USA > New Jersey > Cyclopedia of New Jersey Biography > Part 48
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"His efforts in the practical realization and accomplishment of many of the improvements we now enjoy, may be best appreciated by our daily experiences and need not be here enumerated. While we recall with tenderest sympathy the financial embarrassment that in the great re- vulsion fell upon him without fault on his part and from circumstances beyond his control or human knowledge to forsee, we cannot but admire the fortitude, the manliness and Christian spirit with which he met them and labored and toiled, oftentimes against hope, to protect the rights and interests of those whose confidence he had shared in brighter days. It may be said truly of him, that in all the relations of public and private life, he acted well his part, and departing left behind him a reputation for uprightness, honesty and charity, unsullied by a blemish to mar his character or lessen our respect.
" 'He was a man More apt through inborn gentleness to err In giving mercy's tide too free a course, Than with a thrifty and illiberal hand To circumscribe its channel.' "
PIERSON, William, M. D.,
Physician, Surgeon, 'Model Citizen.
Among those who have attained distinct prestige in the practice of medicine and surgery in the State of New Jersey, and whose success came as the logical sequence of thorough technical information and nat- ural predilection, and that sympathy and tact which are an absolute essential in the profession, was Dr. William Pierson, late of Orange, New Jersey, whose family was
represented in the medical profession for a number of successive generations. His family is one of the old ones of the State, and a few words concerning the earlier generations are not out of place here.
Thomas Pierson Sr. came with the Branford settlers of Newark in 1666, and was one of the signers of the "Funda- mental Agreement." He had a number of parcels of land granted him, and was a weaver by trade. In his will, dated 1698, he names children : Samuel, Thomas, Han- nah, Abigail, Elizabeth and Mary; son, Sam. Lyon.
Samuel Pierson, eldest child of Thomas Sr. and Maria (Harrison) Pierson, was born in Branford, Connecticut, in 1663, and was three years of age when brought by his parents to Newark. Doubtless he removed with his father to Watsessing some years later. He was a carpenter by trade, and took up a tract of land between the First and Second Mountains, being one of the first settlers there. The first men- tion of his name is as one of the organizers of the Mountain Society, and he was a dea- con and one of the leaders in this organi- zation. He died March 19, 1730, and is buried in the "old graveyard." He married Mary Harrison, daughter of his uncle, Ser- geant Richard Harrison. Children : Joseph, Samuel, James, Caleb, Jemima, Mary, Han- nah.
Samuel Pierson, son of Samuel and Mary (Harrison) Pierson, was born at the homestead between the First and Second Mountains, in 1698, and died in 1781. He resided on the farm all his life ; was elected deacon of the First Church in 1748, and served in this office continuously until his death. He married Mary Sergeant, and had children: Eunice, Rebecca, Samuel, John, Matthias, Mary, Joseph, Joanna and Zenas.
Dr. Matthias Pierson, son of Samuel and Mary (Sergeant) Pierson, was born at the Pierson homestead, June 20, 1734, and died May 9, 1809. He was a student at Prince-
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ton College, and later studied medicine, but did not commence to practice this profes- sion until almost thirty years of age. He was the first and for many years the only physician in the mountain region, his pro- fessional work covering the section now known as the Oranges, Bloomfield and Caldwell, and extending to the border of Morris county. Early in the course of his practice he removed to a house near the cen- ter of the village, this being located on the present site of the Central Presbyterian Church on Main street. He was an active worker in the interests of education, and be- came one of the incorporators of the Orange Academy in 1783. During the War of the Revolution, while he was not engaged in actual military service, his work in behalf of the patriot cause was of the most effec- tive character. He and his family, as well as almost all of the citizens of Newark, had sought safety in the mountains during the Hessian raid, and his house was occupied by the British while they remained in New- ark. Dr. Pierson married Phebe Nutman, who died in 1826, a daughter of Isaac Nut- man. Children: Nancy, Sarah, Isaac, Mat- thias, William, Mary and Harriet.
