USA > New Jersey > Biographical, genealogical and descriptive history of the first congressional district of New Jersey, Volume I > Part 5
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Harriet Van Meter, the youngest child of Dr. Robert Hunter Van Meter and Sarah L. Whitaker, was born July 26, 1820. She was educated at the Salem Classical Academy. She married a Presbyterian minister, the Rev. Revilo Jonathan Cone, of New York, July 10, 1849. Mr. Cone was the son of the Rev. Jonathan Cone and Abigail Cleveland Usher. On his mother's side, he was directly descended from Archbishop Usher, of Ireland, and con-
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nected with many old New England families,-Clevelands, Holmes, etc. Mr. Cone died in New York city, December 6, 1888, and in a few months Mrs. Cone returned to Salem. She is a woman of rare mental gifts, shown in her linguistic and artistic attainments, ability as a writer and her conver- sational charms, for she retains much of the vivacity of her youth. She re- members seeing the old Dutch clock that came from Holland, brought by the early Van Meters to Salem county, of which no trace can now be found. In her eightieth year, she has been engaged in helping to write and collect biographical sketches of the Salem county contributors to "The New Jersey Scrap Book," which was compiled by Mrs. Margaret T. Yardley, and pub- lished in 1893, by the State Board of Women Managers for the World's Fair. Of Mrs. Cone's numerous literary compositions, none has given more pleas- ure to her friends than "Saturday Night in Salem," written in 1896. All the local flavor is in it, told in her own sprightly style.
She has survived both her children: Norris Hunter, born May 2, 1850. and Charles Kirtland, born December 30, 1851. The latter, a very winsome child, died in Gaylordsville, Connecticut, June 22, 1860. Her first born died in Denver, Colorado, June 15, 1899. On the previous 21st of March he had married Madge McBrayer Morgan. Norris Hunter Cone went to Colorado after his graduation at Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1872, to practice his profession of mining engineer, in which he rose to eminence. He could scent valuable ore and, through his inventive genius, he was able to make needed improvements to the machinery used in the crushing mills. His death was a great loss to the mining interests in this country. As an expert, he was in demand everywhere. His judgment in selecting workmen, his tact in dealing with them, his human kindness to them, and his devotion to whatever he undertook made him a great reliance. His sudden removal left a vacancy which those who had leaned upon him said could never be filled.
WILLIAM T. HILLIARD.
"The proper study of mankind is man," said Pope; and aside from this in its broader sense, what base of study and information concerning human affairs have we? Genealogical research, then, has its value,-be it in the tracing of an obscure and broken line, or the following back of a noble and illustrious lineage whose men have been valorous, whose women of gentle refinement. We of this end-of-the-century, democratic type can not afford to scoff at or to hold in light esteem the bearing up of a 'scutcheon upon
Milliard.
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whose fair face appears no sign of blot; and he should thus be the more honored who honors a noble name and the memory of noble deeds. The line- age of the subject of this review is one of distinguished and interesting order, and no apology need be made in reverting to this in connection with the individual accomplishments of the subject himself.
. The Hilliard family is of French-Huguenot extraction and has had an American setting of several generations, its identification with the New World dating back to the early colonial epoch. Fleeing from their native land to escape the impious persecutions incident to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the original Huguenot ancestors left France during the reign of Louis XIII and sought refuge in England, where the name has ever since had honored representatives, and whence came the original Ameri- can stock. In this country the foundation of the Hilliard family antedates the settlement of Pennsylvania by Penn and that of New Jersey under the English proprietors. Thus the name is one of the oldest and most honored in the annals of American history, and the sterling characteristics of those bearing the name in the various generations may be clearly recognized when we revert to the fact that they have been identified with that noble. religious body, the Society of Friends, whose very existence has been at all times an example of unassuming worth and deepest humanitarianism. As a family the Hilliards have been notable for inflexible integrity, firmness, consistency, ability and thrift.
