USA > New Jersey > Biographical, genealogical and descriptive history of the first congressional district of New Jersey, Volume I > Part 11
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Mr. Slape was united in marriage to Miss Maria Josephine Boon, a daugh-
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ter of Lawrence Hoover and Mary (Lindsey) Boon, who were well known and highly respected citizens of Salem. Mrs. Slape is a lady of most agree- able manner and winning ways whose strong personality suggests the secret of her popularity in social circles.
In his political views Mr. Slape was a Jeffersonian Democrat and was. a recognized leader in the ranks of his party. In 1866 he was nominated for congress, but was defeated. In 1868 he was chosen one of the presidential electors for New Jersey, and in 1873 he was appointed by the governor-the appointment being confirmed by the senate-as one of the commissioners to negotiate respecting the territorial limits and jurisdiction of the state of New Jersey and the state of Delaware, in which matter was involved the validity of the so-called twelve-mile circle, claimed by Delaware. In this work he was associated with Abraham Browning and Courtlandt Parker, the work being carried forward to a creditable termination. In 1891 he was ap- pointed a member of the state board of taxation for five years, and in 1896 was reappointed by Governor Greggs for an additional term of five years, being the incumbent of that position at the time of his death, which occurred July 24, 1898, when he was in his sixty-first year. Of a genial and social nature, he was most appreciative of the amenities which go to make up the sum of human happiness. A man of strong individuality and indubitable probity, he left his impress upon the social, political and moral interests of the community, and his memory is honored by all who knew him.
THOMAS T. JAQUETT.
Thomas T. Jaquett, the well-known proprietor of extensive marble works in Salem, was born January 17, 1855, at St. George's or Church Landing, in Penn's Neck township, and is a son of Hance and Mary E. (Dwyer) Jaquett. The name is of French origin and the ancestors were Huguenots. The first of the name to come to America was Jean Paul Jaquett, one of the military governors of Pennsylvania, who took up his residence in that state some time during the middle of the seventeenth century. The family was founded in New Jersey by John Jaquett, a son of Jean Paul. He came to Penn's Neck about 1680, and on the 8th of January, 1715, he gave four acres of land to St. George's Episcopal church, and in the church-yard nearly all of the Jaquett family have since been buried. He secured a large tract of land of one thousand acres which extended from the creek to the river, and he was one of the first white settlers in that locality. A portion of this land is still in the possession of his descendants. Mr. Jaquett was a
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man of deeply religious nature and made liberal contributions to the cause of Christianity. One of his sons, Hance Jaquett, was born in 1730 and died November II, 1803, at the age of seventy-three years, leaving four children: Peter, who was born November 31, 1764, and died May 6, 1804: Joseph, who married Elizabeth Newcomb; John, who married Judith (New- comb) Garrison; and Paul, who was born in 1757, and died in November, 1836, at the age of seventy-nine years. He was the great-grandfather of our subject. He married Ann Kitts, a daughter of Robert Kitts, and her death occurred December 16, 1834, when she had attained the age of seven- ty-four years. Their children were: Jane Nelson; Dorcas Curry; Drusilla Lynch, who after the death of her first husband became Mrs. Haines: John, Hance, Robert K., Samuel and Peter.
Peter Jaquett was born in 1787 and died May 2, 1844, when in his fifty- seventh year .. His wife was Rachel Curry, who died December 24, 1843, at the age of fifty-six years, ten months and eleven days. Their children were: Ann, the wife of Thomas Batten; Joseph, who married Rebecca Wright; Robert K., who married Ann Damaris; Paul, who married Sarah Macarson; Hance, the father of our subject, who married Mary E. Draper; Barbara, who became the wife of Joseph Ware; and Eliza, the wife of John French. Peter Jaquett was a farmer and cultivated the old homestead in Penn's Neck township. He was honored by a number of local offices, including that of justice of the peace, in which position he served for several years. He was also a warden of St. George's Episcopal church.
