USA > New Jersey > Biographical, genealogical and descriptive history of the first congressional district of New Jersey, Volume II > Part 56
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Smith Bacon was also a native of Rhoadestown, where he attended the district schools. Leaving school he determined to become a sailor, and for many years sailed on the merchant vessels, later taking charge of a brig that plied between Philadelphia and the West Indies and owned by the Miner Harvey Company, of Salem. He afterward gave up the sea and spent his last days in this city, where he died when about seventy years old. He was a Democrat in his politics. His wife, Elizabeth Freas, was sixty years of age at her death, and was the mother of the following children: Jane, who died when a child of five or six years; Hannah, who also died in infancy; Joseph M., our subject; Sarah, who died young; Henry, a sash and door manufac- turer of Philadelphia. He married Hannah Dowling, by whom he had three children: Bertha, William and Mortimer; Smith, who married Eliza- beth Pedrick and is engaged in the dairy business at Salem; James, unmar- ried and captain of a tug-boat; Lizzie, who died in childhood; and Charles, civil engineer with the Shiffler Bridge Company: he married Miss Sarah Stretch and resides at Toledo, Ohio; and Lizzie F., who is unmarried.
Joseph Mulford Bacon was educated in the public school and in that kept by the Society of Friends in Salem. After his school days were ended he was with his father for twelve years in the merchant service and visited many southern and New England ports. This was an advantage not afforded many young men and he enjoyed it to the full, but was not so well pleased with the life that he cared to make it his permanent employ- ment, and accordingly he turned his attention to other lines. For nine years
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he was engaged in the dairy business in Salem and was then appointed agent for the West Jersey Express Company, in 1887, and has continued in that capacity ever since making many friends for the company by his uni- formly courteous and obliging attentions.
October 15, 1872, Mr. Bacon was united in matrimony with Miss Mary S. Colley, a daughter of Henry D. Colley, a carpenter of Salem, New Jersey. She was one of four children, namely : Sewell H .; Mary S .; Georgianna, wife of Thomas Whitelock; and Maggie S., wife of William Bloemer. Mr. and Mrs. Bacon are the parents of five children: Frank, a compositor in the Mail & Express office of New York City: he is a member of the Sons of the Revolution; Maggie, deceased; George, a student; Jennie, who died at the age of three years; and Elsie, at school. Mr. Bacon was at one time city recorder of Salem. He is a member of the Baptist church and an honor- able, upright, Christian gentleman. He is an active member of the Liberty Hook & Ladder Company, and belongs to the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of the Golden Eagle.
WILLIAM D. DUFFIELD.
William D. Duffield, the popular superintendent of John Wyeth & Brothers' Malt Works, of Woodbury, Gloucester county, New Jersey, is a son of Henry F. and Adaline B. (Lee) Duffield, and was born in Hurffville township, this county, June 30, 1866. Both parents were of English descent, the first member of the Duffield family, Nathan, coming from that country at an early day to Cumberland county, New Jersey, where he purchased a large tract of land and engaged in its improvement and cultivation. His children were Aralonase; Nathan; Henry F .; Elizabeth, who married W. H. Smith, of Cedarville, Cumberland county; Hannah, who married Henry M. Conover, of the same locality; and Lydia, the wife of Martin Corson of Bridgeton, this state.
Henry F. Duffield was born in Cumberland county, on his father's estate, where he grew up and became a prosperous tiller of the soil. He was inured to the hardships of pioneer farm life in his youthful days and received only a limited education, the facilities for learning being of the most meager and primitive description. He died August 27, 1879, after a useful and well spent life, and is survived by his widow, who makes her home in this city. Her maiden name was Adaline B. Lee and the children born of their union were James Lee, who married Jenette Dorff; William D., our subject; and Her- bert R., married to Bertha C. Stewart. The Lee family came from Derby-
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shire, England, in 1818 and settled in Burlington county, New Jersey, whence the oldest son, Samuel, about the year 1820 moved to Michigan, where he remained. His sisters, five in number, moved to Atlantic City and conducted a boarding-house, which was afterward converted into a hotel, popularly known as the "Mansion House," which remained in the posses- sion of the family until the past year (1899), when it was sold. The only surviving member of this family is Julia, who resides at Haddonfield, this state.
