USA > New Jersey > Biographical, genealogical and descriptive history of the first congressional district of New Jersey, Volume II > Part 18
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For five years Dr. Clark held the trustworthy position of county treas- urer. He is an active worker in the Republican party, and fraternally he stands high in the councils of the Odd Fellows order. He is a member and past noble grand of Woodbury Lodge, No. 54, and belongs to the encampment also. For years he has been a member of Christ Episcopal church, in connection with which he now holds the office of warden.
When he returned from the war Dr. Clark was united in marriage with Miss Lucy I. Wood, a daughter of John S. and Sarah (Bradway) Wood. The ceremony which united the destinies of Mr. and Mrs. Clark was per-
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formed in Salem, Salem county, New Jersey, November 30, 1864, and for thirty-three and a half years their lives were happily spent together. Mrs. Clark, who was a devoted wife and mother, faithful in all her relations with others, was summoned to the silent land March 28, 1898. Her only daugh- ter, Alice Wood Clark, was born November 16, 1865.
The only son of our subject and wife is Dr. Henry Herbert Clark, whose birth took place January 16, 1868. He was given excellent educational advantages, his literary studies being pursued in Woodbury Academy and Mount Pleasant Academy, at Sing Sing, New York. Later he read medi- cine with his father as his preceptor, and was graduated with the degree of doctor of medicine in the University of Pennsylvania, in 1891. Since that time he has been engaged in practice in Woodbury, and promises to have as successful a career as did his father and grandfather before him. He was married in Wenonah, New Jersey, in 1891, Miss Franceina Botsford becoming his wife. She is a daughter of the Rev. Dr. A. P. and Mary (Pardee) Botsford, and by her marriage she has become the mother of one child, Helen B., the pride of her grandparents. The young couple have a very pleasant home and are general favorites in local society.
JAMES W. GOLDER.
James W. Golder, of Centerton, Lower Pittsgrove, Salem, New Jersey, a thoroughgoing farmer and wheelwright, was born at the place just named, January 4, 1851. His father was Samuel Golder, a native of the same local- ity. Our subject's grandfather, on the paternal side, was Joseph Golder, born at Tuckahoe, New Jersey. The family came from Switzerland, originally, and he of whom we pen this sketch is of the fourth generation in this coun- try. His great-grandfather owned a large tract of land where Summers' Point, Atlantic county, is now. He killed an Indian and had to give up the land to get out of the difficulty occasioned by it. Samuel Golder, the father of our subject, was a blacksmith by trade. He opened a shop in 1830 at Centerton and continued to wield the hammer at the anvil until his death in 1870. He was a strong man and enjoyed the esteem of all with whom he came in contact. He was a devout member of the Methodist church, in which body he was one of the stewards and trustees. As a citizen the county had no truer, better man. He married Ruth B. Whitaker, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jeremiah Whitaker, of Cedarville. She is still living, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. Their four children were: Harriet, Mrs. George Hannan, of Bridgeton, New Jersey; William W., of Centerton;
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Anna M., the wife of the present county clerk, William B. Trenchard, of Bridgeton; and our subject proper, James W. Golder.
James W. attended the common schools of his time and gained a fair education, after which he learned the trade of wheelwright, which he still follows, in conjunction with his farming, he having a fine ten-acre tract of land. October 29, 1873, marked a new and important era in this man's life, for upon that day he was united in marriage to. Mary E. Kean, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Kean, of Deerfield. By this union three children were born, two of whom still survive to bless their good parents .- Carrie E. and R. Boyd.
Politically Mr. Golder is an active member of the Democratic party. He has been a township clerk and assessor and is now holding the office of col- lector. Being an enterprising and up-to-date citizen his name is found on the roll of the Odd Fellows lodge, to which order he has belonged for the last twenty-eight years.
In recording the life of this worthy gentleman, the reader will observe that the writer has attempted to give only the chief points in the career of a plain, unassuming resident of Centerton. He has ever been an honorable citizen, a good husband and an indulgent father. With such a true record he may well count his life a success. He has spent the most of his life, thus far, in the county in which he was born, and this speaks well for him, in this age when men become restless and for some cause, honorable or dishon- able, move from place to place. Indeed, to have the respect of a county where one has lived and labored for a whole life-time is credit enough for any man to leave to his children.