Hance Jaquett was born March 25, 1818, on the old homestead and there grew to manhood. He was a truck farmer and in his business won pros- perity. In politics a Democrat, he served for several years as justice of the peace, was also trustee of the county house and a freeholder. He, too, served as a warden in St. George's Episcopal church, of which he was a member, and of the Home Guards, I. O. G. T., he was a valuable repre- sentative. He married Mary E. Dwyer, who at that time was the widow Draper. By her second marriage she had a family of three sons and three daughters, namely: Peter, who was born June 27, 1842, and died July 4, 1891, was twice married, his first union being with Sarah Jane Diver. After her death he was married, February 28, 1878, by the Rev. William Schubert, to Anna Elton. He was a carpenter by trade, and from 1881 until 1884 was associated in the marble business with Thomas T. Jaquett, of this review. Rachel Jane, the second child, was born February 13, 1844, and married Isaac C. Parsons, of Wilmington, Delaware, by whom she had three chil- dren: William Otis, born July 19, 1870; Harry, born July 5, 1883; and Mary, born December 12, 1880. Hance, the third child, was born Decem-
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ber 22, 1846, and is a truck farmer living on the old homestead. He was married February 8, 1877, to Sarah E. Crim, by whom he has six children : Mary E., born November 12, 1877; Laura, born September 20, 1879; Hance, born November 12, 1881; Ralph, born May 18, 1885; Warren, born December 2, 1889; and Paul, born April 3, 1899: their father is a member of the board of education and is senior warden in St. George's Episcopal church. Sarah Maria, born in 1848, was married September 1, 1875, to J. Wesley Sparks, a farmer of her native township, by whom she has four children: Josephine, born in 1876; Elizabeth D., born December 24, 1879; Charles Wesley, born September 1, 1882; and Harvey, born April 24, 1886. Josephine was born in August, 1852, and on the 28th of December, 1892, married George H. Biddle, a farmer of Upper Penn's Neck township. Thomas T., the youngest son of the family, is the immediate subject of this review. The father died June 17, 1879, and the mother on the 10th of April, 1890, at the advanced age of seventy-eight years. They were well and favorably known and were highly respected by their neighbors.
Thomas T. Jaquett was educated in the public schools of his native town- ship, but left school at the age of seventeen to learn the trade of stone cutter at Camden, this state. He remained there three years and then worked as a jouneyman until 1881, when he purchased the marble shop of E. H. Robbins at Salem, and with his brother Peter conducted the business for three years, when Peter withdrew and our subject continued alone. His steadily increasing trade made it necessary to enlarge his store, and in 1897 he erected a large building, which is forty-five feet in frontage and one hun- dred feet in depth, giving him greatly increased facilities for handling his goods. He handles all kinds of marble from ornamental marble to flagstones. He has met with flattering success and has done a great deal of work in the surrounding country, having been employed on the soldier's monument at Camden and on the stone work on the Wilmington court house and city hall at Camden.
Mr. Jaquett was married October 11, 1882, to Miss Mary Dare, a daugh- ter of George and Phoebe A. (Mattison) Dare, of Cumberland county. Their marriage has been blessed by the birth of five children: Effie, born Septem- ber 27, 1883; George Dare, born November 27, 1884; Frances, born April 4, 1886; Josephine, born December 27, 1893; and Robert Kitts, born May 23, 1895. Like his long line of illustrious ancestors, Mr. Jaquett is promi- nent in St. George's Episcopal church, where he has been secretary for six years and a member of the vestry many years more, and is one of the most widely popular men of the county.
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GEORGE DARE.
The history of the Dare family, which until lately was so little known that the Bridgeton and Greenwich branches could not trace their ancestry, turns out, like that of other descendants of Adam, to be a long account. The first authentic mention that can be found is obtained in Macaulay's History of England, which gives the particulars of the killing of Thomas Dare, who was engaged in the Duke of Monmouth's invasion in 1685. The direct ancestor of the Salem branch of the family was Captain William Dare, who built the first house in Philadelphia, in 1662. It was known as the Blue Anchor tavern, and there William Penn was entertained when he brought his colony to the state which was afterward named in his honor. The next year Captain Dare sold his property in Philadelphia and purchased . lands of the New Jersey Society at Nantuxit, now Newport, where he lived until his death, in 1721. He lived an active and noble life and became owner of much property in different parts of the country. He had three sons, William, Robert and Benoni, and three daughters, one of whom mar- ried Jeremiah Nixon. All of his children had married and left large families, and all were prosperous people.
