USA > New Jersey > Cyclopedia of New Jersey Biography > Part 22
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Edward William Francis was born in New York City, March 5, 1842, and died at his home at No. 98 Walnut street, East Orange, New Jersey, February 26, 1906. He received a fine preparatory education at a boarding school in Yonkers, New York, but was obliged to spend one year in the public schools of New York City, in order to become eligible for entrance to the City College. He soon became associated with the Enoch Morgan's Sons Sapolio Com- pany, and during the long period of forty years filled the arduous post of treasurer of the company. A description of this com- pany and its importance is unnecessary in this work. He always gave his political support to the Democratic party, and for many years was a member of the Town- ship Improvement Society of East Orange. He was an active participant in the strug- gle of the Civil War, serving during two enlistments. One was with the Ninth Reg- iment, New York National Guard, and the other was with the Seventy-first Regiment, New York National Guard. His interest in this latter regiment never abated throughout his life, and during the Spanish War he was instrumental in having his son fight in the same regiment, and in this con- nection, the latter took part in the battle of Santiago, Cuba.
The fraternal affiliation of Mr. Francis was with the order of Free and Accepted Masons, in which he attained the thirty- second degree. He had been a member of a New York lodge, of which he became grand master, but at the time of his death his membership was with Hope Lodge, of East Orange, New Jersey, which offici- ated at his funeral. He was a life member of the New Jersey Historical Society, and one of the founders and a lifetime member of Christ Church of East Orange. He had no connection with any social order.
Mr. Francis married, in Grace Church, Port Huron, Michigan, October 5, 1871, Jane Akin, a daughter of Frederick Hoff- man and Caroline (Williams) Vander-
burgh, and a great-granddaughter of Colo- nel James Vanderburgh, of Revolutionary fame. Children: Caroline Louise, who married Lincoln A. Wagenhals, of New York City; Arnold William, married Mar- garet Andrews; Alberta Jane, married Covert L. Goodlove.
Mr. Francis was of a quiet and reserved nature, making but few friends, but to those few he was staunch and true in the extreme. He was a man of cultured tastes, extremely fond of literature, and one of his chief pleasures was the collection of old and rare editions, of which he had many examples in his fine collection of more than three thousand volumes. He took a deep interest in the careers of ambitious young men who were dependent upon their own efforts for rise in life, and it was one of his pleasures to start others on the road to success which he had so brilliantly traveled. Many a young man now in the full tide of success owes his first upward step to the guidance and substantial assistance given him by Mr. Francis.
BANISTER, James Albert,
Prominent Manufacturer, Useful Citizen.
The late James Albert Banister, of New- ark, New Jersey, was one of that represen- tative class of American citizens of whom this country may well feel proud. While devoting himself with intense interest to furthering the business enterprises with which he was connected, he never lost sight of the fact that in doing so he could also further the interests, to an appreciable extent, of the community in which he lived as well as those of the country at large. For the facts in the following sketch of his life we are indebted to his widow, and in part we are using her own words. The ancestors of Mr. Banister were Scotch- English, and were pioneers in the settle- ment of Connecticut and Massachusetts. They migrated to the wilds of New York and Pennsylvania, and bravely endured
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the numerous hardships with which the early settlers were obliged to contend. They literally hewed their homes out of the virgin forests and established con- fortable homesteads. They lived with "an axe in one hand and a rifle in the other," while they vigilantly protected their fam- ilies from stealthy attacks by the Indians. Valuable service as scouts in the early wars, an escape from the Wyoming Mas- sacre, a life laid down in command in the battle of the Minnisink, are prized records in the family annals.
Elijah Bannister,* grandfather of the subject of this sketch, during the intervals in hunting and farming, took up the mak- ing of boots and shoes, and his second son, Isaac, at an early age left his home in order to develop this industry in the vil- lage of Mount Hope, Orange county, New York, and later in Middletown, New York.
Isaac Banister was gifted with a fine physique and with mental endowments of an unusually high order. Without the education of higher schools, but with a speculative and inventive bent of mind, he was a well read man, and a leader in public debate so popular at that period. Before the age of ten years his son, James Albert, was required to read aloud to the workmen the best literature procurable, on widely diversified subjects. This train- ing, in addition to the academic education afforded at Middletown, stimulated the boy to hope for a college and professional course, but it was willed otherwise. His father, who had prospered hitherto, en- dorsed notes for a supposed friend who proved unfaithful and untrustworthy, and the savings of years of labor were lost to preserve untarnished the family name. At this juncture the entire family, consisting of the parents and five children came to Newark, New Jersey, in 1841, where
James Albert was placed in the best school the city had to offer. This, however, he found was not in advance of the knowl- edge he had already acquired, and he determined to turn his attention to busi- ness.