John Hilliard, the emigrant ancestor, came to America from London, England, prior to 1680, locating in Sussex county, Delaware, which section was then a portion of Pennsylvania. He was a man of marked intellectuality and was an influential factor in the affairs of the colonies, having been one of the three county judges summoned by William Penn to meet him at Up- land (now Chester), Pennsylvania, in 1682, and he was a member of the first provincial council of Pennsylvania, which met at Philadelphia in 1683. His son John, born in 1659, had previously crossed the Delaware river to New Jersey, and there, about the year 1680, he was united in marriage to Martha, the only daughter of Barnard W. Devonish, who was one of the New Jersey proprietors and a large land-owner. Of this marriage six children were born, of whom the eldest was Edward, who married Sarah Haines, who bore him nine children. Samuel, the fifth child of Edward and Sarah (Haines) Hilliard, married Hannah Atkinson and they became the parents of six children. They took up their abode in Salem county, New Jersey, and the family name has ever since been conspicuously identified with this section of the state. Joseph Hilliard, the sixth child of Samuel and Hannah Hilliard, married Ann Thompson, and they made their home in Salem county. He was a carpenter
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by trade, and was known as an honest, industrious and pious man, being a birthright and life member of the Society of Friends. Joseph and Ann Hil- liard became the parents of six children: John A .; Thomas T., the father of the subject of this sketch; Mary, who died unmarried; Hannah, who married Joseph E. Moore; Atkinson, who died in childhood; and Rebecca, who mar- ried Benjamin Griscom.
Thomas T. Hilliard, the second son of Joseph and Ann Hilliard, is one of the venerable and most highly honored citizens of Salem county, where his entire life has been passed. He was born in Mannington township, on the 3d of September, 1816. He received his educational training in the public schools, after which he fitted himself for the practical duties of life by learning the trade of carpenter, thus following in the footsteps of his father. Shortly after his marriage, however, he turned his attention to the manufacturing of lime, conducting operations eventually upon an extensive scale and at- taining success through well directed effort and honorable dealing. In 1870 he retired from this enterprise, having accumulated considerable property. He has since devoted his attention to the management of his real-estate and other property interests, and though advanced in years retains his mental and physical powers to a marked degree. He has been a prominent and pub- lic-spirited citizen of Salem county, in whose development and material pros- perity he has ever maintained a lively interest. He is now accounted one of the patriarchs of the county, and no man is held in higher esteem than this representative of one of the old colonial families of the nation. Like his an- cestors, he has been a zealous and devoted member of the Society of Friends.
On the 5th of July, 1843, was solemnized the marriage of Thomas T. Hil- liard and Miss Hannah Townsend Goodwin, and they became the parents of four children, of whom the first two died in infancy. The two surviving chil- dren are William T., whose name initiates this review; and Joseph Bernard. A brief record of the genealogy of the Goodwin family will be consistent at this juncture:
The American progenitor of the Goodwin family with which this article has to do was John Goodwin, who was born in 1680, the son of John and Catherine Goodwin, residents of the parish of St. Buttolph, in Aldgate, Lon- don. He came to Pennsylvania in 1701, and.removed thence, within the suc- ceeding year, to Salem county, New Jersey, from which fact it may be seen that the subject of this review is identified with two of the oldest families in this commonwealth. This pioneer resident married Susanna, a daughter of John Smith, of Hedgefield, Mannington township, and their children were six in number, as follows: John, born February 29, 1707; Mary, born Sep- tember 1, 1710; Joseph, born November 21, 1713; John (2d), born October
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17, 1716; Thomas, born June 10, 1721; and William, born August 25, 1723.
Thomas Goodwin married Sarah Morris, a daughter of Lewis and Sarah (Fetters) Morris, and he eventually removed from Salem to Elsinboro, in the same county, where he erected a brewery upon his wife's homestead farm, which she had inherited. They disposed of this property in 1756 and subsequently purchased residence property on Broadway, in the town of Salem, where they maintained their home until the death of Mrs. Goodwin, which occurred on the 5th of October, 1765, when she had arrived at the age of forty-one years. Mr. Goodwin subsequently consummated a second mar- riage, being united to Sarah Smith, who died May 25, 1783, aged fifty-three years. Thomas Goodwin lived to attain the venerable age of eighty-two, his death occurring in 1803. He was a man of strong mental and physical pow- ers, and was an influential citizen of the county.
