USA > New Jersey > Cyclopedia of New Jersey Biography > Part 16
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same keenness of intellect that character- ized his administration of The Prudential Insurance Company.
Mr. Dryden's term as United States Seit- ator expired on March 4, 1907, and his health not being good he withdrew from the contest for reelection, leaving the field clear to his successor. Upon recuperating his energies, however, he again became ac- tive in business life and in public affairs ; and during the panic year of 1907 assisted materially in warding off a financial crisis, doing much in the two following years to extend The Prudential's field of operations. Additional structures were planned and completed, so that the four large office buildings in Newark now owned and occu- pied by the company, are considered one of the finest groups of office buildings in the world, and a model in point of archi- tectural beauty and utility for business pur- poses, the home office employees of the company working under the very best pos- sible office conditions.
Senator Dryden was one of the com- mittee that erected the Mckinley Memor- ial at Canton, Ohio; and was appointed chairman of the committee which had in charge the raising of the Cleveland monu- ment at Princeton, having started the movement and organized the Cleveland Monument Association. He personally conducted the movement to successful ac- complishment, the fund of one hundred and twenty-six thousand dollars, which was raised through popular subscription, actually exceeding the amount originally suggested for the project.
Mr. Dryden was a member of the Pres- byterian church, and was a contributor to religious movements and charitable enter- prises along many lines. Believing always in a great future for the city of Newark. he cooperated in all movements to make the city more widely known among the great commercial and industrial centres. and was a director in many of the larger fi- nancial institutions of the city, State and
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country. He was an officer in or director of the following corporations : The Prudential Insurance Company of America, president and director; Fidelity Trust Company, Newark, vice-president and director ; Union National Bank, Newark, director ; United States Steel Corporation, director ; United States Casualty Company, New York, director; National Bank of Com- merce, New York, director; Equitable Trust Company, New York, director ; Pub- lic Service Corporation of New Jersey, di- rector.
Of the Fidelity Trust Company of New- ark, he was one of the originators ; and he was also one of the prime movers in the consolidation that resulted in the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey. It was in 1903 that he was made a director of the United States Steel Corporation in which he was active until his death.
It was not only in his daily life but in his speeches and writings that Mr. Dryden was enabled to exert so important an in- fluence upon his fellow country men. In 1895 he demonstrated in a speech before the insurance committee of the Massachu- setts Legislature the fallacies of a propos- ed bill to prohibit the insurance of children, and succeeded in defeating the measure. His writings upon insurance questions are among the classics of the business ; and his able volume, "Addresses and Papers on Life Insurance and Other Subjects," is widely recognized as a reference book on all matters of this nature, especially upon the subject of industrial insurance. Treat- ing on the benefits of industrial insurance, Mr. Dryden described it as one of the most effective means of family protection ever devised. He told also of the new life in- surance plan successfully undertaken by his company of guaranteeing the payment of monthly income checks through the en- tire lifetime of a widow or other dependent rather than paying the full sum of the pol- icy at the death of the insured. He be- lieved this method to be more directly in
line with the American ideal of the highest degree of economic independence in old age. This was a growing part of The Pru- dential's business at the time of his death
A widely quoted article upon the subject: of longevity, written by him in September 1901, states his conclusions, based upon the experience of The Prudential, that the American people are advancing toward physical supremacy and distinctly longer lives. He also called attention to the op- portunities of life insurance as a career and discussed with keen insight the questions of taxation of life insurance and its regu- lation by Congress, presenting strong argu- ments for a reduction in the tax by the var- ious States, and the placing of the business under National supervision, in order to bring about uniform laws for its conduct. Mr. Dryden stated that his own course ir public and business life was largely influ- enced by the fundamental principles of party responsibility and the high ideals ir political, business and social life of Abra- ham Lincoln and Alexander Hamilton.
