USA > New Jersey > Cyclopedia of New Jersey Biography > Part 44
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Mr. Lewis was a man of strong business and executive ability, and as the years
brought him experience, full recognition of his powers was accorded by men of high position in the local business world. He was one of the incorporators and continu- ously a director of the Burlington City Loan and Trust Company, director of the City of Burlington Building and Loan Asso- ciation, and president of the Burling- ton Savings Institution. He was elect- ed vice-president of the Mechanics Na- tional Bank in 1906, and later was chosen the executive head, holding that high posi- tion at the time of his death. He had other business connections of less importance, as there was no move inaugurated that tended to advance the material interests of Burling- ton but found in him a willing, liberal sup- porter. His standing as a banker was un- impeachable, for he combined the shrewd- ness of the investor with the sound judg- ment and conservative action of the finan- cier, in all his transactions building on the solid rock of probity and fair dealing. In public life Mr. Lewis won the high regard of men of all parties, and perhaps there never was a man of his prominence and length of service who had so few political enemies. And this was not because he was not strong in his political belief nor out- spoken in his advocacy of republican men and measures, but because he was eminent- ly fair, harbored no resentments or preju- dices, and gave to every man the rights he strenuously insisted upon for himself, full liberty of political thought and action. In 1894 he first entered public official life as a member of the common council of Burling- ton, although he had taken active interest and part in political affairs ever since be- coming a voter, in 1883. He served in coun- cil six years; was chairman of the finance committee two years, and president of coun- cil one year. In 1906 he was the candidate of the Republican party for Assembly, and at the November polls was returned victor over his Democratic opponent by a plural- ity of 2481 votes. He served his constitu- ency and State so efficiently that he was re-
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elected in 1907 and again in 1908, an ex- pression of confidence always gratifying to the public man. During his last year in the house he was Republican floor leader, and worthily led his followers. In 1909 he was called to higher honors by election to the State Senate, representing Burlington coun- ty, winning the election by a plurality of 3279 votes over his Democratic opponent, who had also at a previous election contest- ed with him for the office of assemblyman. In 1914 he was a candidate for Congress at the primaries, Isaac Bacharach, of Atlantic City, winning the nomination. At the time of his death Mr. Lewis was a member of the State Board of Railway Directors, an office to which he was appointed in 1915 by Governor Fielder. During his entire term of public service he was ever the public spir- ited citizen rather than the partisan, al- though he stood squarely with his party up- on all issues of party faith, was constant in his loyalty to all its tenets, and permitted nothing to cloud his republicanism. He was most democratic in his nature and deemed every man his friend, whatever his station in life, unless that friendship was forfeited by unworthy deeds. He held the entire con- fidence of his constituency and whenever opportunity was granted this confidence found expression in a majority at the polls.
Not less highly regarded was Mr. Lewis in social and fraternal life. He was "made a Mason" in Burlington Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and after passing several official chairs received the highest honor a subordinate lodge can confer, election to the worshipful master's chair. He held all de- grees in Capitular and Templar Masonry, belonging to the Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, and Helena Commandery, No. 3, Knights Templar. In the Scottish Rite he held all degrees up to and including the thir- ty-second degree. He was also a noble of Lulu Temple, Philadelphia, Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. To his Masonic obligations he added those of other prominent fraternal orders, belonging
to Burlington Lodge, No. 22, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Hope Lodge, No. 13, Knights of Pythias; and Mount Holly Lodge, No. 848, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, being a past exalted ruler of the last named organization. His fraternity was genuine, and in all these bodies he held the unbounded love and esteem of his breth- ren. The charity they taught found an echo in his own heart, and many were his deeds of kindness and most unostentatiously per- formed. His liberality in the way of tem- porary loans was proverbial, and for small sums not exceeding fifty dollars he never required written form of obligation, putting every man upon his honor. In addition to the above societies he belonged to the Loyal Order of Moose, the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, was an active member of one of Burlington's fire com- panies, ex-president of the Oneida Boat Club, honorary member of the Lakanoo Boat Club, director of the Masonic Hall As- sociation, director of the Burlington Free Library, and president of the Mount Holly Fair Association. The honorary pallbear- ers at his funeral were representative men from these organizations, and men with whom he had been associated in public life, including an ex-Governor of the State of New Jersey, Edward C. Stokes.
