the house of Davis Colla- more, at 595 Broadway. Some years after the name was changed to Davis Collamore & Company, Mr. Collamore admitting to partnership some of his clerks, to whom he gave an interest. Highly endowed with that mental trait which has been so aptly styled "the gentle genius of taste," Mr. Col- lamore speedily devoted his energies to em- phasizing the artistic features of his busi- ness. He did much to refine and cultivate the public taste of his day, and to increase the understanding and love of ceramic art, his mind quickly grasping the wisdom of
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the view which held that it should be stud- ied for the new forms of beauty it reveals, and for the sake of the enlarged intelligence and consequent widened range of refined pleasure afforded by such research. Among his business contemporaries he soon be- came not only a leader whose opinions were sought in this branch of trade, but his marked ability as an art connoisseur and his originality as a designer of styles was fully recognized and acknowledged by leading manufacturers of Europe. He was most appreciative of all that is best in art and literature.
The business of which he was the founder remained practically unchanged till 1886, when it was reorganized as a stock com- pany, with Mr. Collamore as president. Though naturally of a retiring disposition, during his business career of fifty-one years Mr. Collamore did not hesitate to take part in public affairs where he thought he could be of service. As a member of the Seventh Regiment he was on duty during the night of the Astor Place riots, and as a loyal Re- publican was a stanch supporter of the na- tional government during the Rebellion. Among his business associates he was re- garded as the soul of honor and integrity, and his commercial probity enabled his firm to meet every obligation through all the financial crises.
About 1864 Mr. Collamore became a summer resident of West Orange, pur- chasing seventy acres on the eastern slope of the Orange mountain, part of the Simeon Harrison farm, twenty acres being apple orchards and the balance the fine forest, which gave to his home its fitting name, "Belhurst," (beautiful wood). The estate was bounded on the east by Mr. Tomes' property, and extended on the west to the
very crest of the mountain. While the home was being built Mr. Collamore lived at Cosy Cottage, adjoining Silver Spring, the home of Dr. Lowell Mason. In im- proving the property it was the owner's pleasure to enhance the natural beauties of the location rather than to make it in any degree artificial. The dignified mansion. built of brown stone, quarried on the estate, was designed by his nephew, George Hath- orne, the eminent architect, whose early death deprived his profession of a talented member.
Among the first to introduce the breed- ing of Jersey cattle in the neighborhood of Orange, the beautiful creatures grazing in the fields at Belhurst were one of the features of the place. Much friendly rivalry existed among the various owners of the vicinity, and representatives of Mr. Colla- more's herd won many a prize at the annual state fairs at Waverly, New Jersey. In 1867, during the early agitation of the ques- tion of good roads, Mr. Collamore joined other public-spirited citizens in serving on the township committee and as chairman of the road committee he was largely in- strumental in securing the adoption of the Telford system of improved road-building. The owner of Belhurst was one of the twelve original members of the New Eng- land Society of Orange.
Of dignified mien, a semi-military bear- ing increasing his courtliness of manner. Davis Collamore was the personification of thoughtfulness in all the varied range of his charities. From his pilgrim ancestors he inherited to the fullest extent all the characteristics of resolute courage and de- votion to duty which marked the sturdy settlers of the Plymouth colony of Massa- chusetts. From both parents he drew a
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mingling of strength and gentleness of manner that was specially attractive in his character and which made his home life ideal. Though naturally reserved in man- ner, he was a most charming social com- panion. In conversation, a breadth of knowledge acquired by extended travel, ob- servation and reading, gave to his concise and comprehensive, yet well-chosen words, the impress of wise thought. His tact and helpfulness, in the presence of suffering, made him a welcome visitor in many a sick- room. All who were fortunate in possess- ing his acquaintance bear testimony to his purity of life and to the many attributes which marked him pre-eminently the Christian gentleman. His death, August 13, 1887, was a loss to the community.
On November 7, 1842, Mr. Collamore married Hannah Augusta Fiske, a Boston- ian by birth, and a direct descendant of David Fiske, who came from England to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1642, and whose English record traces back in the direct line to Symon Fiske, lord of the man- or of Stradhaugh, parish Laxfield, county of Suffolk, England, in the reign of Henry VI., (1399-1422) .. Robert Fiske (and wife Sybil Gould), the progenitor of the New England family, was fourth in descent from him.
Davis and Hannah Augusta (Fiske) Col- lamore, had four children: Emma Au- gusta, Lucinda Fuller, Davis and Marion Davis. The eldest married Samuel Pat- ridge. The second and third children died in infancy. Mrs. Collamore died Novem- ber 13, 1882. After the death of Mr. Col- lamore, his two daughters, finding the cares and responsibilities of the place too great, sold the homestead and nineteen acres, re- taining the forty acres adjoining. They
still spend their summers on the Mountain Ridge, and cling fondly to the many pleas- ant associations connected with this neigh- borhood.