His letters to his agents won for him a reputation as a clear and logical writer, and showed him to be a man of strong and orig. inal thought. He was thoroughly poster and well-informed on an unusual number of important subjects, indicating a wide mental scope and great judicial force. He was a great student of literature and the arts. Large and valuable libraries were accumulated by him at his Newark resi- dence and in his summer home at Ber- nardsville, New Jersey. He was an ac knowledged connoisseur in paintings, and his art collection in Newark, which includ ed a number of modern master-pieces, was one of the most ably and intelligently select ed collections in the State. Mr. Drydei was also deeply interested in the develop ment of forestry, and began the establish ment of a game preserve on his property having purchased in the year 1911 the old Rutherford estate, seven thousand acres il extent, in Sussex county, New Jersey.
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As an evidence of Mr. Dryden's belief in a great future prosperity for New Jersey, he made this interesting prediction in an address before the New Jersey State Bank- ers Association at Atlantic City in 1906: "Drawing much of her energy and capi- tal from the great city of New York on the one hand, and from the great city of Philadelphia on the other, she (New Jer- sey) yet preserves an independent attitude and pursues an independent policy. Be- tween these two cities, New Jersey, with an area of some seven thousand square miles, occupies what, without question, will in course of time become the most valuable real estate in America."
Mr. Dryden was a member of the Union League Club, New York; New York Yacht Club; Railroad Club; Autombile Club of America; Metropolitan Club of Washing- ton; Essex Club; Essex County Country Club, and the Automobile and Motor Club of New Jersey.
His home life was ideal. Married, in 1864, at New Haven, Connecticut, to Miss Cynthia J. Fairchild, he had two children : Forrest F. Dryden, who succeeded his fathi- er as president of The Prudential; and Susie Dryden, who married Colonel An- thony R. Kuser, of Trenton.
Mr. Dryden's death occurred after a short illness, at his residence in Newark, Novem- ber 24, 1911, he being then in his seventy- third year. It was said of him, at his death, that a pillar of the State had fallen, and from the world of insurance a towering fig- ure was removed which for more than a generation had commanded the respect and admiration of his contemporaries.
McGILL, Alexander Taggart,
Distinguished Jurist.
Of the public life of this learned and con- scientious judge, Vice Chancellor Reed said: "Of his learning, the reports of the decisions of the courts over which he pre- sided bear ample evidence; of his industry,
the multitudinous affairs which underwent the scrutiny of his vigilant eyes, his lonely midnight labor, his broken health and immo- lated life all attest ; of his exquisite amenity, everyone-judge, lawyer or citizen-who approached him professionally or personal- ly, can bear witness. Above all, he had those undefinable attributes of personality which go to make up character."
Alexander Taggart McGill was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, October 20, 1843, son of Alexander Taggart and Ellen A. (McCulloch) McGill. After graduating from Princeton College in 1864, he studied law at Columbia University, from which he graduated in 1866. Continuing his legal studies in the office of Hon. Edward W. Scudder, of Trenton, New Jersey, he was admitted to the bar as attorney in 1867, and as counsellor in 1870. After remaining in Trenton a few months, associated with his preceptor, he removed to Jersey City, and made it his permanent home. During 1870- 76 he practiced in partnership with Attor- ney-General Robert Gilchrist. In 1874 and again in 1875 he was elected as a Demo- cratic member of the Assembly. He was appointed Prosecutor of Pleas for Hudson county in April, 1878, and in April, 1883, was made Law Judge in the same territory. In March, 1887, he was appointed Chancel- lor of the State of New Jersey, by Governor Green, and upon the expiration of his term in 1894 was reappointed by Governor Werts. During his term as Chancellor, the famous coal combine bill brought him into much prominence. The measure was pass- ed by the legislature, but did not receive the signature of Governor Abbett. Neverthe- less, the railroad companies in the combi- nation proceeded to act as though protected by existing laws; and the Attorney-Gener- al brought suit against the combination iu the Court of Chancery. Chancellor McGill rendered a decision laying down the rela- tion of corporations to the State, and deal- ing a powerful blow to all the monopoly combinations of the coal-trust class. The
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clearness and fairness of the decision rend- ered placed his ruling beyond attack. In September, 1895, he was nominated by the Democratic party as its candidate for Gov- ernor. Chancellor McGill in the campaign that ensued refused to take part, remain- ing on the bench and attending strictly to his official duties. He was defeated in the Republican landslide that followed.
As a citizen and lawyer, Chancellor McGill was universally respected and es- teemed, and as a judge he was one of the most popular that ever presided over the courts of Chancery or of Errors and Ap- peals. The degree of LL.D. was conferred on him by both Princeton and Rutgers Col- leges.
He married, at Princeton, New Jersey, June 10, 1875, Caroline S., daughter of George T. Olmsted. He died in Jersey City, New Jersey, April 21, 1900.
POPE, Samuel,
Man of Enterprise, Public Official.
A man of unusual size, six and a half feet in height and of proportionate build, Samuel Pope, one of the early stage drivers between Paterson, Newark, and Jersey City. was a man to attract attention anywhere. His character matched his body and for force, energy, bluntness, straightforward- ness and honesty he was remarkable. His iron will and tremendous body made him a most desirable addition to the early pio- neer community and in establishing new en- terprises he aided with all his powers. He was of the fourth generation of his family in New Jersey, the founder coming from Scotland and locating on a large tract of land at Elizabethtown.
Samuel was the proud son of Jeremiah Pope of the second American generation, who resided in Hackensack, New Jersey, during the Revolutionary War, in which he served with the patriot army. He was wounded in conflict with the British, seven buckshot and a bullet entering his body. He
was nursed back to life by Polly, a daugh- ter of Dr. Van Emburgh, of Hackensack, fell in love with her and later she became his wife. After the war he settled in West- ern New York, where he engaged in farm- ing. When war again was pending between the United States and Great Britain he served with the famous "Silver Grays," fighting at Lundy's Lane under General Scott.
Samuel, son of Jeremiah and Polly (Van Emburgh) Pope, was born in Hackensack, New Jersey. He went west with his par- ents, and also fought at Lundy's Lane, near his father, who thought him safe at home on the farm. Both escaped injury in battle, but later both fell victims of camp fever, the government paying the widow a gener- ous pension. Samuel Pope married Eliza- beth Edwards, born in New England, who bore him two sons, John and Samuel.
Samuel, son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Edwards) Pope, was born on the Western New York farm, between Cayuga and Sen- eca Lakes, October 9, 1811, died in Pater- son, New Jersey. Soon after the sudden death of his father and grandfather, his grandmother brought Samuel to Paterson, he then being two years old and soon be- coming motherless. He attended school un- til he was ten years of age, then beginning work in Colt's flax and cottonmill. Soon afterward he was employed in a similar mill owned by John Travers, and there ac- cidently had his left hand badly mutilated, and while convalescing from this injury he attended school for two terms. His next employer was William Jacobs, who was to teach him wood turning. Not receiving his wages, he sued Jacobs, employing Judge Ogden as counsel, paying him by personal labor. He thus early developed that dis- position to stand up for his right, that spir- it being a characteristic of his entire life.
For the next eight years he "drove stage" between Paterson and New York, worked on the construction of the turnpike between those cities, helped build the Morris road,
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and with his horses and carts aided in con- structing the Paterson & Hudson River railroad. After the road was completed he drove the teams that pulled the cars, and attended to the baggage for a time. He then entered the employ of John Robert and Edward Stevens, of Hoboken, and drove their opposition line of stages be- tween Paterson and Hoboken, not infre- quently beating the railroad time. Later he continued the opposition line on his own account, driving the best horses he could buy, shortening the regular time (2-1/2 hours) and reducing the fare to two shill- ings and sixpence each way.
About 1834 three locomotive engines were brought from England and placed on the railroad, Judge Ogden then being its president. Mr. Pope was called upon to assist in getting the first locomotive on the track ready for operation, and for eight months was its fireman. Then, a new pres- ident having been elected, Mr. Pope left the road and started the opposition line of four stages previously alluded to. About the year 1837 he gave up that business and pur- chased the wood standing on about three thousand acres of land. This he cut and sold to the New York & Erie railroad, which had leased the first built road. He continued in that business for many years ; in fact, that may be said to have been his principal business, although he built mills, opened and developed quarries. Erected many buildings of stone, brick and wood, in short was ready for any enterprise that was honest and promised profit. He built one of the Gin Mill group of factories, a part of the works at the city pumping sta- tion, the great wall around the Colt's Hill property, and many other structures in Pat- erson. He cut the wood from many thou- sands of acres, one of his purchases being five thousand acres bought from Cooper & Hewitt, in the northern part of Passaic county. He succeeded in a financial sense, amassing a large fortune and owning valu- able properties in and around Paterson. He
was clearheaded and resourceful, kindly hearted and genial, one of the truest of friends and the bitterest of enemies, never resting under an injury until fully reveng- ed. But when revenged, he was the first to lend his former enemy a helping hand. He lived to an honorable old age and among Paterson's citizens no man was held in more genuine esteem.
He was an ardent Democrat all his life, his first vote having been cast for General Jackson when he was but seventeen, his great size not denoting his youth to the judges. He became a leading figure in local politics and held many offices. He was street superintendent under both vil- lage and city governments, was assessor and collector of taxes, member of the first city council, 1851-2, and as city treasurer signed the first municipal bonds issued by the city of Paterson. His salary as treasurer was $200 yearly ; he gave security bonds for $60,000, paid out $300 yearly for clerk hire, besides furnishing an office in which to transact city business, and lighted and heat- ed it at his own expense. In 1857 he was elected to represent the South and Fifth Wards of Paterson in the State Legislature and was re-elected for five terms, serving continuously from 1857 to 1863, except in 1862. He was influential in the Legisla- ture, supported the Stevens interest in the road from Newark to Hoboken, fought the old New Jersey road with all his strength, and was elected to succeed himself in spite of the opposition of that road which sent $3000 into the district to defeat him. Amid all this strife he maintained his reputation for honesty and fair dealing, his uncom- promising integrity never being questioned. He would accept no office after retiring from the Legislature, and for many years prior to his death was totally retired from business life. He gave liberally to all churches ; loaned the New York & Lake Erie railroad the money needed to construct depot and freight buildings in Paterson ; and aided in many ways to advance Pater-
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son interests. He was a character not often duplicated, and while a truly selfmade man, his life was one which the most favored might well be proud to have lived.
In 1836 he married Eliza Rose, of Hav- erstraw, who survived him without issue. In 1872, while sleeping, he and his wife were bound in their bed by eight masked burglars who entered his handsome Broad- way residence and robbed him of $13,000 in bonds and money.
NELSON, Samuel Cogswell,
Business Man, Public Official.
The judgment of the world is quickly passed upon a man who by any chance rises above the common level, whether that judgment be commendatory or the reverse. That a life has been successful from a pe- cuniary point of view does not satisfy the public mind, but it is demanded that a man to win public regard must not only be suc- cessful in his own line, but he must win the respect of his fellows through an honorable and upright life. Considered then from these angles, Samuel Cogswell Nelson, late of Jersey City, New Jersey, was a success- ful man, as he held the respect of his fel- lowmen and left behind him the record of a well spent life, one worthy of emulation. He was of the same family as Lord Nelson. the famous naval hero of England, and of Thomas Nelson Page, equally famous as a writer. Another ancestor was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The name of Nelson is of Scandinavian origin, and was derived from Nilsson, meaning son Nils or Neil. It is not only found in Scotland and Ireland, but in al- most every county in England, especially in those bordering the sea which, in ancient times, were exposed to frequent ravages by the piratical Norsemen, or Vikings. In this country the Nelsons of this family located at an early date on the banks of the Hudson at what is now known as Garrison's, but was then Nelson's Landing. They were
farmers generally, and a number of them took an active part in the War of the Rev- olution.
Cornelius Madivale Nelson, father of Samuel Cogswell Nelson, was born in America, about 1780. He was a farmer, and was also the local doctor and dentist, and the blacksmith of the section. He held the rank of major during the war of 1812, his military services being in the Bronx, and was buried at St. Philip's Church, at Garrison, New York. He married Char- ity Jacques.
Samuel Cogswell Nelson was born Feb ruary 10, 1819, and died October 3, 1883. His education was acquired in schools in the vicinity of his home, and at the age of fifteen years he came to New York City and there entered the chandlery business, with which he was identified until his retirement from business responsibilities. He learned this business thoroughly in every detail, rising from rank to rank, by reason of his faith- ful discharge of the duties entrusted to him, until he was admitted to partnership, the firm becoming Martin and Nelson. Subse- quently Mr. Nelson acquired the sole rights of this important concern, and conducted it until his retirement from business. He re- moved to Jersey City, New Jersey, April 5, 1865. He was a man of great executive ability, active in the interests of the Dem- ocratic party, and served as comptroller of Jersey City. He was a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Mr. Nelson married Eliza Jane Watson, of New York City, and they became the parents of eleven children. Mandeville Nelson, the eldest son, served as assistant paymaster on the United States steamer "Daylight," during the Civil War. He was very young when he volunteered for ser- vice, but was accepted, and soon became paymaster. He was sent on a commission to Washington, in a small boat. While there he went to meet a comrade who had just come from the South, thinly clad, and Mr.
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Nelson, fearing the cold for his friend, wore a second overcoat over his own, in order to give it to the new arrival. While on the way, the boat capsized and Mr. Nel- son, although handicapped by the weight of the two coats, succeeded in saving the lives of two sailors, but lost his own. For many years these sailors visited the office of Samuel Cogswell Nelson, to testify to their grateful remembrance of his heroic son.
MEEKER, John Harbeck,
Lawyer, Jurist, Financier.
John Harbeck Meeker, lawyer, statesman, financier, was distinctly one of the repre- sentative men of that section of New Jer- sey in which he resided. He promoted the public welfare through every conceivable channel, and proved himself fully alive to those higher duties which represent the most valuable citizenship in any locality and at any period. His personal career was such as to render him particularly eligible for representation within these pages.
Samuel Meeker, his father, was born at Springfield, New Jersey, November 13, 1786. He received his business training from his uncle, Samuel Meeker, who was for many years a prominent merchant and business man of Philadelphia. Samuel Meeker, the second, manufactured car- riages at Rahway, New Jersey, which for many years he sold to the Southern trade, having extensive buildings in Charleston, South Carolina, to which city he shipped the manufactured carriages, and exhibited and sold them. After his retirement from the business he had his residence on Broad street, Newark, where Dr. Ill now resides. From 1854 until his death he served as pres- ident of the State Bank of Newark. He also served for a number of years as pres- ident of the Newark Savings Institution, and was holding the office of vice-president of that institution at the time of his death. As president of the Newark Gas Company,
he also rendered excellent service. For many years he was a vestryman, warden and treasurer of Trinity Church, Newark. Upon the erection of Grace Church, New- ark, he joined it, and served as vestryman, and afterwards as warden, continuing as such until his death. Mr. Meeker married Martha Harbeck, of New York City, the ceremony being performed at old St. Mark's Church, in that city.
John Harbeck Meeker was born in Clark township, near Rahway, New Jersey, July 2, 1823, and died in South Orange, New Jersey, January 20, 1889. At the age of six years he commenced to attend the Rev. Mr. Hal- sey's Preparatory Boarding School, at Eliz- abeth, New Jersey, and was there prepared for entrance to the university. He matric- ulated at Yale College in 1838, and was graduated from that institution in the class of 1842. He then took up the study of law and was admitted to the bar of New Jersey in July, 1846. For many years he was a manager of the Dime Savings Insti- tution of Newark, and from May, 1881, until his death, he was the attorney and counsel of that institution. In the early years of his manhood he affiliated with the Whig party, but about the year 1851 he joined the Democratic party. He served as secretary of the State Senate of New Jersey in 1864-65; was a judge of the Es- sex County Courts from 1877 to 1882; special master of the Court of Chancery for many years prior to his death ; and was a Supreme Court Commissioner and also a Commissioner of the United States Cir- cuit Court. In early life he was an officer in the New Jersey State Militia. For many years he was a member of St. John's Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Newark, New Jersey. His early religious training was that of the Presbyterian de- nomination, but for many years prior to his death he attended the services of the Pro- testant Episcopal Church.
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