Senator Lewis married, June 28, 1893, Mary R., daughter of William W. and Rhoda J. (Falkenburg) Fenton, of Jack- sonville, New Jersey, who survives him with two children: Howard Fenton Lewis and Helen Burr Lewis, all residing in Burling- ton.
The predominating trait in the character of Mr. Lewis was his great-heartedness. To relieve suffering or need was his first impulse when confronted with either. His generosity was not an impulse, however, but a sacred duty that he never attempted to shirk. He gave with a free heart and with a spirit of thankfulness that he was able to give. Yet he was discriminating, and al- though often his confidence was betrayed
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he never became embittered, but until his death continued his practice of giving to the deserving. He was a well balanced man of gifted mentality and successful in his busi- ness undertakings. He was a man of great energy and never shirked a business or of- ficial task. Integrity was the foundation stone of his character and upon that rock he built a life filled with manly deeds, one that brought him close to the lives and hearts of the people, whom he ever trusted and who ever trusted him.
WHITNEY, Rev. George Henry, D. D., Clergyman, Educator, Litterateur.
The story of the life of Dr. Whitney is the history of a mind, not one of stirring events or unique situations. He was by temperament, education, and choice, essen- tially an educator, but in literature and in the pulpit also won conspicuous success. He loved books, and could make them. His "Bible Geography," published many years ago, is valued by travelers through Bible lands as one of the expert guides, and his frequent contributions to the press, secular and religious, were characterized by clear- ness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness. But his great work was as an educator, and what Arnold was to Rugby and Mark Hop- kins to Williams College, so was George H. Whitney to Centenary Collegiate Institute. Elected its president in 1869, he made it a vital center of culture and character. Its phenomenal success commanded widespread attention, and alluring offers came to Dr. Whitney from some of the great universities of our land. But his heart was in the sem- inary, and he continued its head until 1895, when under the compulsion of physical dis- ability he retired into the solitude of Pain. When a little later, fire swept out of ex- istence the seminary buildings, it was feared the blow would end his life. On the contrary, it filled him with new zeal and in- spired him to recreate his beloved seminary.
He lived to see, largely as the result of his ideas, a new Institute rise, commanding in its architectural features, and, when the in- stitution was again ready to receive students, he answered the call to act as temporary president. When succeeded in office, he continued President Meeker's ablest coun- sellor, and as president emeritus and trustee continued in active sympathy with the Sem- inary until the last.
While Dr. Whitney's fame will rest chief- ly upon his work in the educational field, he was also a preacher of marked ability. He was a close student of theology, keeping in closest touch with modern science and philosophy. He preached truth, not in the abstract, but in the concrete, not as sys- tematized doctrine, but as a practical pre- cept. He preached as a teacher, the pulpit his desk, the congregation his class. But there came to him inspirational hours, when he cast off the scholastic cap and gown and allowed the fullness of his mind and heart to flow forth in freedom from his lips. Then his classical and biblical training appeared in its strength and inspired his speech. The beauty of his personal character grew with the years, losing its earlier puritan severity, and in its stead he substituted his own teach- ing,-that the love of Christ in one's own heart is a larger and safer rule of conduct than any formal law. In the gallery of Newark Conference necrology there hangs no portrait that will be more reverently re- membered than that of the Reverend George H. Whitney, D. D., educator, and minister of the Gospel.
Dr. Whitney was of the seventh Ameri- can generation of the family founded by Henry Whitney, born in England and first of record in Southold, Long Island, Oc- tober 8, 1649, and was inhabitant of Hunt- ington, Long Island, August 17, 1658, when he bought of Wyandance, sachem of Pam- manake, "three whole necks of Meshapeake Land for the use of the whole town of Huntington." On October II, 1669, he was
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one of thirty-three named in "A true and perfect List of all the Freemen appertain- ing vnto the plantation of Norwake."
John, son of Henry Whitney, the found- er, settled with his father in Norwalk, fol- lowed his business of millwright and mill- er, and succeeded him in ownership of the mill and homestead. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Smith.