William Dare, the first, is designated in his first appointment as sheriff of Salem county as "Captain William Dare, mariner." He was the first sheriff of Salem county under the crown, having been appointed by Lord Cornbury immediately after the giving up of their rights by the proprietors. In 1704 he was reappointed, a fact which indicates that his service was satisfactory. He was afterward made associate judge and justice of the peace, and was a military officer of the train bands or militia. He was also a chosen freeholder, and in one capacity or another was almost constantly engaged in public business. His will, a copy of which is now in possession of Mrs. Thomas T. Jaquett, shows that he was a native of Dorsetshire or Somersetshire, as he left real and personal property at Lyme, where Thomas Dare was landed by the expedition at Yawl, near Taunton, where Thomas had raised forty horsemen for service in the Duke of Monmouth's command. This inventory is interesting, as showing a glimpse of affairs two hundred years ago. He appears as a hearty, practical, active, able and responsible person, a careful and tender husband and father and the very ideal of a pioneer, not only able to conduct his own affairs successfully but with enough brains to do great service to the community. He left a remarkable family-each member of it being the owner of many broad acres, upon which each raised a large family and became the head of an extensive number of descendants at the present day.
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The eldest son, William, seems probably to have been the best cared for, after the English fashion-at least he was left all the property in the old coun- try. He lived and died at Indian Fields, near Bridgeton, Cumberland county, where he owned a large tract of valuable land, including cedar swamp land and water power. This homestead, which was in possession of the family continuously until a few years ago, is delightfully situated on the hill over- looking a run, near which he had a store, a mill, cooper, millwright and blacksmith shops and probably other business interests, for the place was a greater business center than Bridgeton at that time, but navigation at Bridgeton left Indian Fields deserted. There is extant an old day-book kept there by a Dare in 1776. Daretown was named in honor of this family. Benjamin Dare, the son of Benoni, was the grandfather of George Dare, ยท whose name introduces this record. He became a prominent man and successfully carried on business as a builder and auctioneer. He wedded Mary Shepard, a granddaughter of Rev. Job Shepard. His birth occurred in 1764. and his death in 1837. Samuel Dare, the father of our subject, was born in 1790 and loyally served his country in the war of 1812. His death occurred in 1865. In 1813 he wedded Nancy Barker, and they became the parents of ten children: Benjamin, Elizabeth, Rachel L., William T., Mary, Samuel M., Rebecca B., George, Sarah and Maria.
George Dare, the subject of this review, was born in Bridgeton, Decem- ber 31, 1828, and married Phebe Mattison in 1851. They had three children: Benjamin A., born January 21, 1852; James B., born May 30, 1854; and Mary D., November 16, 1855. The mother died in December, ' 1888, and Mr. Dare afterward wedded Margaret Kiger. For thirty years Mr. Dare carried on agricultural pursuits, but since 1856 has resided in Salem and is engaged in dealing in pumps, pianos and organs. His politi- cal support was given to the Whig party in early life and afterward he voted with the Republican party, but is now a Prohibitionist.
FACTS AND FANCIES CONCERNING THE LEAKES.
Genealogical items have always been of interest to the aged, but in the present day the subject engages the attention of men and women in the midst of life's busiest period. Even the children, unlike most of those of earlier generations, deem ancestors to be of importance. This is the token of better work in the future. Too many, during the more than two centuries of
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family life in this country, have reached the point of inquisitiveness in this regard only to realize that those who once could have told them have gone into the "silent land."
These facts and fancies relating to the Leakes are therefore here set down trusting they will be helpful to some of the branches, and suggest lines of investigation that may lead to a more complete paper in the years to come.
The name of Leake has not been unknown or unhonored in England. It is said that owing to the lack of male representatives, the title finally lapsed. It was bestowed in recent years upon Alfred Tennyson the poet. William Martin Leake, born in 1777, dying January 6, 1860, a lieutenant colonel in the British army, and a traveler and writer, has contributed much to our knowledge of the ancient and modern geography, the history and antiquities of Greece. Henry Hoek, or Hook, who went to England from Wesel, changed his name to Leeke. To his philanthropic bequest, South- wark owes the foundation of the excellent free school of St. Olave's,-one of the best of its class. There was a Flemish painter, van Hoek, or Hoeck, born about the beginning of the seventeenth century, who may have been of the Leake family.
Tradition says that Recompense Leake, the ancestor of the New Jersey Leakes, was a descendant of the Puritans who landed on Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, but the name is not in the lists of passengers who came in the Mayflower of 1620, the Fortune of 1621, the Ann and Little James of 1623. It may have been that his "truly blue" forbear was on the maternal side; but it has been noticed that a certain "John Hooke" was among the company on the Mayflower. This fact may or may not be of value in con- nection with the preceding paragraph.