WILLIAM HENRY CHURCH.
This gentleman, the well-known proprietor of the Colonial Hotel of Cape May, was born at Cold Spring, Cape May county, on the 26th of August, 1864, and is a son of Captain John and Mary B. (Hall) Church. His father was a sea captain and commanded a number of vessels. He was lost from the schooner Viking on the 26th of April, 1893, and is supposed to have been killed as no traces of him were ever obtained. He had followed the sea throughout his life and was a very able and courageous seaman. He dis- played great bravery in the face of appalling danger and had many narrow escapes from death, and at one time he drifted ina West Indian gale for sixteen days and nights and the vessel at length went to pieces; but Captain Church
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was rescued. He made his home in west Cape May, where he was esteemed not only for his sterling worth, but for his bravery upon the water. His political support was given to the Democratic party and he was a zealous advocate of its principles. He belonged to several secret societies, including the Independent Order of United Workmen, the Mogullions and Improved Order of Heptasophs. He married Mary B. Hall, who is still surviving him, being now fifty-six years of age. To them were born four children: Wil- liam H .; Charles S., a carpenter at Cape May; Eva, who died at the age of eighteen years, and John, who is serving an apprenticeship as a pilot.
The eldest son, William H. Church, was educated in west Cape May, where he completed the grammar school course, but at the age of fifteen years he put aside his text-books and learned the printer's trade. He after- ward worked at the goldbeating trade in Philadelphia and subsequently be- came an apprentice at the carpenter's trade, completing a four years' term. After working as a journeyman for a time he began contracting and build- ing on his own account. He erected a number of cottages and built the board walks in Cape May under contract, employing as many as thirty-five men in the prosecution of his business interests. He continued contracting until 1897, and is also an architect, drawing the plans for many of the build- ings which he erected. He was formerly a member of the board of trade of Cape May, and he now devotes his attention to the hotel business, being the proprietor of the Colonial Hotel, which was built in 1894. Accommodation is furnished for one hundred and thirty-five guests and the hotel is open from June to October, during which time it is liberally patronized, for its excel- lent accommodations secure a large support from the public. In addition to this property Mr. Church at one time owned a residence in west Cape May, which he has since sold.
On the 6th of September, 1884, Mr. Church was united in marriage to Miss Lorena F. Church, a daughter of Jeremiah and Elizabeth Church. They now have two children,-Anna May and Walter; and they lost their second child, Herman, who died at the age of six years. In politics Mr. Church is a Democrat with prohibition sympathies, and in his life exemplified his belief in prohibition principles. He is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, of the Mogullions Society of the Royal Arcanum and of the Death Benefit Association, and was formerly a member of the Improved Order of Red Men. For seven years he was connected with the military interests of the state and served as sergeant of Company H, Sixth Regiment, New Jersey National Guards, which was raised at Cape May. He was a member of the board of health at west Cape May and has been actively inter- ested in the various movements and measures calculated to prove of public
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. benefit. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and his upright life has gained him the regard and friendship of many with whom he has come in contact.
NATHAN H. WARRINGTON.
Nathan Haines Warrington is now living a retired life in Swedesboro. He was born on a farm in Woolwich township, Gloucester county, October 7, 1841, and is a son of Nathan and Priscilla H. (Brown) Warrington. His father came to Woolwich township about 1818 and was engaged in agricul- tural pursuits there for two or three years, after which he purchased what was known as the Warrington Mills. He conducted that enterprise for nearly ten years and then sold the property to Simeon Warrington. the father of the present owner, Simeon Warrington, Jr. On disposing of the mill the father of our subject resumed farming, which he followed until his death in 1875. He passed away at the age of eighty-six years, and his wife, who died in 1877, was seventy-six years of age at the time of her death. In their family were thirteen children, five of whom died in infancy. The others were John B., who is now living a retired life at Wolfert Station, New Jersey: Seth H., who was killed in Port Deposit. New York, in December, 1865, at the age of forty-four years; Elizabeth M. D., the wife of Henry Rockwood, of West- ville, New Jersey; Margaret B., the wife of Franklin Matlock, of Philadel- phia; Chalkley B., a physician of Warren county, New Jersey; Louis, a retired farmer of Swedesboro; Nathan H .; and Franklin B., a merchant of Swedesboro.