Dr. Isaac Pierson, son of Dr. Matthias and Phebe (Nutman) Pierson, was born in Orange, New Jersey, August 15, 1770. The Orange Academy furnished his preparatory education, and he was graduated from Princeton College in the class of 1789. Hav- ing completed the studies necessary to ob- tain his degree as a Doctor of Medicine, he became associated with his father in profes- sional work, and his practice extended over a widely extended section of the country. For many years he was a member of the Medical Society of New Jersey, and served as president of this body in 1827. He took a prominent part in the public affairs of the county, served for a time as sheriff of Es- sex county, and was a member of the Twen- tieth and Twenty-first sessions of the Con- gress of the United States. In 1821 he was one of the incorporators of the "Orange
Spring Company," which developed the fa- mous chalybeate springs in what is now Hutton Park. Dr. Pierson married Nancy Crane, daughter of Aaron Crane. Chil- dren : William, Albert, Phebe S., Fanny, George, Edward, Aaron, Isaac, Harriet and Sarah Ann.
Dr. William Pierson Sr., son of Dr. Isaac and Nancy (Crane) Pierson, was born in Orange, December 4, 1796. One of his brothers, Rev. Albert Pierson, was a well known and successful teacher, and another, Rev. George Pierson, was the first pastor of the Second Presbyterian, or Brick Church, of Orange. Dr. Pierson received his preparatory education at the Orange Academy, and was graduated from the Col- lege of New Jersey at Princeton, in the class of 1816. Under the able preceptor- ship of his father he commenced the study of medicine, then continued these studies at the University of Pennsylvania, and at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. He received his degree as Doctor of Medicine and his license from the Medical Society of New Jersey in 1820, and was the recording secretary of this as- sociation for thirty years. His practice was an extended one. In public affairs he was an important factor. He served as a member of the New Jersey Legislature in 1837-38; a director of the Board of Free- holders ; sheriff of Essex county, 1846-50; was active in the construction of the Mor- ris & Essex Railroad ; a corporator of the Newark Savings Institution, and for many years its vice-president ; when the town of Orange was incorporated, he was elected as its first mayor, served three successive years, and was then a member of the Com- mon Council for another three years ; he was the originator and one of the corpor- ators of the Rosedale Cemetery, of Orange, in 1840, and active as a trustee until almost the close of his life. Dr. Pierson married Margaret Hillyer, daughter of Rev. Asa Hillyer, D. D., for many years pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Orange.
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Children : Jane Riker, Anne, William, Ed- ward Dickson, and Margaret Riker.
Dr. William Pierson Jr., son of Dr. Wil- liam Pierson Sr. and Margaret (Hill- yer) Pierson, was born in Orange, New Jersey, November 20, 1830, and died June 12, 1900. He inherited his love of the med- ical profession from his worthy ancestors, and early began a course of study especially adapted to the work he intended to follow. After a thorough preparatory course at the Newark Academy, the Flushing Institute, and under private tuition, he matriculated at the Medical Department of the University of New York, and was graduated from this institution in the class of 1852 with the de- gree of Doctor of Medicine. The honorary degree of Master of Arts was later confer- red upon him by Nassau Hall, Princeton, New Jersey. He had also pursued his studies under the preceptorship of his father, and was for a time house physician of the Charity Hospital, and later at the Brook- lyn City Hospital. For a time he was as- sociated with his father in his professional work, also with Dr. Crane, and then made a specialty of surgery, in which branch he earned great distinction. For many years he was the only operating obstetrician in the Oranges, and he was in great demand as a consulting physician. His professional labors engrossed his time and attention to such an extent that there was but little left to devote to the public affairs of the com- munity, but his deep interest in the cause of education could not be entirely sup- pressed even by his professional work. For many years he was a member of the Board of Education, was elected the first president of this body, and served capably in this office for twelve consecutive years. He was an impressive and influential advocate for the higher education of the masses, and greatly raised the standard of education in the city in which he resided. Both as a member and as an official he was connected with numerous and varied organizations, a condensed list of which is here given. As a