William D. Duffield acquired his education in the public schools of his native county, and after completing his studies engaged with the Wyeth Brothers Company as the foreman of their Malt Extract Works. On the resignation of the superintendent, in 1895, he was promoted to that position, and still performs the duties of that important office in an efficient and satisfactory manner. By his gentlemanly and courteous manner he made many friends for the establishment, while his judicious management of the plant displays a keen business mind. He was married at Bridgeton, this state, November 27, 1889, to Martha J. White, a daughter of William H. and Ellen T. White, of that city. Three children have been sent to brighten their hearthstone: Grace D., born April 1, 1891; Lee W., born March 17, 1893; and Mabel J., born June 17, 1894.
They are attendants of the Kembal Memorial Methodist Episcopal church and liberal contributors to that organization. Mr. Duffield is a member of Star of Bethlehem Lodge, No. 190, Independent Order of Odd Fellow's, of Philadelphia; Woodbury Council, No. 31, Senior Order United American Mechanics, of which he is an ex-councilor and three times a repre- sentative to the state organization; a member of Minnetonka Tribe, No. 199, Improved Order of Red Men, of Woodbury, of which he is a past sachem, and has represented that order in the great council two terms. He is a man of genial good nature and very popular among his acquaintances.
L. M. HALSEY, M. D.
Dr. L. M. Halsey, a practicing physician and a prominent political worker of Williamstown, New Jersey, is a native of Swedesboro, this state, his birth having occurred there September 17, 1858. His father, Luther F. Halsey, was a native of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and a son of Abram Halsey, who was a native of Orange county, New York, and a son of Luther Halsey. The Halsey family originally came to America from Wales, and the Doctor now has in his possession the certificate of membership in the
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society of the Cincinnati, given to Luther Halsey, his great-grandfather. It is signed by George Washington as president and General Knox as secretary, and bears date May 24, 1774. Luther Halsey was a captain on the staff of General George Washington and loyally aided in achieving independence for the American colonies. Four of his sons were clergymen. Abraham Halsey, one of the number, was the founder of the First Presby- terian church of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at Eighteenth and Arch streets, and from that city he removed to Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where he labored for forty years in the Reformed Presbyterian church. He died in 1867. His brother Job was a professor in the Allegheny Theological Semin- ary, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and was the pastor of a church at Norris- town, Pennsylvania, for forty years. Luther, another brother, was for many years a member of the faculty of the Princeton Theological Seminary.
Luther F. Halsey, the Doctor's father, was born October 28, 1833, was graduated in Rutger's College, and later in the Jefferson College, at Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania. After leaving college he spent one year in Europe, where for a time he was a student in a university. He also served as assistant surgeon in the British fleet, at the bombardment of Sevastopol, Russia. He finally located in Swedesboro, New Jersey, in 1857, and at the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, in 1861, he was made assistant surgeon in the Second New Jersey Volunteers. He held various positions in the army and at the close of the strife he was the chief of the doctor's staff in the Army of the Potomac. After the close of the war he returned and practiced medicine in Swedesboro. He enjoyed a large patronage and was one of the founders of the present school in antiseptics. It was he who organized the Masonic lodge at Swedesboro, and he also belonged to the chapter and com- mandery of the fraternity. For years he was a vestryman in the Swedest
Episcopal church, and took an active part in its work. For many years he was either president or secretary of the Gloucester County Medical Society, in which he took great interest. He died in 1895. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Catherine Murphy, still survives him, at the age of sixty-nine years. Of their three children two are living-L. M. and Joseph G., the latter of Swedesboro.
Dr. Halsey received excellent educational privileges, including a college course at Lehigh University, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and in that insti- tution was graduated in 1877. He is also a graduate of Jefferson College, of the class of 1880. He spent one year in a hospital in Philadelphia and passed an examination to enter the army, but finally came to Williamstown and began the practice of his chosen profession, in 1880. He has been thor- oughly successful in his calling and keeps up with the times in all medical
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ideas, theories and discoveries. He is the president of the Medical Society of New Jersey and has twice been the leading officer of the Gloucester County Medical Society. For several years he has been making a special study of auto-intoxication and the development of chemical poison in the human economy. Two years ago he read an exhaustive paper before the State Medical Society on this subject and it attracted wide attention. His private practice is large and he attends to all the requirements in the line of surgical ·work of the branch of the Reading Railroad upon which he lives.