James Albert Banister, son of Isaac and Cynthia (Baird) Banister, was born in the village of Middletown, Orange county, New York, in 1831, and died in Newark, New Jersey, February 4, 1906. At the time he removed to Newark with his par- ents, a boy, as now, who was really willing to work, could find it at hand, and prob- ably from that time forward until he was past middle life, Mr. Banister never knew what it was to have an idle day. His first venture was in a dry goods store on Mar- ket street near Broad. The hours were long, especially so on Saturday. There was no curfew in Newark, but the night watch had a paternal interest in boys who were abroad late, and at first he used to accost the lad and inquire what business led him to walk past the old First Church toward the White School House as the clock struck one of a Sunday morning.
With the hope of at some time entering the medical profession, Mr. Banister soon found a position where he could at least acquire a knowledge of drugs, in the store of Roswell Van Buskirk, on the north- west corner of Broad and Market streets, remaining there until Mr. Banister opened a drug store in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1851. After his marriage in 1852, Mr. Banister found that his earnings as a druggist were not sufficient to support a family, and accordingly he returned to Newark, there to become an assistant to his father.
In 1845, his father had established a boot and shoe manufactory which had prospered steadily. Pleased with his son's adaptability and helpful ideas, he admitted him to a partnership which was continued uninterruptedly until the father's retire- ment in 1861. Coincident with the taking
*Bannister was the name form used by Elijah; his son Isaac, used that of Banister, which has been followed by his descendants.
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of a large army contract by James Al- bert Banister, was the admission of Lyman S. Tichenor into a partnership which con- tinued until the death of Mr. Tichenor in 1881. Mr. Banister then continued the business alone until 1892, when he formed a stock company of which he became pres- ident ; John W. Denny, treasurer; and George E. McLellan, secretary. This cor- poration continued until the death of Mr. Banister. Since that time, the business has been continued as the James A. Banis- ter Company.
Thus we have the brief record of the business life of Mr. Banister, and into it was crowded great energy and inventive genius, with a constant aspiration to be in the foremost rank and a determination to be strictly conscientious in his relations to the trade and to his employees. "No man did more to win world-wide recognition of the American shoe product, no man lived a life of greater activity in the trade, and won more laurels with a fuller measure of esteem and respect." Above such recogni- tion, he valued the trust and affection of his employees, into whose personal affairs he entered as a friendly helper. Simple tastes and unbending integrity character- ized his career, and his life was both an incentive and an example.
Absorbing as was his business, it form- ed but a small portion of his interest in life. From early manhood, he was devot- ed to the progress of the church, giving his best to the promotion of a higher life in religion and in civics. Generous and sympathetic, liis aid was rendered in a quiet manner to many a widow and orpan, and "such as had no helper." The Young Men's Christian Association in- terested him for many years, he was chosen president in 1895, and was the in- cumbent of this office until his death. He was a director of the Home of the Friend- less and of the Christian Refuge. He was a member of the Newark Board of Trade, president of the Fairmount Cemetery As-
sociation, and a director of the National' Newark Banking Company, the Howard Savings Institution, and the American In- surance Company.
This sketch would be incomplete did it not contain a mention of the home, the very center of his devotion. Mr. Banister married, in 1852, Lydia Slater Birdsall, who died in 1875. He married (second) in1 1876, Adelaide Corwin, who survives him. By the first marriage there were ten children, of whom there are now (1915) living : Isaac ; James Bryan, who succeed- ed his father in business; Albert Lincoln, and Arthur Chadwick. The late William Jackson Banister was the eldest son. By the second marriage there were four chil- dren : Ethel Adelaide, who married Dr. William Talbot, of Newark; Dr. Robert Louis Banister ; Mary Williams, who mar- ried Dr. Harry W. Redfield, of Cornell University ; Howell Corwin, who died in infancy. To his family Mr. Banister left the best legacy-the memory of a devoted Christian life.
WEST, Charles W.,
Financier, Manufacturer.
Charles W. West, a prominent citizen of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was descended from an old English family, the members. of which have for many generations held prominent positions in their respective communities.