director and for some time vice-president of the Orange Bank, he assisted in its man- agement ; member of the New Jersey State Medical Society, served as its secretary many years commencing from 1866, and was later its president; member of the Essex County District Medical Society, and also served as president; one of the founders of the New Jersey Academy of Medicine ; member of the Orange Mountain Medical Society, which was organized at his home; member of the old Medical Union 1 of Newark; the American Medical Associa- tion; Princeton Club of Newark; the Orange Princeton Society of Orange; the State Sanitary Society. In the proceedings of these organizations may be found many contributions from his pen, some as formal papers read before the members, others as reports of interesting cases. When he rose in a meeting he was always listened to with respect and close attention ; his manner of speaking and writing was logical, concise and direct. The trend of his mind was toward the practical, and he was always ready to give a fair trial to new methods of operation, comparing them with care with the older methods in vogue. He was attending surgeon at the Orange Memorial Hospital; consulting surgeon of St. Mary's Hospital, Morristown; consulting surgeon of St. Barnabas' Hospital, Newark; attend- ing physician at Seton Hall College of South Orange and at the Orange Orphans' Home; attending surgeon and medical director of St. Michael's Hospital, Newark. During the Civil War, Dr. Pierson was sur- geon of the board of enrollment of the Fourth Congressional District of New Jer- sey, and was volunteer surgeon on the Gov- ernor's staff. He was several times as- signed to duty on the battlefield, where he rendered important service as surgeon of the Sanitary Commission. He was justly proud of his ancestors on both sides, many of them having achieved distinction in each generation. His great-grandfather, Lieu- tenant Abraham Riker, served in the Con-
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tinental army prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and the origi- nal commission is still in existence in the home of the doctor, dated at Philadelphia, June 20, 1775, signed by John Hancock.
Dr. Pierson married Isabel F. Adams, daughter of B. F. Adams, of Chicago, son of Benjamin Adams, born in 1763; son of Benjamin Adams, born in 1728; son of Thomas Adams, and grandson of Thomas Adams; son of William Adams, the an- cestor, born in England, 1594, came to America in 1628, and settled in Ipswich. Dr. and Mrs. Pierson had children: Mar- garet, Louise and Isabel.
Following are a few extracts from a me- morial of Dr.' William Pierson, read be- fore the New England Society of Orange, October 6, 1900, by Hon. Frederic Adams :
"I need not enumerate the positions of trust that he occupied in business enterprises and financial institutions ; they were such as naturally fell to a man with a decided capacity for affairs. He understood the value of money, and he under- stood also that elusive and inscrutable thing, perilous as the sound of the Sirens, the value of land. Having in his composition nothing of the visionary or speculator, he easily escaped the rocks on which less wary men were shipwrecked and, investing with cautious boldness, in im- proved or immediately improved real estate, he early began to lay the foundation of what came to be a competent fortune. I am not competent to judge him by a professional standard, but I may speak of him as he appeared to a patient. The non-professional view of a professional man, though not exact, and never technical, is apt to be in the long run not far from the truth, and is at any rate the view by which every professional man stands or falls. There were certain char- acteristics that would be sure to strike one who knew Dr. Pierson. First of all, you owned the charm and felt the power of a personality at once forceful and attractive; the erect, compact figure of medium height, ready servant of his will; the alert step, the genial voice, the cordial greeting, the cheery laugh that told his gayety of heart, the friendly interest, the serious attention, the in- tuitive insight, the enlighted, judicious action, the easy, self-reliant bearing that made you trust him because you saw he trusted himself :
"Gifts such as purchase, with unminted gold.
Smiles from the young and blessings from the old."
"A notable trait was his quick and close obser- vation. He was no wizard of the Sherlock Holmes order, a being whose existence outside of a book may well be doubted, but he had a keen eye for those little things that are so often the clues to great ones. And when he had reached the limit of proof, he could guess shrewdly from the known to the unknown, from the ascertained to the not immediately ascertainable, which, I hope that I may say without any offense to any physician, is in medicine, no less than in law and divinity, a useful and much employed ac- complishment. Another characteristic was his love for and mastery of the theory and practice of surgery. Nothing could be more reassuring than the promptness with which he took hold of a surgical case, the clearness of his analysis, the decision with which he operated or decided not to operate, and the success that almost always re- warded him.
"Yet his real throne was not in the operating room, but in the family circle. It was said of a great English advocate that he was a thirteenth man on every jury he addressed. Dr. Pierson was an honorary member of every household that he visited. His very entrance into a room flooded it with sunshine. 'A merry heart,' we are told, 'doeth good like a medicine.' Solomon might have added, what is no less true, that a merry heart improves the effect of medicine. It was in the homes of his patients, at the center of the strong and sensitive network of domestic interests and relationships, dealing with every vicissitude of physical being from birth to death, that Dr. Pier- son secured the confidence and won the hearts of all. This was the secret of his hold on the com- munity, of the affection that surrounded him like an atmosphere, of the sympathy that went out to him in his decline, of the overshadowing sense of a common loss when it was known that his course was run. What was his leading motive and ruling purpose ;- his master passion, if I may use so urgent a phrase? The answer to this question is as clear in my own mind as sunlight. It was to do good; not vaguely but definitely; by work and example rather than by talk and precept; mainly, of course, in his own line, but also, very largely, in organized benevolent effort to help the wards of society and alleviate human suffering. To such objects he gave money, and what was worth more than money, his time, his counsel, his influence, and his happy, good-humor- ed faculty of stirring up others with a hearty stimulus to go and do likewise. How wisely and efficiently in all this, he was supported by the members of his own household I need not say, for that long since became and now is a part of
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the familiar history and daily working of public charity in Orange."
In 1907 a tablet to the memory of Dr. Pierson was erected in the Memorial Hos- pital, the event being a notable one in the community. Beautiful tributes were paid to the memory of Dr. Pierson by Drs. Young and Thomas W. Harvey, and the tablet was unveiled by Miss Caroline K. Herrick. It bears the following inscrip- tion : "In loving memory of William Pier- son, M. D., to whose untiring effort Or- ange Memorial Hospital owes its origin, this tablet is erected by those who have benefited by his skill and profited by his wisdom."
RANDOLPH, Theodore Frelinghuysen,
Governor, U. S. Senator.
Theodore Frelinghuysen Randolph, legis- lator, and Governor of New Jersey, was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, June 24, 1816, son of James Fitz Randolph.
He attended the Rutgers Grammar School, and in 1840 removed to Vicksburg, Mississippi, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. He returned to New Jersey in 1852, settling in Jersey City. He became in- terested in the mining and transportation of coal and iron, and was president of the Morris & Essex railroad many years. He was a representative in the State Legisla- ture, 1859-61 ; was elected State Senator in 1862 to fill a vacancy, and was re-elected for the full term, serving 1862-65, and while in the Senate introduced a bill providing for a State Comptroller. In 1865 he removed to Morristown, New Jersey. He was elect- ed Governnor in 1869. During his ad- ministration the State Riparian Commission was established, the Camden & Amboy monopoly tax was repealed ; and the Morris Plains Lunatic Asylum was constructed. On the anniversary of the battle of the J. Augustus Johnson, son of Reverend Lorenzo Dow and Mary (Burges) John- Boyne, July 12, 1871, he issued a proclama- tion insuring the right of parade to the son, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, Orangemen of New Jersey, giving thiem June 3, 1836, and died in South Orange,
State protection, and thus avoiding a riot similar to the one that occurred in New York City the same day. He was United States Senator from New Jersey, 1875-81. He was a member of the Democratic Na- tional Committee; a trustee of Rutgers College ; and one of the founders and presi- dent of the Washington Headquarters As- sociation of Morristown, New Jersey.
He married, in 1851, Fanny F., daughter of N. D. Colman, of Kentucky. He died in Morristown, New Jersey, November 7, 1883.
JOHNSON, J. Augustus,
Lawyer, Diplomatist.
It was the distinction of Hon. J. Augus- tus Johnson to hold high position in the dip- lomatic service of the nation under four different administrations-a most remark- able, and perhaps, an unparalleled record. He was appointed by President Buchanan to his first consular position, and was con- tinued under Presidents Lincoln, Johnson and Grant, receiving the personal thanks of President Lincoln for valuable service in Syria. He was known to the scholars of the world as the discoverer of the Hamath inscriptions ; to the political economists as president of the Confederated Good Gov- ernment clubs and other reform organiza- tions; and to seamen as their untiring friend in securing better conditions for them, both while afloat and ashore. He was one of the six sons of Reverend Lor- enzo Dow Johnson, an eminent minister whose sons rose to equal eminence in the different professions they embraced. The family through direct lineage and inter- marriage date to Colonial and Revolution- ary days, and number many of the distin- guished men and women of New England among their ancestors.