The youngest son of John and Susanna (Smith) Goodwin was William Goodwin, born in 1723, who figures as the direct progenitor of the numerous and estimable Goodwin family in Salem county at the present day. He married Mary, a daughter of Lewis and Sarah (Fetters) Morris, and they had five chil- dren,-John, Susanna, Lewis, William and Mary. Mr. Goodwin was a carpen- ter by trade, but he finally abandoned work in this line to engage in farming. His wife died April 3, 1776. Their son John was born June 19, 1745, and married Ann, a daughter of Clement and Margaretta (Morris) Hall, of Elsin- boro township. Clement Hall was the son of William Hall, Jr., of Manning- ton township, and a grandson of Judge William Hall, a distinguished citizen of Salem in bygone days. John Goodwin and Ann Hall were second cousins, and after a courtship of eight years were finally allowed to marry, though con- trary to the discipline of the Society of Friends, of which they were birth- right members. This was the first marriage of the sort ever sanctioned by the society. Mr. Goodwin was uniformly respected for his integrity and piety. He died about 1792.
Lewis Goodwin, the second son of William and Mary (Morris) Goodwin, was born November 9, 1748, and by his marriage to Rebecca Zanes he had two children,-John and Susan. After the death of his first wife he married Abigail, a daughter of William and Elizabeth Carpenter, this union being consummated in 1807, and the result thereof being three sons,-Morris, Wil- liam and Thomas. After his second marriage Lewis Goodwin removed to Ohio, where his wife died, in 1819, after which he returned to Salem, where he passed the remainder of his life. William, the second son by the second marriage, married Huldah Townsend, a daughter of Daniel Townsend, of Cape May county, New Jersey, and their children were Rachel, Lewis, Hannah, William and Mary. Of these Hannah became the wife of Thomas
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T. Hilliard, as has already been noted, and was the mother of the subject of this sketch. She died January 17, 1897, at the age of seventy-seven years.
William T. Hilliard, whose ancestral history has been outlined in the preceding paragraphs, was the third in order of birth of the four children of Thomas Townsend and Hannah H. (Goodwin) Hilliard. He was born in Elsinboro township, Salem county, on the 28th of May, 1849. His more pure- ly literary training was secured in the Salem Academy and in the academy conducted by Swithin C. Shortledge, at Kenneth Square, Chester county, Pennsylvania. Prior to leaving school he had formulated definite plans for his future, having determined to prepare himself for the legal profession. Accordingly he entered the law office of Hon. Clement H. Sinnickson, of Salem, with whom he continued his specific or technical reading for a time, after which he was under the effective preceptorship of that eminent jurist and legist, Judge Thomas P. Carpenter, of Camden, who was a justice of the supreme court of the state. In 1873 Mr. Hilliard was admitted to the bar of New Jersey as an attorney at law, and in 1877 he secured admission as a counselor. He forthwith entered upon the active practice of his pro- fession in Salem, and he has been eminently successful in his chosen field of endeavor, retaining a distinctively representative clientage and having been concerned in much of the important litigation in this section of the state; also appearing very frequently in the higher courts in connection with causes of much moment. His success as a practitioner is the best evidence of his ability, and many of the more important cases in which he has been interested may be found in the New Jersey law and equity reports.
Mr. Hilliard is known as one of the most progressive, alert and public- spirited citizens of Salem, and his aid and influence are granted to every worthy cause projected in the public interest. He is identified with several important enterprises of a local order, among which it may be mentioned that he was one of the incorporators of the City National Bank of Salem, which was founded in 1888 and of which he is the president and also counsel, the institution being very successful. He was one of the incorporators of the Salem Cemetery Association, which was organized in 1886, for the purpose of establishing a public cemetery of proper character, and he has served as its treasurer. Through the efforts of this association a beautiful cemetery, comprising sixteen acres, has been laid out in appropriate design, beautified and cared for as "God's acre" should be in every community. Mr. Hilliard was prominently concerned in the establishing of the Salem Electric Light Company, of which he served as treasurer for nine years, when he resigned the office.