ANTHONY BOWDEN.
For a half century this gentleman has given his close and undivided attention to the manufacture of cotton goods and to- day stands as one of the leading repre- sentatives of manufacturing interests in the state. He has added to a thorough under- standing of the business, keen perception and sound judgment in business affairs, en- terprise and resolute purpose, and by his fair dealing has been enabled to keep his goods upon the market and secure a liberal patronage. His is the success that results not from a combination of fortunate cir- cumstances but follows as the logical result of earnest labor and well defined purpose.
Mr. Bowden is a native of Cedar Grove, born October 22, 1827. His father, John Bowden, was a native of Derbyshire, Eng- land, and in that land learned the trade of cotton-weaving. In 1819 he crossed the Atlantic to America and locating in Newark he soon afterward engaged in the manu- facture of cotton goods in the old Wash- ington street factory. In a short time, however, he abandoned that and came to Cedar Grove, where in 1825 he opened a mill under the firm name of Bowden & Stanley. Still later he returned to New- ark, where he continued in the same busi- ness. He possessed much talent in the line of music and for several years served as organist in the old Episcopal church in Newark, and did much to promote the taste for music among his fellow towns- men. In 1826 he purchased the old Van
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Anthony Bourden
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Riper farm at Cedar Grove of Matthias Williams, of Elizabeth, and established his home there.
John Bowden was united in marriage to Miss Mary Sidebotham, a daughter of a wealthy cotton manufacturer of Cheshire, England, and to them have been born the following children : John; William; Thomas; John, an organ manufacturer in New York city; Joseph, who is living in Caldwell; Mary, deceased; Hannah, wife of Peter Lee; Alice, deceased wife of Henry Coulter; and Edna, wife of Abraham Ja- cobus, who is living in Verona. The father died in 1857, and the mother passed away in 1868.
Anthony Bowden acquired his education in the schools of Verona, and early in life learned the business of manufacturing cot- ton goods in his father's mill. When about eighteen years of age he took charge of the mill, which has been in continuous operation from the time of its establish- ment more than seventy years ago. He is now engaged in the manufacture of all kinds of cotton goods, for which he finds a ready market in New York city. The factory is supplied with modern machinery and good equipments and facilities for turning out first-class work, and the busi- ness of the house is extensive and profit- able. In connection with his manufactur- ing interests, Mr. Bowden is also engaged in general farming and is the owner of sixty-five acres of rich land which is under a high state of cultivation and improved with all modern accessories and conveni- ences. The substantial stone residence which stands upon the place was erected by the Van Riper family soon after the Revolutionary war.
In 1852 Mr. Bowden was united in mar-
riage to Miss Eliza Stagg, a native of Ve- rona and a daughter of Nicholas and Re- becca (Jacobus) Stagg. The following record is of the family born of this union : Sarah, now the wife of Walter C. Bross; Mary, wife of Wilber Canfield; John, de- ceased; Josephine, wife of E. E. Taylor; William and Louis G.
Mr. Bowden is a thoroughgoing busi- ness man, of good natural abilities and sound judgment, and in the management of his affairs his care and labor have brought to him substantial financial re- turns. He casts his ballot in support of the men and measures of the Republican party, but has neither time nor inclination for public office.
THOMAS EDISON.
Glenmont, the home of Thomas Edison, the inventor, is situated between Park Way and Honeysuckle avenue, in Orange. The house is a combination of brick, stone and wood. Dixon, in his Life of Edison, de- scribes it as "refreshingly independent of architectural rules, it yet presents a wealth of fancy, which brings into view at every turn unguessed and delicious surprises. It abounds in gabled roofs, picturesque nooks and angles, carved balconies and mellow sheets of stained glass, the whole set in a panorama of rare shrubs, floral arabesques and beds of emerald velvet, the brilliant col- oring of which is thrown in broad relief by a background of somber pines." The ex- tensive grounds contain specimens of the ornatum, the weeping red-cut leaved Japan maple, several specimens of the weeping birch, the American and Japan Judas trees, fern-leaved and weeping beech, double red- flowering cherry, purple-leaved or copper
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beech, weeping European larch, purple- leaved oak, golden oak, guyko or maiden- hair tree, white-leaved European linden, camperdown weeping elm, several varieties of spruce, Hudson's bay silver fir, Colorado blue spruce, heathlike Japan cypress, thread-branched retinospora, Japanese um- brella tree, golden yew, etc.