Colonel Charles A. West, grandfather of Charles W. West, distinguished himself in the Peninsular War. He was one of the founders of that institution in Great Britain, known as the Blue Coat School.
Captain Henry A. West, father of Charles W. West, was a member of the Twelfth Infantry, in the English army. He married a daughter of Sir James Pitcairn, whose cousin, the Duchess of Roxborough, was lady in waiting to Queen Victoria, and the sixth bridesmaid at the latter's wed- ding. He was a cousin of Lord Sackville
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West, at one time English Ambassador to the United States, and was descended from the Earl De La Warre, known in history as Lord Delaware, an early settler of Vir- ginia, and founder of the State named after him.
Charles W. West, the subject of this re- view, was born April 8, 1834, on board of a man-of-war in the Bay of Trafalgar, at a time when Captain West, accompanied by his wife, was in command of a detach- ment of troops on their way from Gibraltar to England. He died in his home in Eliza- beth, New Jersey, September 17, 1885. He acquired a comprehensive education in the Blue Coat School founded by his grand- father, and, when he had attained man- hood, came to America. For a time he lived in Brooklyn. About the year 1869 he removed to Elizabeth, New Jersey, where he resided during the remainder of his life. For many years he was a broker, with offices at No. 48 Broadway, New York City, and was also a member of the firm of Leinbach, Wolle & Company, at Trenton, New Jersey, which firm originated the self- opening paper bag, the forerunner for the Union Bag.
Mr. West married, May 24, 1869, Louisa A. Arnold, born in Harrow, England, March 30, 1844, died in Elizabeth, New Jersey, -October 21, 1914. The marriage took place in Trinity Church, New York City. Their children were: Louise Harriet, William Ernest, Charles Pitcairn, Con- stance Maude, Henry Dalbiac, Amy Eliz- abeth, Arthur Pelham, Alfred Llewellyn, and Reginald Arnold.
Mr. West, although very popular in so- cial life, was of a quiet and unassuming disposition. He never discussed his family connections, and preferred to be known as a plain American citizen. Those who knew him personally held him in warm regard. He thoroughly enjoyed home life, and was devoted to his family and friends. He gave generously to charity, and was always ready to assist anyone in trouble. He was
a devout churchman, and his high moral character is deserving of the greatest com- mendation.
PETERSON, Benjamin,
Citizen of Sterling Character.
The history of a State, as well as that of a Nation, consists chiefly of the chronicles of the lives and deeds of those who have conferred honor and dignity upon society, whether in the broad sphere of public la- bors or in the more circumscribed, yet none the less worthy and valuable, of individual activity through which the general good is ever promoted. The names borne by the late Benjamin Peterson and his son, Bertel Peterson, have ever stood for the most sterling personal characteristics, the deep- est appreciation of the rights and privileges of citizenship in our great Republic.
Benjamin Peterson was born in Copen- hagen, Denmark, March 1, 1843, and died at his home in Paterson, New Jersey, Jan- uary 30, 1910. His education was acquired in the schools of his native city, and there he was apprenticed to learn the cabinet maker trade which he followed in Den- mark until he was twenty-four years of age. He then emigrated to America, deem- ing that better opportunities awaited him here, and for a time made his home in the city of New York, and, in 1869, removed to Paterson, New Jersey, where he con- tinued to work at his trade. For many years he had charge of the carpentering de- partment in the Benjamin Eastwood plant. He was a devout member of the Fourth Baptist Church, and found his chief recre- ation in affairs connected with this institu- tion. He was a deacon and trustee in the church, superintendent of the Sunday school, and at times a teacher of the Bible class. One of his chief pleasures was en- tertaining the various church members at his own home, which was noted for its openhanded hospitality. He was also a member of the sick visiting committee, and
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paid the strictest attention to the duties connected with this post. In political mat- ters he was a Republican, and he was a member of the Order of Free and Accept- ed Masons, and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Peterson married, in 1869, Mary Baxter, who survives him, and is living at No. 548 East Twenty- fourth street, Paterson. Children : Bertel and Mary.
PETERSON, Bertel,
Prominent in Mining Enterprises.
Bertel Peterson, son of Benjamin and Mary (Baxter) Peterson, was born in Pat- erson, New Jersey, December 3, 1870, and died at Los Angeles, California, February 10, 1909. He was nine years of age when his parents removed to the house in which his mother is still residing. His education was acquired in his native city, and was a sound and practical one.
