USA > New Jersey > Biographical, genealogical and descriptive history of the first congressional district of New Jersey, Volume II > Part 21
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64
190
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE FIRST
Mercer the night before that general was killed, and aided in taking care of the wounded Hessian general, Count Dunop, at Red Banks, after the battle of Princeton. He was of great service to Washington's army when they were in winter quarters in Morristown, this state. He had three chil- dren: Samuel, who died at the age of seventeen years; Rachel, the youngest. who died in infancy; and Edward, who was born June 4, 1777, and died at the age of thirty-six years. He was a prominent glass-manufacturer in Glassboro. He married Miss Sarah, a daughter of the Rev. William Strat- ton, of Swedesboro, by whom he has the following children: Thomas, Preston, James Stratton and Edward. Margaret, a daughter of Samuel and Hannah Carpenter, was born August 26, 1756, married James Mason Woodnut, and her descendants are among the most influential citizens of the east; and Martha, the youngest daughter, who married Joseph Reeves. William Carpenter, son of Preston and Hannah Carpenter, was the grand- father of our subject.
Thomas Preston Carpenter, son of Edward and Sarah, was born April 19, 1804, and married Rebecca Hopkins. He was endowed with a liberal education, was admitted to the bar of the state and was appointed a justice of the supreme court of New Jersey by Governor Stratton. At the expira- tion of his term of office he moved to Camden, where he practiced law until he was called before a higher tribunal on March 2, 1876. He was a prominent member of the Episcopal church and was well liked by all. His widow survived him many years. James Stratton Carpenter, another son of Edward and Sarah, was born October 14, 1807, and graduated as an M. D. at the University of Pennsylvania, afterward completing his studies in the best schools of Paris. He was one of the leading physicians of Potts- ville, Pennsylvania, where he died January 31, 1872. His son, John Thomas. was born June 27, 1833, and graduated with first honors as A. B. at the age of nineteen, and took the degree of M. D. from the same institution. the University of Pennsylvania, three years later, in 1855. He was active as a surgeon and medical director during the civil war and then located in Pottsville, where he married Eliza Hill and is one of the leading and most popular physicians. Edward Carpenter was born May 17, 1813, and mar- ried Anna M. Harvey, of Pleasant Meadows, Gloucester county. He moved to Philadelphia, where he practiced conveyancing in 1843. He was a prominent Episcopalian and was one of the founders of the Church of the Mediator of that city. He has five surviving children: Lewis Henry is the director of cavalry in the Cavalry and Light Artillery School at Fort Riley, Kansas; Mary H. resides with him; James Edward, who was a brave soldier in the war of the rebellion, where he received the rank of major and
191
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY.
where his horse was shot under him at Chancellorsville, is a prominent member of the legal profession in Philadelphia, where he was born March 6, 1841; Thomas Preston is a prominent railroad man of Buffalo, New York; and Sarah Caroline, the youngest child, is now Mrs. Andrew Wheeler, of Philadelphia.
William Carpenter was born November 1, 1754, and attained a ripe old age. The house in which he resided is still standing and is now the home of the grandson, while he is remembered by the older citizens as a pious, upright man of lofty ideals and pure principles. , He was twice married, his first wife being Elizabeth Wyatt and his second Mary Redman. He died in 1836 at the age of eighty-two years, leaving these children: John Redman, who was born in 1804, was the cashier of the branch bank of the United States at Buffalo, New York, at the time of his death in 1833, and was a young man of rare promise; Samuel Preston was the father of our subject; William, born in 1802, married first Mary Scott and secondly Phoebe Warren. He was a farmer in Mannington township, but retired to Salem a few years before death in 1889. Rachel married Charles Sheppard, a merchant of this city and Philadelphia, but later retired. They had two children,-William C. and John R. C.