In his political proclivities he is stanchly arrayed in the support of the
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principles and policies of the Republican party, in which he has been at all times an active and influential factor. He is a member of the Garfield Club, the leading Republican organization in the city. In his religious faith he clings to the tenets which have been held by his ancestors, being a member of the Society of Friends by birthright. In all that touches the work of this noble religious organization he takes a deep and active interest. He is a trustee of the Friends' school in Salem, which was established in 1838, and has been intimately interested in the educational affairs of the society for the past twenty years. He has been looked to with confidence in the matter of handling the trust funds of the society, and his ability as a financier has conserved the interests of this phase of the society's temporal affairs. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Philadelphia yearly meeting of the Society of Friends, the duty of said board being to invest and pay over to the proper committees the various funds in their care, amounting at this time to over one million dollars. He is a member of the committee which established and started and now has charge of the Friends' boarding school at Newtown, Pennsylvania, called the George School, establishd in 1891, and has been active and useful in the promotion of this worthy institu- tion, which is one of the leading ones maintained by the society in the Union. He is a member and the chairman of the finance committee of the Salem Historical Society, as well as the chairman of the finance committee of the Salem Library Company. He is a member of the Board of Trade, and is classed distinctively as one of the representative lawyers of the state and leading citizens of his native county,-a man ever ready to lend his aid to all good works in whatever field.
The marriage of Mr. Hilliard was solemnized on the 22d of September, 1875, when he was united to Miss Eliza Gillingham, a daughter of George L. Gillingham, an extensive and influential farmer of Burlington county, New Jersey. She presides with graceful dignity over the attractive home, which is a center of refined hospitality, and which has been brightened by the advent of five children: Thomas G., who was educated in the Friends' school in Salem and the Friends' Central School, in Philadelphia, gradu- ating in the latter institution, after which he read law in the office of his father and was admitted to the bar as an attorney in 1898; George L., who graduated at the George School (Friends) in 1897, and is a graduate of the class of 1899 of the Drexel school in the department of mechanical arts; William T., Jr., who is likewise a graduate of the George School, and is now pursuing a medical course in Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia; and Bernard A. and Mary E. Hilliard, the two younger children, who are now attending school at Salem.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE FIRST
DR. WILLIAM H. CARPENTER.
Dr. William Howard Carpenter, a prominent physician of Salem, New Jersey, is a son of William Beasley and Nancy A. (Pease) Carpenter, and was born on February 16, 1871, in the township of Elsinboro, this county. He comes from a long line of illustrious ancestors who have borne a prominent part in the development of this state and left him the heritage of a goodly name, which he bears in a manner befitting a descendant of Joshua and Sam- uel Carpenter. He attended the district school in his youth but early decided to enter one of the professions, and with this end in view laid the foundation for his subsequent career by obtaining a substantial education. Graduating at the Salem high school, he entered the University of Pennsylvania, at which, in 1892, he graduated as an M. D. Following that he had two years' hospital practice, serving fifteen months as a resident physician in the Phila- delphia Hospital, four months in St. Mary's and St. Agnes' Hospital and four months in the out-door department of the Pennsylvania University Hospital. He came to Salem in 1893 and began the practice of his profession, taking a special course in the Polyclinic Hospital of Philadelphia on diseases of the throat and nose, and making a specialty of these diseases in his practice. Close application to his profession has been rewarded by a large and lucrative practice, and he is ranked to-day among the leading physicians of Salem county.
Dr. Carpenter was united in the holy bonds of matrimony, on October 16, 1895, to Miss Jane Eliza, a daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth Whitney, who has charge of the National Cemetery at Finn's Point, this state. They have one child, William B., Jr.
The Doctor is a Republican. For four years he served the county as the physician of the Salem County Almshouse. He is a member of the Ameri- can Medical Association, the Salem County Medical Association and was formerly a member of the D. Hayes Agnew Surgical Society. He was one of the leaders in athletic sports when in college, being a member of the track team of the university for two years. He was also a member of the boating club, rowing in the freshman and class crews.