Richard, son of John and Elizabeth (Smith) Whitney, was also a millwright and miller, living in Norwalk for several years, then settled in that part of the Stratfield Society lying within the town of Fairfield. He married Hannah, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Beers) Darling, of Fairfield.
John, son of Richard and Hannah (Dar- ling) Whitney, was a ship carpenter at Stony Creek, in Branford, Connecticut. He married Deborah Smith, born in New Haven, Connecticut. His sons John, Enos, and Jared, all served in the Revolutionary War.
Jared, youngest son of John and Deborah (Smith) Whitney, was a ship carpenter and ship builder of Branford, Connecticut. He was captured during the Revolutionary War by a British armed vessel, and was con- fined in the Jersey prison ship in New York harbor. He married Sarah, daughter of David Rogers, a soldier of the Revolution.
William, son of Jared and Sarah (Rog- ers) Whitney, was born at Branford, Con- necticut, June 16, 1800, and died in New- ark, New Jersey. He was a manufacturer of boots and shoes, and a merchant, resid- ing at various times in Connecticut, Wash- ington, and Georgetown, District of Colum- bia, Springfield, Ohio, and Newark, New Jersey. When a lad of twelve, in Novem- ber, 1812, he was captured, with the crew of the "Union" of Branford, by a British cruiser off Charleston, South Carolina, and five days later, after being separated from the British fleet in a gale, was recaptured by the American privateer "Mary Ann," of New York. He was a lifelong devoted Christian, and a prominent layman of the
Methodist Protestant Church, serving as lay delegate in five quadrennial sessions of the General Conference of that church. Wil- liam Whitney married (first) at Irvington, New Jersey, December 3, 1818, Permelia Cogswell, born at "North Farms," four miles west of Newark, New Jersey, May 13, 1796, died in Washington, District of Co- lumbia, October 27, 1839, daughter of Aaron and Elizabeth (Baldwin) Cogswell. He married (second) August 6, 1842, Eveline Cogswell, sister of his first wife.
Such was the ancestry of- George Henry Whitney, third son and fourth child of Wil- liam Whitney and his first wife, Permelia Cogswell. He was born at Georgetown, District of Columbia, July 30, 1830, and died June 6, 1913. After graduation from Newark Academy, he taught in that school until his admission to Wesleyan University at Middletown, Connecticut, in 1858. He was graduated A. M. by Wesleyan Univer- sity after a full course, then for one year was principal of the Academy at Macedon Centre, New York. For two years, 1859- 1861, he was principal of Oneida Seminary, Oneida, New York. He had in the mean- time completed theological courses, was duly ordained, and in April, 1861, became a member of the Newark Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was pas- tor of Somerville, New Jersey, from April to November, 1861 ; at Elizabeth to March, 1863 ; at Plainfield to March, 1868; at Trin- ity, Jersey City, to March, 1870; and until March, 1871, was under appointment by the Conference engaged in the work of erecting Centenary Collegiate Institute at Hacketts- town, New Jersey, one of the many noble memorials erected by the Methodist Episco- pal Church during the year closing its first century of existence. He was elected pres- ident of the Seminary in 1869, but after the erection of the buildings was for three years, 1871-1874, pastor of St. George Church at Passaic, during which pastorate he built a new stone church there at a cost of $75,000. In April, 1874, he took up his
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residence at Hackettstown, and for twenty- five years devoted himself solely to the up- building of that institution. During those twenty-five years he was the potent factor in determining the plans of the original buildings, in securing the funds for their erection, in the selection and organization of the faculty, and in creating the intellec- tual, social, and moral atmosphere of the school. Although supported by an able board of trustees and associated with a fac- ulty of superior culture, his will was the recognized force in its management, and his monument is the imposing buildings of the Seminary overlooking Hackettstown on Seminary Hill. He resigned the presidency in 1895, the victim of a hopeless ailment, but his heart was ever there, and when in a night the Seminary buildings were destroy- ed by fire, it acted as a new call to life, and as member of the building committee he did more than all to shape the idea which the architect crystallized in the present beauti- ful, commodious and well arranged semi- nary buildings. He then served as tempor- ary president until the election of his suc- cessor, then as president emeritus and as trustee continued his interest in the welfare of the seminary, an interest that only ended with his life.