Samuel Preston Carpenter, the father of our subject, was born January 26, 1812, in Mannington township, on the farm now occupied by his son Samuel. He received a limited education in the little red school-house in this township, and added to the fund of information thus obtained by read- ing and observation until he became one of the most intelligent men of his day, as he was one of the most respected. He followed the occupation of agriculture and was highly successful. He was a Republican and during the troublous times of African bondage took a very decided stand against the institutions of slavery. He was one of its strongest opponents and expressed himself in no unmeasured terms on the question, and also gave it his earnest support in every way available. He was a supporter of John C. Fremont and a prominent man of his county, holding all the township offices and was surrogate of the county at one time. In religion he be- longed to the orthodox Society of Friends, connected with the Salem meet- ing, and was a conscientious, upright citizen. He was twice married,- first to Hannah, daughter of Benjamin and Sarah Acton, and secondly to Sarah, daughter of Thomas R. Sheppard. His children are as follows: John R., who was born August 22, 1838, and is in the ice business in Phila- delphia, married Mary C. Thompson and has two children: Samuel Preston, who was born August 31, 1864, and married Lillie Morse; and Elizabeth W., who lives at home. Sarah W., born July 22, 1842, married Richard H.
192
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE FIRST
Reeve, a resident of Camden who was formerly an oil-cloth manufacturer. They have one son, Augustus H., who married Madge Baldwin and has two children,-Catherine and Augustus H. S. Preston, our subject, married Rebecca B. Bassett. William, born August 7, 1849, is a large stock-raiser and is also engaged with Reeve & Parvin, of Philadelphia, in the grocery business. He married Lizzie Lambert, who died in April, 1890. Mary R., born December 15, 1857, married Benjamin C. Reeve, an oil-cloth manu- facturer of Camden, has two children,-Rachel C. and Herbert. The father died August 23, 1897, at the age of eighty-seven years; and his wife July 31, 1898, at the age of eighty years. Among their most treasured relics was an original portrait of Samuel Carpenter, the founder of the family in America.
Samuel Preston Carpenter attended the public schools of Salem in his younger years, then entered the West Town Boarding School and later Haverford College. Farm life was to him the ideal one, and when his schooling was completed he returned to the farm and has since been en- gaged in that industry on the old homestead. Here he owns one hundred and twenty-five acres of fine land, besides a large meadow which is devoted to grazing his herd of twenty Jerseys. He does a general farm business, but also finds no small profit in his cows, which are among the best in the state and yield a rich per cent of butter fat. He is one of those enterprising farmers who have done much to elevate life in the country by bringing to it the comforts and luxuries which really belong there, but which are in so many cases denied it and drive the ambitious but comfort-loving youth to the cities, where after all disappointment often awaits them. His residence was constructed with a view to securing convenience and luxury, and was sup- plied with both hot and cold water and other appliances of modern art. It is a model country residence and affords its occupants much satisfaction and pleasure.
Mr. Carpenter was married February 24, 1870, to Miss Rebecca Bassett, who has presented him with one child, a son, Benjamin Acton, who was born April 16, 1877, and is now traveling through the western states.
ISAAC W. DAWSON.
The records of the lives of our forefathers are of interest to the modern citizen, not alone for their historic. value, but also for the inspiration and example they afford; yet we need not look exclusively to the past. Although surroundings may differ, the essential conditions of human life are the same,
193
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY.
and a man can learn from the success of those around him if he will heed the lessons contained in their history. Turn to the life record of Mr. Dawson, study carefully the methods he has followed, and you will learn of executive ability of high order. He started out in life without means other than those with which nature endowed him and by his own efforts and determined purpose and laudable ambition he has risen to a leading place among the representatives of the business interests in eastern New Jersey.
Mr. Dawson is a son of Jonathan and Hannah (White) Dawson, and was born near Pennsville, Lower Penn's Neck township, Salem county, New Jersey, September 2, 1845. His grandfather, Francis Dawson, was born near Pennsville in 1799, and removed to Mannington. township, Salem county, where throughout his life he followed farming, becoming the owner of an extensive tract of land. In early life he gave his support to the Whig party, and on its dissolution joined the ranks of the Republican party. He held membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, and his life was up- right and honorable. At the age of sixty-one years he was called to his final rest, and his wife passed away at the age of seventy-five. She bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Biddle, and by her marriage became the mother of seven children, namely: Jonathan, the father of our subject, was the eldest; Samuel was twice married, and by the first union had a daughter, Mary Elizabeth, while by his second wife, Angeline Armstrong, he had three children,-Charles, Sarah Jane and William,-whom he reared upon his farm in Cape May county; Mary Ann became the wife of Thomas Calla- han, a farmer residing near Alloway, Salem county, by whom she had twelve children; George was a farmer of Salem county, married and had a large family; Hannah became the wife of J. Cerlin, a wealthy farmer of Manning- ton township, Salem county, by whom she had three children, Samuel, Mary and Genevie; John also an agriculturist of Mannington township, wedded Mary Fowler, and had one child, Howard; and Francis, the youngest of the family, married Ann Baker and had one child, Leslie; he made farming his life work.