He is a member of Excelsior Lodge, No. 54, F. & A. M .; Brearley Chap- ter, R. A. M., at Bridgeton; Fenwick Lodge, No. 7, K. of P .; Fenwick Lodge, I. O. O. F .; and also the Fenwick and Garfield Clubs. He was the coroner of the county from 1896 to 1899, is one of the board of directors of the Y. M. C. A., and vice-president of the board of education, of which he has been a member for the past five years. He is a member of the Salem County
Duo V. Craven
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CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY.
Club and is one of the stewards in the Broadway Methodist Episcopal church. It is to such citizens as Dr. Carpenter that Salem looks for her continued prosperity.
JOHN V. CRAVEN.
John Vandegrift Craven, lately retired from active business, is known as one of the most enterprising as well as most benevolent gentlemen of Salem, where his record in the commercial world is unsurpassed. He is a son of David Stewart and Rebecca Jane (Vandegrift) Craven, and was born January 18, 1840, in New Castle county, Delaware, in the vicinity of McDonough. His education was obtained at Professor Wyer's Academy at Westchester, Penn- sylvania, and Delaware College, Newark, Delaware.
Then he entered a dry-goods store as a clerk for a period of three years in Salem, New Jersey. He then became a partner in the firm of Hall, Pan- coast & Craven, in 1862, in the manufacture of glass in this city. He was the prime mover in organizing the company and assisted in digging the foundation for the building of the new enterprise with his own hands. The business was started on a moderate scale, only fifty hands being employed at the outset; but the zeal of young Craven for the success of the undertaking urged him to continued activity, and it was largely due to his efforts that the plant met with such flattering success. Two years after building the first factory the capacity of the plant was doubled. In 1876 they built a third factory on Salem creek, where fifty people were employed. and in 1881 another factory was built by the side of the third, and even this was enlarged from time to time until at present it occupies eight acres of land and furnishes constant work to about four hundred hands. They make fruit jars and bottles of all kinds.
In 1878 Mr. Hall retired from the business and eight months later the death of Joseph D. Pancoast removed the only remaining partner, and our subject continued the work under the name of John V. Craven until 1881. when his brother Thomas became a partner and the firm was known as Craven Brothers for fourteen to fifteen years. Then Mr. Craven, desiring to admit a number of young men who had given the different departments good care into an interest in the business, a stock company was formed and incor- porated under the name of the Salem Glass Works. Since that time Mr. Craven has practically retired from the business, although he is still on the board of directors and takes an interest in the success of the plant, which has become one of the solid institutions of southern New Jersey. In 1880
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the Salem Transportation Company was organized, with Mr. Craven as presi- dent, and the company built the tug Anna and two barges and established a freight line between Philadelphia and Salem: the business was chiefly in carrying the freight of the glass works. This line was continued until the railroad company, at the earnest solicitation of Mr. Craven, extended their tracks down to the works.
John V. Craven was married November 9, 1880, to Anna Rumsey Ware, a daughter of Henry B. Ware, then the cashier of the Salem National Banking Company of this city. They have three children,-Mabel Archer, Frank Richards and John V., Jr. In politics Mr. Craven is an independent Democrat and exhibits a high degree of intelligence in forming his opinion on national affairs, as in business matters. He represented the west ward in the city council four years, was a member of the Board of Trade, and is a member of the present Board of Education. He takes an active interest in any subject relative to the welfare of the city, and has made for himself an enviable reputation for his business sagacity and good judgment. He has accumulated a considerable property and takes the best way of enjoying it,-by helping those who are trying honestly to get a start in life and have no means to aid them. Many young persons have received from this worthy gentleman timely and unostentatious assistance, which has started them on the road to success, where they could never have hoped to travel by their own unaided efforts, and their gratitude is a living monument to his benevolent deeds.
S. H. STANGER.
Hon. S. H. Stanger, state senator from Gloucester county and a leading merchant of Glassboro, New Jersey, was born near this village, March 22, 1836. His father, Solomon H. Stanger, was also a native of this vicinity and was a son of Jacob Stanger, who was one of seven brothers,-Jacob, Solo- mon, John, Christian, Adam, Francis and Philip. These, with one sister, Sophia, came from Holland to this country and worked at the Wistar Glass Works in Alloway Creek township, Salem county. They settled in Glassboro in 1775 and built the glass works here.
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