In political matters the Doctor is a Republican and has been prominent in the ranks of the party. He has been mentioned as a candidate for both branches of the legislature, but has no great political aspirations. He was one of the promoters of the Masonic lodge of Williamstown, is now past master and is a member of the chapter at Vineland and the commandery at Camden. On the Ist of May, 1884, he married Alice L., a daughter of Judge J. F. Bodine, and their home is a very pleasant and hospitable one.
But few men within the state have enjoyed as successful a career as Dr. Halsey, save perhaps his father. Both obtained thorough educational train- ing for the special line of work which they expected to follow through life, hence when they began practice they were well equipped for their pro- fessional duties. Success in all lines comes only through hard work and study, and especially is this true in the medical profession. To be a success- ful physician and surgeon at the present time one must be well educated at the beginning of his career and must keep thoroughly abreast with modern progress by reading and study; and this Dr. Halsey has done.
NATHAN W. LIPPINCOTT.
Washington said that agriculture is not only one of the most useful but also one of the most honorable callings to which man can devote his ener- gies; and the same is as true to-day as when uttered by the greatest of American heroes. Nathan Wright Lippincott is numbered among the representative farmers of Woolwich township, Gloucester county, and is successfully cultivating a large tract of land, his labors bringing to him a de- sirable income.
He was born in Piles Grove township, Salem county, New Jersey, No- vember 17, 1861, and is a son of Nathan Y. and Priscilla (Wright) Lippin- cott. His grandparents were Samuel and Hannah Lippincott, natives of Salem county, the former born January 12, 1785, and the latter on the 5th of October, 1780. In their family were four children: Anna F., who was born
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March 27, 1812, and became the wife of a Mr. Robbins, of Woodstown, New Jersey; Nathan Y., who was born September 2, 1814, and died November 2, 1881 ; Samuel M., who was born September 8, 1816, and resides in Woods- town, New Jersey; and George, born September 4, 1819.
Nathan Y. Lippincott spent the days of his youth in the county of his nativity, and having arrived at years of maturity was married, on the 14th of April, 1842, to Mary C. Borton, by whom he had the following children : Ellen, the wife of Edwin Taylor, of Auburn, New Jersey; George, a resident of Swedesboro; Henry R., who is living in Atlantic City; Amanda F., who died at the age of five months; Edwin W., a resident of Woodstown, New Jersey; Franklin, who died at the age of two years; and Emma, deceased wife of William Haines. The mother of this family having passed away, the father was again married, Miss Priscilla M. Wright becoming his wife on the 6th of February, 1861. Their children are: Nathan W .; Mary C., the wife of Nathan Watson, a farmer living near Auburn, New Jersey; Walter, Louisa and one other son, who died in childhood; and Priscilla and Phoebe Ann, twins, the former the wife of James Harker, of Auburn, New Jersey, and the latter the wife of John Sithens, of Swedesboro, New Jersey.
Nathan W. Lippincott pursued his education in the various schools at Laurel, Illinois, Piles Grove, Auburn, Swedestown and Mickletown. Throughout his business career he has carried on agricultural pursuits. In 1892 he purchased his present farm and since 1893 has made his home thereon, devoting his attention to the raising of garden produce and to dairy farming. He is very successful, finding ready sale for his products, which, being of excellent quality, command the highest market price.
On the 27th of February, 1883, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Lippincott and Miss Fannie M. Sithens, a daughter of Daniel and Hannalı A. (Shimp) Sithens, of Woolwich township, Gloucester county. Seven chil- dren have been born to them, namely: Laura S .; Emiline, who died at the age of nineteen months; Leona, Hannah E., Alice P., Frances and Alvan G. Mr. Lippincott and his family are members of the Society of Friends and socially he is connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. In politics he is a stalwart Republican, and has served as a member of the school board since 1895. The cause of education finds in him a warm friend. His labors have been successfully directed along well defined lines, and thus has he worked his way upward until he has left the ranks of the many and stands among the successful few, being accounted one of the leading and substantial farmers of his section of the state.
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D. C. WOOD.