Jonathan Dawson, the father of our subject, was born in Lower Penn's Neck township, Salem county, in 1821, and in that locality and Stow Creek township, Cumberland county, he followed farming throughout his entire life. In the latter place he owned two farms and became a man of consider- able wealth. In politics he was a Republican, served as surveyor of highways, and was an official member of the Methodist Episcopal church and a zealous worker in its interests. In early manhood he wedded Hannah White and four children blessed their union, the eldest being Isaac W. George M., a farmer of Stow Creek township, Cumberland county, married and had a
II-M
194
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE FIRST
daughter, Ella. Theodore wedded Mary Smick and had one child, Sylvester. Hannah W. became the wife of Richard West, a blacksmith and farmer of Cumberland, New Jersey, and their children are Laura Emma, Carrie and Jonathan. The father of our subject died in December 6, 1898, at the age of seventy-seven years, respected by all who knew him.
In the public schools of Salem county Isaac W. Dawson acquired his preliminary education, which was supplemented by study in the West Jersey Academy at Bridgeton. He afterward engaged in teaching for two terms, and then continued his own education, being graduated at Pennington Sem- inary in 1869. He then prepared to enter a college in Dublin, Ireland, but his health failed him and forced him to abandon that plan. He became a local minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, however, and at various times has performed active service in the ministry. He taught school in Eldora, Cape May county, and after his marriage turned his attention to farming, cultivating the land upon which he yet resides.
In 1890 he established a general mercantile store in Eldora, and has been one of the most important factors in the upbuilding of the town, which largely stands as a monument to his thrift and enterprise. In 1892 he secured the establishment of the post office there, gave it the name of Eldora, was appointed postmaster, and has since served in that capacity. In 1893 he erected the Eldora Canning Factory, which is conducted under the firm name of I. W. Dawson & Son, and which has a capacity of five hundred thou- sand cans of tomatoes annually. Work is furnished to one hundred and twenty-five employes in this factory, and its products are shipped to New York, Philadelphia and other cities. He is also quite extensively connected with the export trade, and the volume of his business has made the canning factory one of the leading industries in this section of the state. It is said that the man who weekly pays from his counters a large force of employes does more for the race than he who leads an armed host forth to battle, for he furnishes the means of maintaining instead of destroying life; he pro- motes commercial activity and encourages that industry which is the safe- guard of the American citizen and has made this country one of the leading commercial nations of the world.
In November, 1871, occurred the marriage of Mr. Dawson and Miss Emma Goff, a daughter of David Goff, and their children are David G. and Daniel Witham. The former was born in July, 1872, married Jennie Chris- tian and is now associated with his father in the canning business. The younger son is a student in the Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia. Mr. Dawson belongs to the Alpha Omega, a college fraternity of Penning- ton Seminary. He now serves as a commissioner of deeds, and at all times
195
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY.
is deeply interested in whatever pertains to the progress, upbuilding and welfare of his county and state. In politics he is a stanch Republican. He has been a life-long member of the Methodist Episcopal church, frequently preaches on Sunday, and has occupied the pulpit as many as three times on that day. His ill health, however, prevents him from continually serving in that way. He has held all the official positions in the church in Dennis- ville, and he is ambitious, active and earnest in promoting its welfare and work. Probably the chief element in his success is his power of management and in the control of his extensive business operations he has won a capital which numbers him among the wealthy residents of his community. His business methods have at all times been unassailable, and- so honorable has been his career that it may well serve as a source of inspiration and stand as an example to the young.
THOMAS ELDREDGE.