Shortly after his graduation he com- menced making an especial study of min- ing interests, and then went to Mexico, and was identified with mining enterprises from that time until obliged by ill health to take a much needed rest. This, how- ever was taken too late, and he suffered from overwork, which resulted in the at- tack of typhoid fever which brought on death. He was buried in Ivy Hill Ceme- tery, Philadelphia, and his father was laid at rest beside him in less than a year. The first four years that Mr. Peterson passed in the west were spent in the employ of the Carman Company, of Philadelphia, which had mines at Vilodona. For a short time he was connected with the Guggen- heim mining interests, and then became su- perintendent of the La Forma mine. He went to Sonora in 1894 to become man- ager for the Grand Central Mining Com- pany at that place, retained this position five years, then associated himself with three other experts, and formed the Ajuchitlau Mining and Milling Company,
at Auerato, near Monterey. He was als the manager of the El Rayo Mining Con pany at Chihuahua, Mexico, and whil there was seized with his final illness. M Peterson was a member of the Parral Foi eign Club, and at the time of his deat the club house was draped in black as mark of respect to his memory. He wa also a member of Hiram Lodge, No. : Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; Lodge of Sorrow meeting was held i memory of the departed brother. He wa a thirty-second degree Mason, was member of Texas Consistory, No. 3, Roya and Select Masters; and of El Maid; Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Noble of the Mystic Shrine. Mr. Peterson had joined the Fourth Baptist Church of Pat erson, when quite a youth, and he always kept in touch with his Paterson friends one of the most favored of whom was Dr J. A. Reinhart, the principal of the loca high school. In 1904 Mr. Peterson mar- ried Nellie Neilson, of Philadelphia, who survived her husband, and is now living ir. Philadelphia with their only child: Bertel" Neilson, who was born April 25, 1908.
KIDD, Harry J.,
Prominent Manufacturer and Citizen.
It is not always the men who occupy public office who mold public opinion and leave their impress upon public life, but frequently the men who in the performance of their daily duty wield the power that is all the more potent from the fact that it is moral rather than political, and is exer- cised for the public weal rather than for personal ends. Of the late Harry J. Kidd, of East Orange, New Jersey, it may be said that he was one of the prominent busi- ness men in his line in the country, and was a student of business in all of its com- plex and varied interests in relation to the trade of the world. He belonged to that public-spirited, useful and helpful type of man whose ambitions and desires are cen-
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tered and directed in those channels through which flows the greatest and most perman- ent good to the greatest number. He was in its highest and broadest sense a patriotic American citizen, with the truest concep- tion of the American idea of the common brotherhood of man. His family was num- bered among the early settlers in this coun- try. Among those families who originally received grants from Lord Baltimore were the Kidds, and this grant of land has come down through the generations to the father of Harry J. Kidd, William Kidd, who was . a typical, old-school, southern gentleman, dignified and aristocratic. He married Jane Skippon, of English parentage, a gifted woman, of ability and high ambitions, qual- ities which she transmitted to her four sons and two daughters in rich measure, as their subsequent careers amply testify. Of all the families who originally received grants from Lord Baltimore, there are now left only the Kidd and the Cross families, these estates facing each other across the valley, and they have now been united by inter- marriage between the families.
Harry J. Kidd was born at Parkton, Bal- timore county, Maryland, about thirty miles from the city of Baltimore, June 13, 1864, and died at his home, No. 26 Prospect street, East Orange, New Jersey, Novem- ber 4, 1914, his death being caused by in- juries received the preceding day in an au- tomobile accident.