A worthy representative of the agricultural interests is D. C. Wood, of Glenloch, who owns and cultivates a farm of eighty-five acres. This land he has placed under a high state of cultivation, its fields being well tilled, its buildings kept in good repair, and everything about the place being neat and thrifty in appearance. In his farming methods Mr. Wood is progres- sive and practical and is therefore justly numbered among the leading agriculturists of the community.
He was born in this locality, January 28, 1824, and is a son of Gerard Wood, whose birth occurred here and who was a son of Samuel Wood, a native of Woodbury, New Jersey. The original American ancestors came from England and took up their abode in Woodbury Creek, where the town of Woodbury now stands. Samuel Wood served in the war of the Revolution and had some strange experiences during that epoch of our country's history. Gerard Wood was a member of the home guard of 1812. By occupation he was a farmer and by his industry and perseverance he won a very creditable success. His political support was given to the Democracy and he served as a member of the board of freeholders and as a member of the state legis- lature. A leading citizen, he exerted a marked influence in public affairs and commanded the respect of all with whom he came in contact. In his re- ligious belief he was connected with the Society of Friends and in that faith died in 1884. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Hannah Wills, was a daughter of Nathaniel Wills, of Woodbury, and died in 1831. They be- came the parents of six children, of whom three are living: D. C., of this review; Daniel W., of Philadelphia; and Emeline, the wife of Rich Marshall, of Camden, New Jersey.
During his youth D. C. Wood received but limited educational privileges, attending the public schools of the neighborhood for only a short time. His training at farm labors, however, was not meager, for at an early age he began to follow the plow and has since devoted his energies to agri- cultural pursuits. In addition to his home farm he cultivates sixty acres of land that belongs to his son-in-law, and not only raises the grains adapted to this climate but is also engaged in making butter. He was married to Hannah Hudson, a daughter of William Hudson, of Glenloch, and they be- came the parents of three children: Henry B., who is living near his father; Charles H., at home; and Sarah W., the wife of S. Ed. Bateman, an agri- culturist.
Mr. Wood exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Democratic party and keeps well informed on the issues of
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the day. He has held all the township offices and in 1879 was elected a freeholder for a three-years term. He belongs to the Grange and is a prom- inent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. No movement calculated to advance the educational, social, moral or material welfare of the com- munity seeks his aid in vain, and he is accounted one of the leading and valued citizens of the community.
ADRIAN PAUL LOCKE.
Adrian Paul Locke, of Swedesboro, New Jersey, was born on the farm now occupied by George M. Hall, in Woolwich township, Gloucester county, New Jersey, January 21, 1855, and is a son of Lawrence and Anna Marie (Paul) Locke.
He passed his boyhood days on the farm, attending the public schools in winter and in summer assisting in the farm work, and until his marriage remained a member of the home circle, associated with his father in the farming operations. After his marriage he settled on a farm near Hanson- ville Station, which he at first rented and afterward purchased, and where he resided until 1897, when he removed to Swedesboro. The following year, 1898, he sold his farm and since then has carried on agricultural oper- ations on one of Elijah Bowers' farms. He is a director of the Lakeside Land Company, of Swedesboro, and is stockholder in the Heat, Light and Power Company, of this place and in various ways has shown himself to be a public-spirited man, interested in the progressive moves made in his town.
Mr. Locke was married January 20, 1881, to Miss Anna H. Gaskell, a daughter of Samuel B. Gaskell, of Swedesboro; and they are the parents of two children: Constance Blanche and Estella Gaskill.
For a number of years Mr. Locke has been a member of the school board of Woolwich township, and as such has done much to promote the educa- tional interests of the community in which he has lived. In politics he is a Republican and his religious creed is indicated by the fact that he is a vestryman of Trinity Episcopal church.
HARRY C. SUTTON.
Harry C. Sutton was born in Red Lyon, Lancaster county, Delaware, August 22, 1849, and was the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Daws (Massey) Sutton. The name is of English origin. The paternal grandfather of our subject, Joseph Sutton, passed his early life in Philadelphia, whence he came
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to Cape May county, here devoting his energies to farming. His political views were in harmony with the principles of the Whig party. In religious belief he was a Methodist, taking an active part in the work of the church and holding many offices therein. His children were Samuel, a wealthy man, who married and reared a family in the west; Henrietta, the wife of William Chislon, a teacher who died in Frankfort, Philadelphia; Eliza, the wife of Reuben Tomlin, a sea captain; Sabilla, the wife of Thomas Hoffman, a farmer at West Creek, Cape May county; Charles, who resided in Cape May city; and Joseph. The father of these children died at the age of eighty- two years and the mother when eighty years of age.
