USA > New Jersey > Cyclopedia of New Jersey Biography > Part 50
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Mayland Cuthbert, son of Samuel and Anna (Mayland) Cuthbert, was born in Philadelphia, April 1I, 1838, and died at his home on the bank of the Delaware, Edge- water Park, Beverly, New Jersey, April 30, 1906. He was educated in the schools of his native city, and when a youth of sixteen years entered the druggist establishment of Bullock & Crenshaw. His vision of useful- ness extended far beyond the mere earning of a weekly wage, and when, two years later, he was offered the opportunity of studying analytical chemistry in the labora- tory of Professor James C. Booth, he at once accepted. In December, 1857, Mr. Cuthbert, then only nineteen years of age, was honored by election to the Academy of Natural Sciences. In 1859 he experienced another great advance in his profession by his appointment as assistant and superin- tendent in Dr. Edward R. Squibb's chemical laboratory in Brooklyn, New York, al- though he there remained for but one year. The cause of his leaving this position was the political disturbances between the north and south, which seemed as though they might at any minute precipitate the country into civil war. Feeling strongly on the sub- jects in dispute, convinced that war could not be averted, if even long delayed, certain that the Union would find more than suffi- cient defenders in the army ranks, he re- solved to prepare himself for service in
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which there would be little of the spectacu- lar but much of the useful, and entered the Philadelphia machine shop of Neafie & Levy, to qualify for engineer in the United States navy. So assiduously did he apply himself to his tasks, so rapidly did he mas- ter all of the technical and practical side of engineering, that on August 24, 1861, he was accepted as third assistant engineer in the United States navy, on April 21, 1863, being promoted to the rank of second as- sistant engineer. His first ship was the "Mohican," and among others he served on the "Pequod" and "Powhatan" in the course of his three years service. He was on the "Mohican" in the battle of Port Royal, and in the course of this engagement received a serious wound, a piece of shell laying bare the femoral artery. In 1864 Mr. Cuth- bert resigned from the service and was hon- orably discharged on August 22, being raised from the rank of ensign to that of lieutenant.
Returning from the war, he for a time conducted drug operations in Scranton, