USA > New Jersey > Biographical, genealogical and descriptive history of the first congressional district of New Jersey, Volume II > Part 41
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In 1885 Mr. Hebenthal established himself in the livery business at Cape May, succeeding Samuel Van Scivor. He keeps fifteen excellent driving and saddle horses, and a good assortment of modern vehicles. A specialty is made of boarding horses, and during the course of a year many sales of good animals are made through his influence. Integrity and justice have brought him into favor with all who know him and the prosperity which he enjoys is richly deserved.
When the Mexican war was in progress, Mr. Hebenthal enlisted in the Second Regiment of New Jersey Volunteers, under command of Captain Much, and at the battles of Buena Vista and Vera Cruz was under the leader- ship of General Taylor. Near the last named city he received a saber wound in the cheek during a desperate attempt which he and three of his comrades made to capture some mail. They were attacked by a band of twenty-five Mexican guerrillas, who were repulsed by the four brave men, not one of the latter being killed.
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Politically our subject is a Democrat, and though he has never been desirous of holding public offices, he has been city marshal and keeper of the pound. Religiously he is a Baptist, as are all of the members of his fam- ily. It has been his privilege to make two trips to his Fatherland, where he has numerous friends.
In 1853 the marriage of Mr. Hebenthal and Caroline Meise, of Witten- berg, Germany, was celebrated. Their eldest child, Rhoda, married Evan Myers, who is in the dairy business at Cape May; Katie is the wife of R. S. Hand, a retired cigar dealer, and their two children are Alice and Carrie; Henry and Rachel are at home; and William is an expressman. He wedded Reba Vance, by whom he has three children,-William, James and Cathe- rine. The younger children of our subject-Louis, Anna, Frank, Harry and Herbert-are still living at their parental home.
F. P. CANFIELD.
Real estate and insurance business is a most important factor in the material prosperity of a community. A casual observer can form no con- ception of the important position held by the active, enterprising agent de- voted to the work of buying and selling real estate, establishing values and otherwise stimulating property-holders to the great improvements it lies within their power to make. F. P. Canfield is one of this class. The judi- cious principles which he upholds in his transactions, the competency with which he investigates points connected therewith, are securing for him a large and deserved patronage.
Mr. Canfield was born in Springfield, Illinois, April 7, 1860, his parents being Henry Dayton and Anna Garrison (Canfield) Canfield. The first of the name of whom we have record was Thomas Canfield, who came from England to America and settled in Milford, Massachusetts, in 1646. He had a son Thomas, who died at the age of thirty-five years. His son Israel Canfield removed to Newark, New Jersey, and was the father of Abraham Canfield, who located at Morristown, New Jersey, and has twelve children. Robert Canfield, the grandfather of our subject, was born in Morristown, New Jersey, and was a merchant there. He served as a presidential elector in 1826, casting his vote for Andrew Jackson, and during the administration of "Old Hickory" he was appointed to the position of appraiser in the cus- tom-house at New Orleans. Subsequently he removed to Illinois, where he purchased large tracts of land. He married a Miss Walton, who was born in 1796 and died in 1852. Their children were Robert, who resides in Cali-
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fornia; Henry D .; Isaac, a Presbyterian minister; and Charles. All lived to advanced age, passing away between the ages of seventy-three and seventy- nine years.
Henry Dayton Canfield was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, June 28, 1822, and became an extensive farmer of Illinois. He served as a clerk in the quartermaster's department in the Mexican war, and on the organization of the Republican party became one of its supporters. In Springfield, Illi- nois, he met Abraham Lincoln and promised to vote for him, after which he always voted in support of the men and measures of his party. In May, 1886, he came to Ocean City, New Jersey, where he lived until his death, June 2, 1899. He was a member of the Presbyterian church and a man of highest respectability. In his family were ten children, but five died in infancy, the others being Ruth Helen; F. P .; Arthur C., a florist of Illinois; Alice Williams; and Harry H., who resides in Springfield, Illinois.
F. P. Canfield was educated in Edwards School, beneath the shadow of the capitol buildings of his native state. He put aside his text-books at the age of seventeen in order to devote his energies to a business career, and for some time conducted operations as a horticulturist and gardener. He also carried on the dairy business here. Since his arrival in Ocean City in 1886 he has been engaged in the real-estate business and not only handles property for others but also has some desirable realty holdings of his own.
On the 23d of September, 1893, Mr. Canfield married Miss Elizabeth Brewer, a daughter of Rufus Brewer, of Germantown, Pennsylvania. She was born in Hollister, Massachusetts, and is a representative of an old fam- ily whose ancestors came to America in the Mayflower. Her father was a graduate of Harvard College and for some years engaged in the banking business in Massachusetts, but for some years prior to his death was a well known merchant of Philadelphia. He served as an elder in the Presbyterian church in that place and was called to the home beyond in 1889. In his family were eight children, of whom six are living. John was a member of the Second Pennsylvania Regiment in the Spanish-American war and served at Santiago, Cuba. Frank entered the Wanamaker store in Philadelphia as cashier, and although he is yet a young man he now occupies the most re- sponsible position in that mammoth mercantile concern, being general su- perintendent. He is a young man of exceptional ability, of marked execu- tive force, of studious habits and of a religious nature. Mary is a graduate of a college in this state and is now a practicing physician of Germantown, Pennsylvania. Paul died in 1889. Elizabeth is the honored wife of Mr. Canfield. Louisa and Alice complete the family. All of the children were provided with superior educational advantages and the family is one of
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marked culture, refinement and intelligence. Mr. Canfield has been an im- portant factor in public affairs, having served as a member of the city coun- cil and commissioner of appeals of the board of education, while at the pres- ent time he is a member of the board of chosen freeholders. He is serving as a member of the board of trustees of the First Presbyterian church and his sincere and deep interest in the work of the church has made him a liberal contributor to its support and an active worker in its behalf.
FURMAN H. LLOYD.
Furman Humphries Lloyd, farmer and proprietor and operator of the Whitestone Mill, has been closely identified with the growth and business interests of Salem for many years and has improved every opportunity, often making that opportunity, for promoting the welfare of the municipal- ity. He is a son of Furman and Elizabeth (Shear) Lloyd, and was born April 12, 1850, in Lower Penn's Neck, Salem county. The grandfather, Furman Lloyd, was a farmer of Upper Penn's Neck, later moving to Lower Penn's Neck township, where he was a constable of the county. He was of English descent, from which race he took his sturdy, industrious traits that have been a characteristic of the family and won them prosperity. His children were John, Charles, Benjamin, Furman, and two that died young. The grandmother died at the age of seventy-two years.
Furman Lloyd, the father of our subject, owned a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Lower Penn's Neck, where he lived and prospered until overtaken by old age. He was a Republican and took an active part in politics, holding many local offices and finding great favor in the eyes of the community. He was married to Miss Elizabeth Shear, whose father was a sea captain of Richmond, Pennsylvania, who was lost while on one of his voyages and never returned to land. Their children were John, a farmer on the homstead, who married Miss Elizabeth Elkinton, and has four children,-Nettie, Veria, Mary and Lida; Charles E., who is in the com- mission business in Philadelphia and has one child, Allen; Furman, our subject; Anna Mary, who married Albert Dalbon, a farmer of Alloway township, this county: their children are Lizzie, Kate and Alice; Harriet, who is unmarried; and Ella, who married Samuel Taylor, a farmer of Lower Penn's Neck, and their children are Eva, Hallie, Furman, Jennie, Lydia and Elizabeth. Mrs. Lloyd is now in her seventy-second year and in the enjoy- ment of all her faculties to a remarkable extent. The father reached the
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Fr. H. Levyde
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age of seventy-six years when he laid down the burden of life, August 31, 1897, and was deeply mourned by a wide circle of friends.
Furman H. Lloyd attended district school when a boy and then assisted his father with his farm duties until 1882, when he was thirty-two years old, and then he came to this city. He engaged in baling and shipping straw and hay, his market being principally Baltimore and Philadelphia, and continued the work on such a profitable basis that in 1891 he bought the mill now operated by him. This was the Whitewater Mill, the oldest mill erected in south Jersey, the deed to which was made out March 30, 1795, and was the first deed recorded in Salem county. This building he has remodeled and repaired, putting in steam power and making it first- class in all respects. It has an output of eighty barrels per day, and does principally merchant work in flour manufacture, although Mr. Lloyd also handles large quantities of hay, straw, coal, etc. He has three hay presses in operation here, and the branch store he had at Atlantic City was de- stroyed by fire May 2, 1899. He furnished a good market for the produce of the farmers in' the surrounding country. In addition to his extensive business in the city he owns a farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Lower Penn's Neck, which is under his immediate supervision, as he is a thorough agriculturist, and the income derived from this source is no inconsiderable sum.
Mr. Lloyd was united in marriage, in February, 1883, to Miss Sarah Stout, a daughter of Joseph and Julia (Locuson) Stout, farmers of Lower Penn's Neck township. She died May 14, 1899. Six children have blessed the home, namely: Sherwood, Beulah, Florence, Furman, Elizabeth and Irvin, the two last mentioned being twins. Mr. Lloyd is a stanch Repub- lican and has been prominent in the councils of the local organizations and served as a delegate to various conventions. He has been a member of the county board of freeholders for two terms, or four years, from 1893 to 1896, and previous to that, from 1886 to 1890, was the representative of the West ward in the city council.
JOHN R. GILL.
John Rogers Gill, one of the leading farmers of Woolwich township, Gloucester county, New Jersey, was born in this township, October 3, 1830, and is a son of Benjamin Rambo and Mary R. (Bower) Gill, a grandson of John and Elizabeth (Rambo) Gill and a great-grandson of Matthew and Magdelene (Halton) Gill. His grandfather was first married to Zillah
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Batten, by whom he had four children: John, who married Jane Wooff and had two sons, John, and Thomas, who died in childhood, and James, who died in early life, unmarried. The children of the second marriage, to Eliza- beth Rambo, were: Benjamin Rambo; Elizabeth, who died in early womanhood; and George, who had three children, Mary, deceased, and Edward and Emma, who reside in Philadelphia.
Benjamin Rambo Gill was born near Swedesboro, New Jersey, in July, 1804; removed to Delaware in 1841, and died in Delaware City in 1881. His children were: Elijah, who died at the age of eleven years; John Rogers, whose name introduces this sketch; Asher Bower, of Philadelphia, who married Margaret Fisher Thompson, now deceased, and by her had two chil- dren,-Margaret Fisher and Benjamin Rambo; Edmund W., who at the age of ten years was thrown from a horse and killed; Elizabeth Ruth, the widow of William Carroll, of Camden, New Jersey, by whom she had these children : Benjamin, who died at the age of five years; Sarah, who is mar- ried and lives in Camden; Mary, who died at the age of seventeen years; George Norman, who was born in 1839 and died in Middletown, Delaware, May 31, 1898: he married Adelaide Lore, a niece of Judge Lore of Wil- mington, Delaware, and by her had one child, Adelaide, who married Horatio Nelson Crane, of Sparrows Point, Maryland. George Norman married for his second wife Sarah Drummond, a daughter of John Drum- mond, of Middletown, Delaware, by whom he had five children,-Florence, John Drummond, Effa, Mary and George Norman; Benjamin Snow, who married Virginia , of Virginia, lived in Townsend, Delaware, and had five children,-Mary, Walter, Augustus, Catherine and Henry; Anna Theodotia, who married James Bradley and lived in Chestertown, Maryland, and had no children; Lewis, deceased, who married Catherine Tolson, also now deceased, and had no children; and Elijah Bower, who lived in Townsend, Delaware, married Lydia Daniels, and had four chil- dren, -- Mary, deceased, Susan, William, also deceased, and Louis.
John Rogers Gill was educated in the common schools of Woolwich township and the public schools and academy of Middletown, Delaware, and from early boyhood assisted his father on the farm. At the age of twenty-one he engaged in farming for himself near Middletown, Delaware, where he continued for twelve years. He then went to Kent county, Mary- land, where he took charge of a farm of 640 acres belonging to a son of ex- Governor Cochran, and carried on operations there until 1884. That year he purchased of William String his present farm, to which he has since added, by purchase, thirteen acres, making a total of one hundred and thirty acres. Since he took possession of this place he has remodeled the house
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and other buildings and beautified the lawn, until now he has one of the finest country homes in the southern part of the state.
Mr. Gill was married, March 23, 1852, to Sarah Elizabeth Fisher Gilfrey, a daughter of John Gilfrey, who went to McDonough county, Illinois, where he lived until his death. She was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and at the time of her marriage lived with her uncle, who was the rector of St. Ann's church, Middletown, Delaware. She died May 23, 1872. Their children were: Henry Triglone, who died at the age of nine years; Mary Elizabeth, who became the wife of Alexander Kennedy, of Kennedyville, Kent county, Maryland, and has ten children, -- Henry, Robert, Ada (deceased), Herbert, Mary, Marguerite, Lloyd, John Rogers, Clarence and Wilson; Clara, who died at the age of eighteen years; George Law, a merchant of Philadelphia, who married Rebecca Garrison, of Swedesboro; Margaret Fisher Harold, who married Elijah Dallett Bower and has three children living,-Elijah Dallett, Mary Devereaux and Emily Catherine; Charles, who was a deputy sheriff of Kent county, Maryland, and in 1899 Democratic candidate for sheriff, and who married Ada Hepborn, a daughter of ex-State Senator William T. Hepborn, of Kennedyville, Maryland, their children being Hep- born, Frank, Charles Lee and an infant. John R. Gill was married the sec- ond time October 31, 1877, when Miss Arabella Locke became his wife. She was a daughter of Colonel John Locke, of Swedesboro, and died Novem- ber 17, 1897. On the 29th of November, 1899, Mr. Gill was again married, the lady of his choice being Emma B. Hewes, of Swedesboro, a daughter of Thomas B. and Rebecca Hewes.
Mr. Gill was a charter member of the Kennedyville Grange, the second grange organized in the state of Maryland, was its secretary for several years and afterward withdrew from the organization. In politics he is a stanch Democrat and has always taken a laudable interest in public affairs but has never been an aspirant for public office.
LEWIS S. STANGER.
Lewis S. Stanger, one of the enterprising and honorable merchants of the city of Glassboro, New Jersey, was born in the place just named, Octo- ber 9, 1848, the son of Simon W. Stanger, a native of the same town. His father was Lewis S., born in Germany. He went to Allowaystown and rented a glass-factory, in which was made the first glass manufactured in this country. Simon W. Stanger was a glass-blower and worked for the Whitney Glass Company for a period of fourteen years, and then was with II-Y
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the window-glass company of Warwick & Stanger, of Temperancetown, for another fourteen years. He died in 1879. He was a prominent man and held many of the local offices of his locality. He served as a class-leader of the Protestant Methodist church, in which religious body he also held other offices. He also took great interest in Sunday-school work, and was for many years a superintendent. He married Ann Pierce, a daughter of Wil- liam Pierce: she died in 1857. Of their children, only two are now living: Lewis S., our subject, and Charles E., of Michigan.
Our subject attended the village schools and later Bryant & Stratton's Business College, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after which for two years he was employed by the Warwick & Stanger Glass Company. He conducted a store at Millville for a year and was then engaged in the produce and com- mission business at Philadelphia for six years. We next find him tilling the soil in Gloucester county, New Jersey, at which he continued for four years. He then spent five years in Whitney & Company's glass-store, and in 1890 was promoted to the position of assistant manager in the yards of the Whit- ney glass-works, and spent two years at the glass-works near Bridgeton. In August, 1898, he returned to Glassboro and engaged in the grocery trade, his present business.
Politically, Mr. Stanger is a Republican. He was elected a freeholder, serving four years, and is now on the first year of his second term. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias lodge, in which order he has passed all the official chairs. December 22, 1869, he married Miss Christiana S. New- bern, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Newbern, of Glassboro. One child has blessed their home, Walter F. Stanger.
THE WELSH FAMILY.
Throughout the greater part of the century the Welsh family has been connected with the history of Gloucester county, for in 1812 John Welsh came from Crosswicks and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in what is now South Swedesboro, Gloucester county. His residence thereon was built by John Hatten some time prior to the Revolutionary war. Mr. Hatten came to America from Canterbury, England, to collect taxes in west Jersey for an English official. His property was confiscated in 1778 and passed into possession of Dr. Strattan, who sold it to Dr. Francis Hoover, from whom it was purchased by John Welsh. The house still bears the mark of British ownership in the heavy lion-head knocker on the
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front door. The farm portion of the property has been sold, but the resi- dence, within a large lawn, is still occupied by Miss Lucy A. Welsh.
John Welsh was a son of Peter and Anna (Barnes) Welsh, the former a Revolutionary soldier, while the latter had several uncles who were in the Revolutionary war, one of them being a captain, while another was among the prisoners that were sent to Nova Scotia with the British. John Welsh married Miss Mary Watson, a daughter of John Watson, a surveyor resid- ing near Trenton, and they became the parents of five children, namely: Watson, who died at the age of twenty-five years; Charles, who was a sailor going on whaling vessels and was last heard from just before the civil war; William, who was a bookkeeper for Morgan & Buck, of Phila- delphia, from 1830 until 1854, and thereafter resided with his younger sis- ter, Mary, and a half-sister, Lucy, in Swedesboro, until his death, which oc- curred in 1888, when he had attained the age of eighty-two years; George, who died in Austin, Texas, of yellow fever; and Mary, who died in child- hood. For his second wife Mr. Welsh wedded Miss Abigail Kates, by whom he had two children: Mary, who died in 1889; and Lucy Anna, who is the only surviving member of the family.