This worthy representative of the Eldredge family is a resident of Cape May county, and for the most part has led a seafaring life. He is known far and near, and is highly esteemed by every one, as has been the case with each member of the family, past and present. His grandfather, William Eldredge, who came to this vicinty from Long Island, New York, when a youth, became a pilot on Delaware Bay, and since that time many of his descendants have chosen and followed the same calling. Thus trained from early years, and made thoroughly familiar with this peculiarly dangerous portion of the Atlantic coast, their services have been invaluable to the mul- titudes of ships which annually pass this way.
Thomas Eldredge, of this sketch, is a son of Thomas and Deborah (Ware) Eldredge, the former a veteran of the war of 1812, and for all of his life a resident of Cape May and Cold Spring. He was a faithful member of the Presbyterian church and died strong in the Christian faith, when in his fifty-third year. His widow attained the age of sixty-two years.
The birth of our subject took place in West Cape May, April 2, 1835, and in his boyhood he was a pupil in the public schools of his native place. Sub- sequently he commenced a long apprenticeship to the pilot's business, and at the end of seven years was deemed sufficiently well posted to be granted a pilot's license. This calling he continues to follow, and it is safe to say that there is no more popular member of the Delaware Pilots' Association or of the Delaware Pilots' Society, to both of which organizations he belongs. Besides, he is an honored member of the Independent Order of Heptasophs,
196
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE FIRST
Cape Island Lodge, No. 130, F. & A. M., and to the chapter of R. A. M .. and belongs to the Masonic Relief Association. For a number of years he has been a member of the First Presbyterian church of Cold Spring, and is one of the trustees of the chapel at West Cape May.
On the 24th of November, 1858, the marriage of Mr. Eldredge and Miss Emma T. C. Baker, a daughter of Daniel Baker, a Delaware bay pilot, of Philadelphia, was celebrated. The second child of our subject and wife was Harry S. Eldredge, whose bright, promising life came to an untimely end on the 12th of March, 1888, during the terrible storm which swept this coast. Like his forefathers and relatives, he had mastered the pilot's business, and it so happened that he was the only Delaware pilot lost during that gale. He left a young wife, Lida (Van Winkle) Eldredge, and a host of sincere friends who deeply mourn his loss. Harriet S., the eldest daughter of our subject, became the wife of Daniel E. Stevens, a Delaware pilot, and resides at Cape May. Their son Harry is now a student at Bellefonte College, Belle- fonte, Pennsylvania; and Ida, the daughter, is attending school at Cape May. Eliza K., the third child of our subject, is the wife of William R. Shep- pard, who has retired from business activities and makes his home at Cape May. Thomas, the fourth in order of birth (a gold-beater by trade), chose Elizabeth Parsons, of Millville, New Jersey, for a wife and they have one child, William Leone by name. Emma T., the youngest, is with her parents at home. All of our subject's children were given good educational advan- tages, a credit to their family and to the community in which they reside.
EDWARD NORTH, M. D.
In the list of leading surgeons of southern New Jersey one name must stand conspicuous, that of Edward North. He came of a medical family, . his father and three brothers having received a medical education. His father, Dr. Joseph H. North, son of Joseph and Lydia (McKechnie) North, was born in Augusta, Maine, about 1812. He was of English and Scotch lineage, the North family having long been prominent in England and entitled to bear arms as nobles. The noted Lord North of the Revolu- tionary period was a representative of the English branch. Joseph H. North was educated in Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, at the time the present chief justice of the United States, Melville W. Fuller, was a student there, and was graduated in that institution with the degree of M. D. He practiced for about a quarter of a century in what is now Oak- land, Maine, then West Waterville, where he established a large practice.
Edward north mr
197
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY.
In 1858 he came to Hammonton, New Jersey, which was his home until his death, which occurred in July, 1894, when he was eighty-two years of age. Here he was in practice until after his son Edward's graduation, when he retired and engaged in large real-estate transactions. He pos- sessed great brilliancy and had many friends who enjoyed his society and the quaint stories he delighted to tell. He was a liberal in religion, inclin- ing in later life to the "Spiritual" philosophy. His wife, Eliza Hall (Under- wood) North, a daughter of Hon. Joseph and Mary (Aiken) Underwood, of Maine, survived him three years, dying in July, 1896. She was a woman of great strength of character, sound judgment and calm deliberation. Their children were Edward, deceased; Joseph H., a physician of Pleasant- ville, New Jersey; Mary J., now Mrs. F. R. Morse; Hannah F., the wife of Cyrus F. Osgood; Eliza U., now Mrs. John Hall; James, a physician and dentist of Atlantic City; and William McK. North, M. D., of Ham- monton.