Dr. Whitney's literary fame depends upon his "Handbook of Bible Geography," written in the years 1868-1871, reprinted in London, and translated into German; and upon his "Commentary on the Berean Sun- day School Lesson" (1872-1874). In 1873 he made a map of Egypt, Sinai, and Pales- tine, six feet square, depicting the then most recent researches in these lands. In 1873, Mount Union College, Ohio, conferred up- on him the degree D. D. He was one of the founders of Wesleyan Chapter, Alpha Del- ta Phi, while a student at the University, and at the time of his death was a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Plainfield, New Jersey.
He married (first) at Theresa, New York, Rev. J. M. Freeman officiating, Car-
oline Amanda Shepard, born in Stock- bridge, New York, May 17, 1834, died in Newton, New Jersey, December 19, 1865, daughter of Rev. Hiram and Amanda (But- terfield) Shepard; she is buried in Fair- mount Cemetery, Newark. He married (second) December 24, 1867, at Plainfield, New Jersey, Rev. John H. Vincent officiat- ing, Henrietta French, daughter of Dr. Phineas Mundy and Mary Emeline (Os- wald) French. Child of first marriage: Irving Shepard. Children of second mar- riage: May Vincent, Bertha Hurst, George Harold, Helen.
VAN DUYNE, Harrison,
Ideal Citizen and Public Official.
Harrison Van Duyne was a scion of an old Dutch family, of whom the American progenitor was Martin Van Duyne, who settled in White Hall, near Boonton, Mor- ris county, New Jersey, prior to 1700. His son James succeeded to the homestead, and was in turn succeeded by his son Ralph, whose son, John R., succeeded to the prop- erty. He married Sarah Doremus, and they were the parents of Harrison Van Duyne, who in turn succeeded to the prop- erty.
Harrison Van Duyne was born in Morris county, New Jersey, December 25, 1845, and died at his home, No. 350 Sumner ave- nue, Newark, New Jersey, May 3, 1914. Until the age of eleven years he resided in his native place, then his parents removed to Newark and he received his education in the public schools of that city, and was graduated from the high school in the class of 1862. After studying surveying and civil engineering, he spent a year in the oil regions of Pennsylvania, having purchased property in Woodside in 1873. Later he opened an office in Newark, New Jersey, where he continued the practice of his pro- fession until the time of his death, gaining . a place in the front ranks of surveyors and civil engineers in his section of the state.
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For a number of years the public affairs of the city had been given a good share of his time, and he studied the important ques- tions of the day with close attention. Short- ly after attaining his majority he was in- duced by his friends to become a candi- date for school commissioner, and he was elected and re-elected to the Board of Edu- cation, serving four years, all told, in that body. But Mr. Van Duyne had already made a record for himself, which convinced his friends that he would appear to advan- tage in a higher sphere of usefulness. Ac- cordingly he was graduated, as it were, from the school board to the State Legislature in 1879 as a member of the lower house. There he at once arrayed himself on the side of the people as against corporations, which atti- tude he consistently held to. As a debater he was the equal of any in the house, and his knowledge of parliamentary law made it impossible for any of his opponents to get the better of him on a technicality. He had no difficulty in securing a re-election and was chosen for a third term by his con- stituents. This exceptional honor was rec- ognized and concurred in by his colleagues, who further complimented him by making him speaker of the House. One of Mr. Van Duyne's acts in the New Jersey Leg- islature, which redounded greatly to the benefit of the people and for which he had been repeatedly complimented, was the change in the law under which the money raised by taxation for the support of the public schools was distributed. Previous to 1881 this money was raised by a two mill tax on all the property of the different counties, and distributed from the common fund according to the number of children in each county. While this plan would have been fair if the valuations had been made relatively equal, but as was well known, many of the counties grossly undervalued their property, while the Essex valuation was if anything high, and the result was that Essex county was mulcted each year from $30,000 to $75,000, which went to the so-
called poorer counties. Under Mr. Van Duyne's law, the State assesses according to the property valuations, as before, but ninety per cent. of the amount raised in any county must go back to that coun- ty. The remaining ten per cent. is left to the judgment of the State Board of Education for distribution, and, as a matter of fact, is mostly returned to the county from which it came. Mr. Van Duyne attempted to get this legislation enacted in 1880, but it was not until a year after, when he became speaker of the House and gained much ad- ditional influence with the members, that he was enabled to carry his point.