Nathan H. Warrington was educated in the schools of his native town and assisted his father on the farm until 1868, when he purchased a portion of the old homestead, and after his father's death he bought the remainder of the place, comprising one hundred and four acres, which he still owns. He continued to devote his energies to agricultural pursuits until 1888, when he retired to private life and removed to Swedesboro, where he pur- chased his present residence, a portion of which is more than one hundred years old.
On the first of March, 1866, Mr. Warrington was united in marriage to Miss Emma C. Parke, a daughter of Thomas B. and Emily (Gill) Parke. Her mother, whose maiden name was Wolfe, was the widow of Samuel Gill at the time of her marriage to Mr. Parke, and is still living in Philadelphia, at the age of ninety years. Mr. and Mrs. Warrington have one child. May H. He is a member of the Friends Society, of Nickleton, while his wife and daughter are members of the Episcopal church; and he belongs to the
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Swedesboro Grange. Mr. Warrington is a Republican in his political affili- ations and has held the office of commissioner of appeals.
He is a man of sterling worth, who in all the relations of life has been true to duty and throughout the community where he resides he enjoys the high regard of his fellow men.
EDWIN D. FOSTER.
Everywhere in our land are found men who have worked their own way from humble and lowly beginnings to places of leadership in the com- merce, the great productive industries and the management of the veins and arteries of the traffic and exchanges of the country. The self-made man is truly a product of America, for in no other land is talent, ambition and energy entirely unhampered by caste and class. Here, however, the man of resolute purpose and of honest intention may gain a place in busi- ness circles which wins the admiration and commands the respect of his fellow men, and this ,Mr. Foster has done, being now numbered among the leading merchants of Cape May county. He is the proprietor of a large mercantile establishment in Cape May Court House and is accorded an extensive patronage.
Mr. Foster was born in the county seat December 16, 1866, a son of William and Hannah (Patton) Foster. His grandfather, Henry Foster, was proprietor of a hotel in Cape May Court House, and also engaged in fish trade. He had five children: William, the father of our subject; Rachel, wife of Owen Hancock; Emma, the wife of John Bozorth; Mary, the wife of Charles G. Linder; and John, who was drowned, together with his father, while they were fishing in a sail-boat off the coast of Cape May Court House. William Foster is a native of Cape May Court House, and here obtained his education in the public schools. He followed the sea for some years and is now connected with the fishing industries. He votes with the Republican party and in religious faith is a Baptist, serving as a deacon in the First Baptist church, wherein he has filled the office for some years. He married Miss Patton, and their children are as follows: Charles, who is a carpenter in Cape May Court House, married Millicent Hand and has three children,-Earl, Albert and Lewis. George P. married Lillian Spaulding and occupies a clerical position in the employ of the Natural Gas Company, of Philadelphia; Linwood, who married Clementine Hen- derson and has a son, Henderson, who is engaged in the oyster business in Delmont, New Jersey; J. Clement, a printer at Cape May Court House,
Sedim D, Foster.
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married Deborah Errickson, and they have a son, Roy; and Edwin and Emma complete the family. The parents are still living and make their home in Cape May Court House.
Mr. Foster of this review pursued the high-school course in his native town and was graduated in the class of 1873. After leaving school he learned the printer's trade, which he followed for four years, on the expira- tion of which period he turned his attention to the grocery business. He is now one of the leading general merchants in the town, and has a store room twenty-four by fifty feet well equipped with everything found in a first-class establishment of the kind. His business methods commend them- selves to business men by reason of their method and to the general public by reason of their fairness. He is strictly honorable in his dealings, and his courtesy to his patrons and his earnest desire to please have secured him a large trade.
On the 28th of February, 1889. Mr. Foster was happily married to Miss Lydia, daughter of James D. Richardson, a sea captain residing at Cape May Court House. They now have one child, Edwin Dorsey. Mr. Foster is a Republican in his political connections, and keeps well informed on the issues of the day. He has held several local offices, discharging his duties promptly and faithfully. Socially he is a representative of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a member of the Baptist church. He certainly deserves great credit for the success he has achieved in life; for, steadily working his way upward, overcoming obstacles and difficul- ties, he stands to-day the leading merchant of his native city.