John Welsh was one of the most successful farmers of his time in south- ern New Jersey, and accumulated a handsome fortune. In politics he was an active Whig, and when Governor Strattan went from Swedesboro to Trenton to take the office of chief executive he rode with Mr. Welsh in the latter's carriage. In the sense of office-seeking, however, Mr. Welsh was never a politician, but to the principles in which he believed he gave an earnest support. He died in 1853, at the age of seventy-five, and his wife passed away in 1859, at the age of fifty-one years. They were people of high respectability, prominent in social circles, and at all times held in great regard for their excellencies of character. The family have all been mem- bers and liberal supporters of Trinity Episcopal church, of Swedesboro. Miss Welsh still occupies the family homestead, which is one of the most pleasant residences in Gloucester county. She is a lady of refined tastes and charitable disposition, and besides having many close friends worthy of the name she enjoys the high esteem of all her acquaintances, and the circle is extensive.
J. J. ELDRIDGE.
J. J. Eldridge, recently a central committeeman for Monroe township, Gloucester county, resides on his farm near the town of Williamstown, and is ranked with the representative farmers and public-spirited citizens of hie
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township. He was born in the house in which he now lives, September 10, 1846, and has been engaged in agricultural pursuits all his life, living upon his present farm, a tract of forty-seven acres, and raising a variety of crops common to this locality. Politically Mr. Eldridge has always given his sup- port to the Republican party and taken an active interest in local affairs. He was first elected a member of the township committee in 1894, and for ten years, until January, 1900, he was the central committeeman for the township. Fraternally he is identified with the A. O. U. W., of which he is a past master.
Mr. Eldridge was married in 1873, to Miss Kate B. Stewart, a daughter of Captain Charles H. Stewart, a native of Virginia and a ship captain sail- ing between Philadelphia and New York on the Ericson line. During the mining excitement in California he went to the Pacific coast and there made a fortune. Returning to the East, Captain Stewart purchased the ferry at Gloucester, which he owned for many years. He also purchased a farm in Williamstown in 1860, and lived here for a time, but afterward returned to Gloucester. Later, however, he came back to Williamstown where he died in 1887, in his seventy-second year. Mr. and Mrs. Eldridge are the parents of three children, all daughters, namely: Edna, the wife of David Loughlin, of Williamstown; and Helen and Estelle, at home.
FRANK LUERSSEN.
Frank Luerssen, a druggist, is one of the representative men of Salem, and is a son of Francis George and Hannah (Leiper) Luerssen. He was born in the city of Philadelphia, where his parents are well known and highly esteemed citizens. The father came to this country from Bremen, Germany, and located in Philadelphia, where he has since resided and won the respect and good will of a large circle of acquaintances.' He is especially popular among the German people, taking a prominent part in their various societies and founding the Turn Verein of that city. He opened a wholesale tobacco and cigar store soon after settling there, and has been so success- ful that he still continues in that line of business. He was united in mar- riage to Miss Hannah Leiper, whose father, Christian Leiper, came to this country in 1846, from Brunswick, Germany, and was one of the first to settle in Penn's Neck township. He had been a burgomeister in Germany, but turned to other means of earning a livelihood after coming to America. He was a zealous Presbyterian and a good man.
Frank Luerssen attended the grammar schools of his native city,
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and then entered the drug store of C. E. Harnchen, one of the oldest in Philadelphia, and served an apprenticeship there until he was conversant with the drug business, graduating at the Philadelphia College of Phar- macy in 1880. Later he went to Washington, D. C., where he spent nine years in the same business and gained much valuable experience, having charge of the largest store in the city. Coming to Salem he became the successor to Clement Kelly and has conducted the most popular drug store in the city since. He carries the largest and most complete line of drugs to be found in southern New Jersey and enjoys an extended patronage among the best class of people. He owns several valuable business blocks besides having an interest in the hotel. His block is a large three-story building, containing an office, parlors, reception rooms and twenty sleeping rooms, all furnished in elegant taste. The dining-room will accommodate seventy-five guests, and the menu comprises the best viands prepared in the most appe- tizing manner. The bar is supplied with the best brands of wines, liquors, cigars, etc., while a large yard for carriages and a large livery and boarding stable, with a capacity for thirty head of horses, is connected with the hotel and at the disposal of the guests. The Schaefer House is supplied with incandescent electric lights and all modern metropolitan conveniences which will add to the comfort of the guests; and the traveling public have not been slow to appreciate the fact, as is shown by the large patronage accorded the house.
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