In 1886 the tax liens of the city of New- ark were in a very much tangled condition. Assessments had been levied upon property which could not bear the expense. Tax- payers were virtually swamped with liens, and the conditions were critical, as well as chaotic. A commission was formed to re- vise and adjust several million dollars' worth of back taxes and assessments. It was a task of great responsibility, and one which could be entrusted to none but men of un- questioned integrity. Mr. Van Duyne was chosen by the court as president of the commission, and he performed his duties in a conscientious and praiseworthy man- ner. When in 1894 a law was passed giving the then mayor, Julius A. Lebkuecher, pow- er to appoint a new Board of Street and Water Commissioners, Mr. Van Duyne was one of his first selections, and he was made president of the board by the other members. His practical knowledge of city affairs, coupled with his technical training as a surveyor, made him a most valuable man in the board. The following spring, when the board was made an elective body, Mr. Van Duyne was chosen for two years more, and he was continued as president by the new board for another year. At the expiration of his term he was once more placed in nomination by his party, in 1897, for a full three-year term. Though his running mate was beaten by a Democrat,
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and nearly the entire Republican ticket swamped, Mr. Van Duyne carried the city by over one thousand plurality.
Though this fact may seem surprising, the secret is an open one to anybody who has followed the doings of the Board of Works during the past few years. Invariably, Mr. Van Duyne was found on the right side of every question where the city's interests were at stake. During his incumbency of the office the board had considerable dealing with the street railroad companies, and the corporations were made to feel that the city had some rights in the streets. He waged what might be called incessant warfare upon the trolley people for better roadbeds, more cars to furnish seating accommodations for passengers, and a wider liberty in the use of transfer privileges. An ordinance to com- pel the street railroad companies to carry passengers for three cents when seats were not furnished was introduced by Mr. Van Duyne, and, though it failed to pass, it par- tially accomplished the object for which it was intended, by bringing the companies to a realization of the fact that more cars would have to be furnished.
The law of 1895 providing the capital fund for street paving and also providing an easy form of payment by which property owners could pay in installments in five years, and under which hundreds of thous- ands of dollars worth of street paving work was done, was mainly the suggestion of Mr. Van Duyne. Many thousand dollars worth of sewers were also constructed. Mr. Van Duyne always made it a point to familiarize himself with every ordinance and study the needs and the plans of every improvement. In such cases the city secured the benefit of his professional experience and his peculiar fitness for such matters. The city's water supply was also carefully looked after by Mr. Van Duyne, who served as chairman of the Department of Water for nearly two years, and the city's right under the water contract was zealously guarded by him.
Mr. Van Duyne was one of the organi-
zers of the American Society of Municipal Improvement, an association composed of city officials from all parts of the country who met in annual convention to exchange views and reap the benefits of each other's experiences on all questions pertaining to urban development, and at the convention of the society in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1897, a testimonial was paid to Mr. Van Duyne's ability in the form of an election to the presidency of the society. He was for many years a member of the Newark Board of Trade, was a director of the Fire- men's Insurance Company, and president of the Eighth Ward Building and Loan Asso- ciation. He was a member of the Northern Republican Club, and a number of other political organizations. He was also a mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity, up to and including the Knight Templar degree, and a member of the Holland Society of New York. The directors of the Board of Trade of Newark immediately called a meeting when the news of the death of Mr. Van Duyne was received, and resolutions were adopted suitable to the occasion. Eighty members of the board were requested to attend the funeral services. Special men- tion was made of his part in the campaign for the purification of the Passaic river, his interest in the reclamation of the 'meadows, and his energetic fight against the "Moun- tain View Reservoir" project.
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