VINCENT O. MILLER.
A resident of South Dennis, Vincent O. Miller, was born at Goshen, Cape May county, New Jersey, May 5, 1852, and is a representative of one of the old families, whose members through succeeding generations have been sub- stantial and valued citizens of the community. The first of the name here was Thomas Miller, who removed from Long Island and took up his abode in Town Bank, about 1696. The paternal great-grandfather of our subject also bore the name of Thomas Miller. His son, Elijah Miller, was born at Cold Spring, Cape May county, obtained a common school education and devoted his energies to farming. Later he resided at Green Creek. He served as a member of the militia in the war of 1812 and gave his political sup- port to the Whig party. He was a prominent and influential member of the Methodist church and was earnest and active in advancing its interests. He
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held various official positions in the Tabernacle church at Cold Spring and when his life's labors were ended his remains were interred in the church- yard there. He first wedded Phoebe Smith; and their children were: Smith, Deborah, Jonas, Elizabeth, Vincent and Mary. Jonas and Elizabeth died in childhood; Smith at the age of twenty-two years; Deborah at the age of twenty; Mary married Benajah Tomlin, a sea captain, by whom she had the following children: Smith, Adelaide, Elijah, Enos, Mary, Benajah and Naamah. After the death of his first wife Elijah Miller married Catharine McInes MacNab, and they had a daughter, Margaret, who became the wife of Rev. Jacob T. Price, a Methodist minister belonging to the New Jersey con- ference. Mr. and Mrs. Price had several children, including Tenbroeck, Cath- erine, Agnes, Elijah, Margaret, Louis and Embury, the last named a cele- brated divine now serving as the pastor of the church in Yonkers, New York.
Vincent Miller, the father of our subject, was born November 6, 1812, at Dias Creek, Cape May county, obtained his education in the district schools and engaged in farming, being the owner of five hundred acres of valuable land. He also owned and operated a fertilizing manufactory at Goshen, but spent the last fifteen years of his life in Cold Spring, where his death occurred January 30, 1890. In early life he gave his support to the Whig party and afterward became identified with the Democracy. He was a member of the Sons of Temperance and did all in his power to promote prohibition princi- ples. He was twice married, his first union being with Mary Cameron, a member of the Society of Friends of Philadelphia. Their children are Mar- garet C., the widow of Dr. George C. Carll, who died leaving three children: Lincoln, now deceased; Mary and Helen; Emily C., wife of Jesse D. Ludlum; Phoebe S. and Mary R. at home. After the death of his first wife Mr. Miller married Priscilla Buck, and they have four children, the eldest being our sub- ject. The others are Ella, the wife of William Tomlin, a farmer of Goshen, by whom she had three children,-Millicent, Helen and Mary; Elijah, a prac- ticing physician of New York city, who married Emily Cress and had one daughter, Mildred; and Belle A., the wife of Albert J. Matthews, of Cold Spring, a farmer and market gardener. The mother of these children died July 12, 1897.
In the common schools of Bridgeton and in the Fort Edwards Institute Mr. Miller, of this review, pursued his education, and when his student life was ended he became a teacher, being employed in the public schools of Cape May county for sixteen years. For thirteen years he was the superin- tendent of the county schools, during which time he resided on his farm at Goshen and devoted part of his time to agricultural pursuits. In connection with his father he was also engaged in the manufacture of fertilizers. He
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further extended his field of labor by dealing in cedar lumber and still con- ducts that enterprise in connection with the manufacture of fertilizers on Jones Creek, near Dover, Delaware. He furnishes employment to forty men and is conducting a successful and growing business.
On the 29th of April, 1877, Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Jane Rice, the daughter of Leaming M. Rice, and they now have three children,-Marcia, Paulina and Mariah Rice. The family reside at South Dennis, where they have made their home for thirteen years. Mr. Miller is a member of the Dennisville Building & Loan Association and is one of its directors. He belongs to Cannon Lodge, F. & A. M .; Dennisville Lodge, No. 130, K. of P., and Friendship Lodge, A. O. U. W., at Cape May Court House. He votes with the Democracy, was a candidate for his district in the state legislature in 1898, and has been a delegate to the various conven- tions of his party. The industrial concerns with which he is connected have brought to him a gratifying competence, and that he occupies a leading posi- tion in business circles is due to his own well directed efforts.