Joseph Sutton was a native of Philadelphia and died in August, 1896, at the age of eighty-two years. In addition to farming he engaged in the operation of the stage line, making his home at Tuckahoe. Of the Metho- dist Episcopal church he was a consistent member. He married Miss Eliza- beth D. Massey and they became the parents of several children; Emma T., the wife of Thomas R. Brooks; S. W. Golt, the wife of Mathew Golt; Mary; Joseph, who married Sophia Gandy, by whom he has six children: Bessie; Della: Susie; Katie; Emeline; Daws, who is the overseer of a gravel business; and Kate H., the wife of Clark P. Smith, a paper-hanger of Atlantic City, by whom she has two children,-Clarence and Leroy. The sisters in this family are excellent business women. Two of them, Mrs. Brooks and Mrs. Golt, are now successfully conducting popular hotels of Cape May, the former the Carrollville House, and the latter the Ebbitt House, while Mrs. Kate H. Smith is the proprietor of a dry-goods store in Atlantic City.
Harry C. Sutton, whose name heads this review, attended the public schools of his native town and further continued his studies in Smyrna, Delaware. Later he worked on a farm and afterward entered the employ of the Adams Express Company, of Philadelphia. On severing his connection with that corporation he entered the employ of the West Jersey Railway Company, serving as a brakeman, baggage-master and conductor for eighteen years. He afterward engaged in the operation of the hack line and was thus engaged at the time of his death, which occurred December 14, 1899. He became the owner of considerable property, which he acquired entirely through his own efforts.
Mr. Sutton was united in marriage to Miss Nettie Powell, a daughter of Colonel C. R. Powell, and they had three children,-Cornia B., Edward M. and Bertha D. The son is engaged in house and sign painting, as the head of the Ocean City House & Sign Painting Company, and is doing a large and profitable business. He entered upon his industrial career before attaining his majority and has become the leader in his line in his com-
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munity. In his political views, Mr. Sutton was a stalwart Republican from the time he cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, and for two years he served as a member of the council of Ocean City. In his re- ligious connections he was a Methodist. Indolence and idleness were utterly foreign to his character, and the industry which has ever been the salient feature of his business career brought to him a well merited success.
CHARLES WILSON.
Charles Wilson, who is a leading farmer of Woolwich township, Glou- cester county, was born January 15, 1854, in a log cabin, the only habitation at that time on the present site of Vineland, Cumberland county, New Jersey. He is a son of Thomas and Ellen J. (Lawrence) Wilson, natives of Ireland. The father, who was a farmer and a lumberman, carried on the latter business on a large scale, and his death occurred March 25, 1896. The mother is still living, in Franklinville, New Jersey. Their family con- sisted of eleven children, of whom the following record is given : Robert J. is a lumberman, residing in Franklinville, New Jersey; Mary married the Reverend George S. Campbell; Mattie L. is the wife of the Rev. Wilson Arsdale and resides in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; Charles; Ellen J. married Franklin B. Haines, of Medford, New Jersey; Rachel A. is deceased; Thomas K. died at the age of six years; Margaret C. died when two years old; Vic- toria C. married Henry B. Shields, a draughtsman in Cramp's shipyard, Philadelphia; Thomas C. is a farmer in Franklinville, New Jersey; and James M. is a member of the Brooklyn Bridge Squad of New York police.
Charles Wilson passed his boyhood on the farm, attending school during the winter months, and in summer performing the numerous duties which fall to the lot of a country lad. In 1874, when only twenty years of age, he began farming on his own account on the place which he now owns, and which he purchased in 1896. It contains one hundred and seventy-six acres, sixteen acres of which are in good timber, and is located near Russell's mills. Mr. Wilson employs the most improved methods of agriculture, and his farm, outbuildings, etc., show evidence of untiring industry and skillful management.
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