Until the age of fourteen years, Mr. Kidd's life was spent on the home planta- tion, and he was then sent to Washington, District of Columbia, where he resided at the home of an aunt and attended school, making the best use of his opportunities. The indolent life which he would be oblig- ed to lead on the plantation was not in ac- cordance with the ambitious, energetic na- ture he had inherited from his mother, and he was but eighteen years of age when he decided to make his own way in the world, along busier lines than he would be able to find at home. With an energy deserving
of all praise, Mr. Kidd obtained for him- self a position as clerk in a leading retail shoe store in Washington, and there learn- ed all the details of the business in the most practical manner, and became an ex- pert and valued salesman. In 1892 he form- ed a connection with the firm of Johnston & Murphy, shoe manufacturers, of Newark, New Jersey, and became their representa- tive in the Southern States, having full charge of their business relations there. He largely increased the business of this house, and made many personal as well as busi- ness friends, during his years of activity there. In 1902, in association with Luther B. Snyder, he organized the firm of Snyder & Kidd, retailing high grade shoes at No. 12II F street, North West, Washington, District of Columbia. Five years later he was admitted to a partnership in the firm of Johnston & Murphy, of Newark, New Jersey, the other members at that time being Herbert P. Gleason, William J. O'Rourke and George D. Gleason. In 19II, Mr. O'Rourke withdrew from this firm, the Messrs. Gleason and Mr. Kidd continuing the business. Mr. Kidd retain- ed his interest in the retail business in Washington, but gave his personal atten- tion to the affairs of the Newark business. Until 1907 he had made his home in Wash- ington, but at that time he took up his res- idence in East Orange, New Jersey, so that he might be near the business which claim- ed the greater share of his attention. He was one of the most popular men in the shoe trade in the country, and owed his rise in this line of business solely to his own efforts. He was a man of fine per- sonal appearance, being nearly six feet in height, and well proportioned. He was of a genial and pleasant disposition, made friends readily, and had the happy faculty of retaining them. He had the respect of all who knew him for his many sterling qualities. He was broadminded and liberal in his ideas, and years of travel had brought him into close touch with human nature in
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all its phases. He wielded a wonderful in- fluence for good over all with whom he had dealings, and was a gladly welcomed figure in social circles. He found his greatest pleasure, however, in the more confined home circle, was a devoted husband and a loving and indulgent father. He kept well abreast of the times in every respect, giving due thought and study to the public questions of the day, and formed clear and logical deductions. He was generous in his support of all projects which had for their object some worthy cause. For many years he had been an attendant at the Calvary Methodist Church, but during the last years of his life had given much thought and study to Christian Science, in which he had become a firm believer.
Mr. and Mrs. Kidd were returning in their electric limousine from a trip through the South Mountain Reservation, when on Mount Pleasant avenue the brake refused to grip, the car was wrecked, and both Mr. and Mrs. Kidd were sent to the Memorial Hospital in Orange, where the death of Mr. Kidd occurred. Mr. Kidd married, in Washington, District of Columbia, in Feb- ruary II, 1891, Lillian M. Walker, born in Washington, a daughter of John C. and Margaret J. (Jones) Walker, an old fam- ily of Fairfax, Virginia. They have one daughter, Dorothy, who was born in 1901.
"Modern Shoemaking," at the time of the death of Mr. Kidd, paid him a fine trib- ute, saying in part as follows :
"A man of positive character, and honest in the best and largest sense, Mr. Kidd's loss is personal, and profound, in the large circle of friends that made up his business and social as- sociates. His life was such that we may say with Chadwick: 'Thanks be to God that such have been though they are here no more.' Those who knew Mr. Kidd best valued him most, and his character will always remain in their memory as a standard of integrity, of high living and high thinking, and an example of constant and unob- trusive devotion to that which was best worth while in this life."
"The Shoe Retailer" printed the follow-
ing letter, received by its editor from George L. Starks, who was in Shreveport, Louisiana, at the time, and who was for twenty years a personal friend of Mr. Kidd :
"Since last we met the grim old reaper, Death, has gathered another one of our mutual friends to the bosom of his fathers. One whom to know was to love. And, as a prominent shoe retailer of Nashville, Tennessee, once told me, to count among your friends was an honor, Mr. Harry J. Kidd, of the firm of Johnston & Murphy, New- ark, New Jersey, who a few days ago met such a sad death in an auto accident near his home at East Orange, New Jersey. Harry had travelled for years in the South for Johnston & Murphy, and was loved and respected by all who knew him. His loss is a great blow to me. We had been friends for more than twenty years, and in all that time he was the same cultured, genial gen- tleman, always with a pleasant smile, and a kind word for all. Never once in my long acquaint- ance with him did I ever hear him utter an un- kind word as criticism of his fellow men. It takes no eloquence or words from me to call your attention to his virtues, for to know Harry J. Kidd was to read an open book of true man- hood. He gave to the world, in sunshine and storni, all he had, save honor and manliness, and in return received the confidence, friendship and respect of all who knew him. His memory will live in the hearts of his friends until they, too, are called to answer to that to which he and so many others of my dear friends and comrades have responded. The world is better off be- cause Harry J. Kidd lived, and mankind was blessed with his gentle, loving manner and pure type of manhood. He reflected in mankind the great Master's teaching : 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.'"
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