ISAAC HURF WEATHERBY.
This prominent citizen of Swedesboro, who is one of the leading farmers of southern New Jersey, was born on a farm near Auburn, this state, October 16, 1845, and is a son of Benjamin and Sarah (Hurf) Weatherby. His grand- parents, Benjamin and Sarah (Richards) Weatherby, were of Irish and Swedish origin, respectively.
In the paternal family there were seven children, concerning whom we make the following observations: Edith married Walker Norton, of Cam- den, New Jersey; Ann Elizabeth died at the age of forty-eight years; Sarah became the wife of Charles Shute, residing in Harrison township; Isaac H .; Benjamin lives in Millville, New Jersey; Thomas, living in Logan township; and Mary, the wife of Samuel Steward, of Logan township. The mother died in 1855, when only thirty-eight years old, the father surviving her until 1893, when he passed away, at the good old age of seventy-three years.
Mr. Weatherby was educated in the public schools, but has added to his store of knowledge, not only by experience, but also by constant reading and studying upon the subjects in which he is most interested. He has devoted his time chiefly to agricultural pursuits, in which he has achieved great success. In 1894 he purchased a farm of nearly two hundred acres in Woolwich township, Gloucester county, near what is known as the "Ferry Road," and upon which he has about fifty acres of fruit of all kinds, about
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one-fourth being Burbank plums. The remainder of the land is devoted to the growing of "truck" products and everything that can be used on a farm. In 1877 he bought fifty acres adjacent to Swedesboro and has since resided there. He has remodeled and beautified the house and lawn and has added water and heat and other modern improvements, so that now he has an almost ideal country home.
Mr. Weatherby is of an investigating turn of mind and was not satisfied with simply taking up the methods which had been in vogue with agricul- turists for generations, but has done a large amount of experimenting with numerous varieties of seeds, and in the way of fertilizing, starting, cultivating and harvesting crops, as well as in the introduction of new products. While he has given much time and money to these experiments, they have not in the end been expensive, as they have proved almost universally successful. Not only in the growing but in the marketing of farm produce Mr. Weath- erby has been of benefit to the community.
Mr. Weatherby was married March 26, 1868, to Mary A., a daughter of William J. Young, of Philadelphia. She died in 1882, leaving three children: William J., a mining engineer, who is now following his profession in New Mexico; and Laura and Mamie Y., who reside with their father. Mr. Weatherby is an Independent Republican in his political belief, and is a mem- ber of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and of the Heptasophs. He stands high in his community as a man of unusual ability, intellectual force and great energy and progressiveness.
GEORGE L. BENNETT.
Throughout his entire life Mr. Bennett has resided in Gloucester county, his home being now in Logan township, on a farm near Repaupo and ad- joining the farm upon which his birth occurred September II, 1854. He is a son of Jonathan and Hannah (Lippincott) Bennett. His father died when he was fourteen years of age, and the mother when he was twenty- one. The former had three children by his first marriage; and the children of his second marriage were Beulah, the wife of George Sharp, of Bridge- port; Mary, who married William Mattson, and after his death became the wife of Jacob Fowler, of Bridgeport; Tasie, the wife of Andrew Mattson, of Bridgeport; William, who is living in Swedesboro; Sarah, the deceased wife of Levi Jones, of Camden; Fannie, the wife of David B. Warrington, of Paulsboro, now deceased; Joseph, a farmer of Woolwich township; George L., of this review; Samuel, who died at the age of twenty-two years;
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Hannah, the wife of William Shoemaker, of Salem; and Harriet, the wife of Joseph Cox, of Floodgate, New Jersey.
George L. Bennett, of this review, is indebted to the public school sys- tem for the educational privileges that were afforded him. Throughout his life he has followed farming. When very young he began to assist in the labors of the home farm, and in 1898 he purchased his present property, comprising seventy-eight acres of rich and arable land, the greater part of which is under a high state of cultivation, the well tilled fields yielding to him a golden tribute for the care and labor bestowed upon them.
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