A paternal line of a more recent importation may be the source of the name. One of less rigid views whose criticisms may have warped his son's mind; for the record, written by Isaac Whitaker, Esq., of Deerfield, New Jer- sey (a copy in the possession of Mrs. Caroline W. Van Meter, of Salem), reads: "Becoming dissatisfied with the laws and regulations of the New Eng- land colonists, he moved to Long Island, where he resided many years and accumulated much property." It may have been on account of his health, for the air of Plymouth is malarious. To step upon a material rock, after the weary, swaying passage, must have been as great a satisfaction to the Pil- grims of 1620-3 as it is to the later Pilgrims who journey there to worship at the shrine of the Past; but when one sees the graves that so early dotted the hillside it is to wish the landing had been at a more invigorating spot, even if less alluring to the eye.
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"He afterward settled on Dan river, North Carolina, where he buried his wife and several of his children. Leaving that section, he came to New Jersey in a sloop, landing at Greenwich, Cumberland county (now called), where he sold his sloop. He went to Deerfield and purchased a large tract of land of the West Jersey proprietors, on which he settled himself and his following named sons, viz .: John Leake, Samuel Leake, Recompense Leake, Nathan Leake."
He married (a second time) the widow of Jeremiah Miller, by whom he had three daughters: Sarah, Rachel and Hannah. Sarah and Hannah died unmarried. Rachel Leake married Ambrose Whitaker (or -car) October 5, 1772. See Whitaker and Van Meter ancestral notes.
Mrs. Harriet Van Meter Cone, of Salem, New Jersey, contributes the following in regard to John George Leake, a descendant of Recompense Leake, whose undevised estate created so much excitement more than half a century ago:
"About 1830 or '35 John George Leake, a wealthy bachelor lawyer of New York city, adopted an orphan boy by the name of Watts, intending, after the completion of his education and his arrival at twenty-one years of age, to have his name changed to Leake by the state legislature. Mr. Leake made a will devising his estate to young Watts on those conditions. His death was very shortly followed by the death of young Watts, and before he had reached his majority. The will made no arrangements for this con- tingency, or any other disposition of his estate. The facts were advertised. Such as could claim relationship were requested by the courts to present their claims. The only clue which could be gained was from the remark, heard from him in life, that his nearest relatives in this country were an old couple by the name of Leake, in South Jersey, with whom he did not seem to have had any intercourse.
"Mr. Isaac Whitaker, whose mother was a Leake, was deputed to visit New York city, present the Leake claims and gain the estate, if possible. He failed, however, to substantiate the relationship. The property went to the commonwealth. The legislature, at Albany, decided to invest the avails of the estate in founding an institution for orphan boys. Land was purchased near New York city, a building erected, an organization formed, and "The Leake and Watts Asylum for Orphan Boys" has faithfully performed its mission. The city of New York, however, in making its rapid strides, soon encircles the asylum and its grounds. The land became very valuable. The corporation about to erect the cathedral of St. John made an offer for the site, which was accepted, and the Leake and Watts Asylum for Orphan Boys
4
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was removed to a new location, near Yonkers, where it is still in operation."
Mrs. Mary P. Evans, of White Gables, Maryland, claimed to be a de- scendant of Recompense Leake, who she stated was the first of the family to come to America. She is reported to have said: "One of the four sons of Recompense Leake was James, my great-grandfather. One of the four brothers was Robert Scarsdale, the father of John George Leake, the million- aire. While Recompense Leake was residing on his farm, now known as Ho- boken, his son James left him and went to Maryland, where he married a Catholic lady. One child, James, was my father's father. He died in Ken- tucky in 1807. His children were Mary Martin Leake, James Leake, John Leake, Richard Leake, Nellie Leake, William Leake (my father), Ignatius Leake and Raphael Leake. The heirs of Richard are numerous and are located in North Carolina, Georgia, etc., while the heirs of James are to be found in Missouri, Kentucky and Maryland."
It was always maintained by Mr. Isaac Whitaker that the estate of John George Leake rightfully belonged to the South Jersey families, but that the records had been in the keeping of the Garrison branch (in Deerfield), who had thoughtlessly destroyed some necessary links in the chain of genea- logical proof.
Taking up the line of the four sons who accompanied Recompense Leake to Deerfield, New Jersey, the first named is John, who died without issue in Deerfield, at the age of ninety-six years. He is spoken of as a man "who loved the gospel." The name of Leake is the first mentioned of those who were earliest in the records of the Presbyterian church at that place (religious services are supposed to date from about 1732).