In his description of the interior, Mr. Dixon says : "The hall, after the fashion of English manors, is luxuriously furnished. Red mahogany, cunningly wrought, enters into the composition of the floor, walls and ceiling, affording an effective background for the glowing eastern fabrics which abound. Mr. Edison's 'den,' back of the hall, contains the large collection of gifts from the crowned heads of Europe and other celebrities; gold medals of merit from the various expositions, in recognition of his wonderful achievements in electrical inventions. Edison's purchase of Glen- mont constituted a ten days' wonder to those acquainted with his rough-and-tum- ble ways and his utter disregard of luxury. That a nature whose domestic requirements had hitherto been met by the most prosaic of surroundings, should suddenly develop a necessity for the very blossoming of æsthetic art, was, indeed, calculated to ex- cite popular comment, but the inventor's selection was universally commended as a suitable shrine for his young and lovely wife."
Thomas Edison is unquestionably the greatest inventor, if not the greatest man, of the present age; his reputation is world- wide. His power over the elements of na- ture is almost boundless. Franklin drew the lightning from the heavens; it was har- nessed by Morse, and made the instrument of communication between man and man
in every part of the known world; it was left to Edison, however, to guide and direct ils course, to make it subservient to his own will, and to apply the electric force to pur- poses never before dreamed of. His scien- tific discoveries have placed him foremost among modern scientists, while his inven- tions have effected a revolution in almost every branch of industry, and have added millions to the wealth of this and other countries. His inventions have ceased to excite wonder or astonishment, for nothing is considered too great or too difficult for his fertile brain.
Mr. Edison began life at the bottom of the ladder, and has risen, wholly independ- ent of environment or aid from other sources than those which originated in his own brain. He was born in Alva, Ohio, February II, 1847. His mother, who had been a teacher, gave him the little schooling he received, and at the age of twelve he became a newsboy on the Grand Trunk line, running into Detroit. While thus engaged he started the Grand Trunk Herald, which he sold with his other papers. He wit- nessed the operations of the telegraph at the different stations, and became inter- ested in the work. A stationmaster, whose child he had rescued in front of a coming train, at the risk of his own life, taught him telegraph operating. He became a de- voted student of and made many improve- ments in electric science. While employed as an operator he invented an automatic re- peater, by means of which a message could be transferred from one wire to another without the aid of an operator; and in 1864 conceived the idea of sending two messages at once over the same wire, which led to his experiments in duplex telegraphy. This he subsequently perfected. In 1871 he be-
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came superintendent of the New York Gold & Stock Company, inventing the printing telegraph for gold and stock quotations. He subsequently established a large workshop at Newark, New Jersey, removing in 1876 to Menlo Park, at which place some of his most important inventions were perfected. His system of duplex telegraphy he devel- oped into quadruplex and sextuplex trans- mission.
With the use of this harmonic multiplex telegraph, the principle of electric selection has been carried so fast in it, that as many as sixteen messages have been sent at once over a single wire. He invented the carbon telephone transmitter, used by near- ly all the telephones throughout the world. His phonoplex system of telegraphy did for way-station work what the quadruplex did for trunk-line work. This system of rail- way telegraph made possible the sending of telegraphic messages to and from mov- ing railway cars without a metallic circuit connection. The messages are conveyed by induction to a conductor extending along the line of the railway. Another of Mr. Edison's inventions is what is known as the pyromagnetic generator, the object of which is to produce electricity direct from the heat energy of coal or other fuel without the intervention of a steam engine or other prime motor. This apparatus is constructed upon the principle that the ca- pacity of iron for magnetism decreases at a high heat.
After years of experimenting, Mr. Edi- son solved the problem of electric lighting by perfecting the incandescent lamp. After perfecting a device for a lamp with a platina burner, he adapted a filament of carbon of high resistance, enclosed in a glass cham- ber, from which the air was almost com-
pletely exhausted. He also solved the prob- lem of the commercial subdivision of the light in a system of general distribution of electricity, like gas, and in December, 1879, gave a public exhibition in Menlo Park of a complete system of electric lighting. This was the first instance of subdivision of the electric light, and created great interest throughout the world, especially as scientific experts had testified before a committee of the English house of commons in the pre- vious year that such a subdivision was im- possible. While working at this there were nearly, or quite three thousand theories and series of experiments investigated; experts were sent to all parts of the globe in search of fibres that could be utilized for the man- ufacture of carbon filaments, and the ex- haustless zeal and dogged perseverance with which the great inventor pushed his researches day and night, scarcely taking time for eating or sleeping, continued un- abated till at last his labors were crowned with success, and the incandescent lamp, practically perfect, was ready for the mar- ket. It is this resistless, rushing, burning intensity of purpose, combined with a bull- dog tenacity of grip and determination to reach the end desired, at all hazards, that has contributed very largely to the success of Mr. Edison in his work.
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