Dr. Edward North, the eldest son of the above worthy couple, was born at West Waterville, Maine, July 29, 1841. From early life his aspira- tions were for medicine, and he was thoroughly fitted for this profession at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in which noted institution he was graduated in 1868 at the head of his class. He had received a fitting preparation for his professional studies by service as nurse in the United States Military Hospital at Washington, D. C .. during the civil war. Immediately upon graduation Dr. North commenced practice in Ham- monton, New Jersey, and for thirty years was, with the exception of three years, in active and successful practice at that place until the fateful night of February II, 1899, when, driving to see a patient, he was killed by a railroad train within a mile of home, in the full flush of manhood and in the midst of a remarkable professional career. In 1870 he was in practice at Jefferson, Wisconsin, and in 1880 he located for two years in Augusta county, West Virginia, as a surgeon for a large mining company. Aside from these absences his whole professional life was passed in southern New Jersey.
The proceedings of the Atlantic Medical Association bear this testi- monial to his worth and abilities, and tell the story of the results of his life better than any words of ours. We quote as follows: "As a successful physician Dr. North stood high among his brethren, and as a skilled surgeon he had few equals outside the large cities, his ability being bounded only by opportunity, as he hesitated at no operation however difficult or dan- gerous it might be, and his knowledge and skill generally brought his patient successfully through the ordeal. In many cases his services were gratuitous, necessitating also an expense of costly instruments and the
198
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF THE FIRST
breaking down of the opposition to the performing of serious operations by country practitioners so often fostered by the operators in hospitals and colleges. The long list of his surgical operations, including difficult ampu- tations, tracheotomy, lithotomy, strabotomy, removal of the uterus and operations for hydrocele, varicocele, cataract, etc., etc., attest to his skill and nerve, and can be appreciated by his brethren who know the obstacles under which he labored from the lack of hospital facilities and skilled as- sistants, which add so much to the fame of city surgeons.
"Dr. North was a member of this (Atlantic County) Medical Society, and a contributor of papers of special interest. He held the office of its president in 1883, presided with dignity over its deliberations, was often appointed on its most important committees and was its delegate in state and national conventions, ever having at heart its interests, as also the success of the profession at large. He contributed articles to medical journals and to Gross's System of Surgery, in which some of his cases are cited.
"Dr. North was an industrious student, careful and painstaking, and kept fully abreast with the advancement of medical progress and was familiar with the latest modes and advances of treatment. His medical library, an extensive and expensive one, covered all subjects of interest to the physician, the surgeon, and the man whose life is devoted to the welfare of suffering humanity.
"Dr. North's record as a politician was remarkably clean. He held the respect of the opposition as well as that of his own party, which honored him with offices. He represented the Republican party of Atlantic county for years, as the chairman of the county committee, as coroner, and as a mem- ber of the assembly in 1884-5. His interest in Hammonton and the respect in which he was held was made manifest in his election year after year to important town offices, as councilman and a member of the school board.
"Dr. North was prominent in Freemasonry, and had attained to the thirty-second degree in that fraternity. He was a past master of M. B. Taylor Lodge, F. & A. M., of Hammonton, and held membership in various other brotherhood organizations."
Dr. North was married in November, 1863, to Emma Paul, whose parents, George W. and Barbara A. Paul, were among the earliest settlers of Hammonton. She was a birthright Quaker and her grandfather, David Paul. was long a prominent merchant of Philadelphia. She died June 4. 1896, leaving three daughters, Grace, the wife of O. J. Hummell, of Atlantic City; Gertrude, the wife of B. B. Filer, of Philadelphia; and Edna V. North. On the 28th of July. 1897, occurred his second marriage, to Miss Evelyn
199
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.