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New Jersey, February 27, 1914. He at- tained a profound knowledge of science, literature and law, and was duly admitted to practice his profession in all State and Federal courts of New York and other States, and to the Supreme Court at Wash- ington, District of Columbia. The law did not particularly appeal to him in his young- er years, the political atmosphere of Wash- ington and the service of his country being more in accordance with his tastes. He spent some years at Washington in his later boy- hood, doing secretary work for different Senators and in small government posi- tions before obtaining an appointment to the consular service. In 1858 he received from President Buchanan the appointment as United States Consul at Beirut, Syria, and later performing there important ser- vice under President Lincoln, from whom he received personal thanks in 1862. In 1867 he was raised to the rank of Consul General by President Johnson, continuing in Syria under President Grant, who also entrusted to him delicate matters of State to be adjusted between the United States and the Ottoman government, which ne- cessitated his being sent to Jaffa and Cy- prus. It was in 1870 that he discovered the Hamath inscriptions at Hamath, in North- ern Syria, that gave him a worldwide rep- utation among scientists, and shortly af- terward he resigned from the consular ser- vice and returned to the United States. He located in New York City, began the prac- tice of law and so continued during his re- maining active years, gaining honorable position as an able and upright wise coun- selor and advocate. He took an active part in the political activities of New York City, and was a member of the "Commit- tee of Seventy" in 1894, joining with vigor in all the movements that tended toward better and purer politics. He was an apos- tle of Civil Service reform, and strongly supported the policy of organizing "Good
Government" clubs in various states. He was an active member of the Civil Service Reform Association, and president of the Council of Confederated Good Govern- ment Clubs. While his interest in all mu- nicipal affairs was intense, he was espec- ially interested in the public schools and in sailors. He was active in the movement that gave to the latter the splendid building at 25 State street, the Seaman's Church In- stitute, the Seamen's Legal Aid Society, and in the enactment of laws for their pro- tection. He was a member of many legal and scientific societies, the Lawyers Club, and Union League of New York City, join- ing the latter body in 1875.
His Colonial and Revolutionary ancestry gained him right of entrance to many soci- eties basing their membership on early co- lonial descent, a privilege he exercised in many instances, belonging to the Society of Colonial Wars, Sons of the American Rev- olution, the New England Society, and others. His name was everywhere hon- ored, and his long life of seventy-eight years was one well spent and fruitful. He was a member of the Congregational church, and in all things measured up to the full stature of a man. He was a great reader, an interesting, pleasing speaker, and a strong forceful contributor to the literature of the profession and associations of which he was a member. Broadminded and pub- lic-spirited, he wielded a strong influence over his fellows that was always used for wise and beneficent purposes.
Mr. Johnson married (first) in 1857, Sarah M. Barclay, of Virginia, who bore him two sons, Barclay and Tristram John- son, the latter a prominent figure in the po- litical world until his death in 1911. He married (second) in 1886. Fanny Valeda Matthews, who bore him a son, Hallett ; and a daughter, Valeda. Mrs. Fanny V. John- son survives her husband, residing at 460 Scotland road, South Orange, New Jersey.
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KIRKPATRICK, Hon. Andrew, Lawyer, Federal Jurist.
Judge Andrew Kirkpatrick, says his biog- rapher, "was the type of all that is highest and best in American civilization, of the purest integrity, and the loftiest ideals, de- voted to the obligations of his family, and bound to his friends by attainments most amiable, and attractive in his personal char- acter." He was born in Washington, D. C., October 8, 1844, and died in Newark, New Jersey, May 3, 1904, son of John Bayard and Margaret (Weaver) Kirkpatrick. His father was born in New Brunswick, where he passed his life as one of its most enter- prising citizens, a few years excepted, when he was acting as Third Assistant Auditor of the United States Treasury. Hon. An- drew Kirkpatrick, grandfather of Judge Kirkpatrick, is written of on another page of this work.
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