Samuel, a son of Recompense Leake, Ist, died in Deerfield, New Jersey, leaving five children: Samuel, Levi, Aaron, Lewis and Mary. Aaron and Lewis left no children. Samuel, Jr., was born in Deerfield, in 1748. Elmer's "Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar" state that he graduated at Princeton in 1774; was licensed as an attorney in 1776, and afterward was a counselor and sergeant. He settled first at Salem, but removed to Trenton in 1785, where he resided until his death in 1820. He is described as having a high reputation for accurate legal knowledge, of the most sterling integrity and being probably more generally employed in supreme court cases than any other lawyer. He was an earnest, sincere Christian, belonging to the Pres- byterian church; of great simplicity of character and minute exactness, even in the most trifling matters. He left several daughters, one of whom married the Rev. Dr. Slack, of Cincinnati, Ohio. Levi Leake, the second son of Samuel, Sr., lived and died in Deerfield, leaving two sons and one daughter:
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Samuel, Lewis, Mary. The only daughter of Samuel Leake, Sr., Mary, mar- ried Jonathan Garrison. There were three sons: Charles, Lewis and Samuel Leake.
Recompense Leake, a son of Recompense, Ist, lived and died in Deerfield. He left five children: Abraham, Jeremiah, Joseph, Jemima, Elizabeth. Abra- ham, a Presbyterian minister, died without issue, during the war of the Revo- lution. Jeremiah left three children,-Recompense, Ruth, Sarah. Joseph and Elizabeth never married. Jemima married Charles Avery, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and left several children.
Nathan Leake, son of Recompense Leake, Ist, lived and died in Deer- field, leaving nine children: Eleanor, Amy, Phebe, Rachel, David, Nathan, Ephraim, Rebecca, Ruth. Eleanor married John Stratton, Esq., and had four children, John, Gilbert, Nathan, Levi. Amy died unmarried. Phebe mar- ried William Garrison, Esq., of Deerfield: no children. William Garrison was married the second time, to Ruth Leake. There were four sons,- Charles, George W., Edmund, Amos F. Charles was a physician, married Hannah Fithian and finally settled in Swedesboro. Their son, Dr. Joseph Fithian Garrison, was associated with his father in practice. The latter, how- ever, gave up medicine for the study of divinity, becoming rector of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal church, of Camden. New Jersey, in 1855. His son, Charles Grant Garrison, of Camden, is one of the justices of the supreme. court of New Jersey. George W. Garrison settled in Salem. At his death he was the president of the Salem National Banking Company. He was twice married and left two children, Hedge T. and Louisa. Edmund Garri- son's home was in Swedesboro. He had a family of children. Amos T. Garrison graduated as a lawyer and went to Missouri. Rachel Leake, a daughter of Nathan, married Amos Fithian. Their children were Joseph, Joel, Charles and Hannah. Joseph settled in Woodbury, where he was a successful physician. He married first Harriet Stratton, and, for the second time, Esther G. Cattell. There were two children of the latter marriage, -- Josephine and Sallie G. The latter died in her youth, and the former mar- ried Rev. Edward W. Hitchcock, D. D., then pastor of the American Chapel in Paris, France, now of Philadelphia. Joel Fithian married Sarah Sinnick- son, of Salem, New Jersey. They removed to Ohio and had two sons and three daughters. David Leake, a son of Nathan, married Hannah Shute, and they had four children, Mary, William, David and Phebe. Nathan Leake, a son of Nathan, married Ruth Garrison. He settled in Millville, New Jersey, and left a large family. Ephraim Leake, a son of Nathan, died without issue and the compiler of this article has no information respecting Rebecca Leake.
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THE REEVES FAMILY.
The name of Reeves has been long and prominently connected with the history of Cape May county, but the account of the establishment of the family in New Jersey is uncertain. It is believed, however, that the first of the name who settled in Cape May county were three brothers,-Adonijah, Abraham and Abijah,-who came from Cumberland county.in the year 1772. On the Ist of April, 1777, Adonijah Reeves married Miss Molly Gollifer, who died on the 17th of April, following, and on the 21st of February, 1781, he wedded Mary Bellengy. Two sons, Aaron and James, were born to them. The mother died November 30, 1789, and Adonijah Reeves was married a third time, his last union being with Drusilla Hand, the wedding taking place November 18, 1790. They had a son and two daughters,-Jeremiah, Polly and Ruth. Adonijah Reeves died February 8, 1798, and his children subsequently died, leaving no descendants.
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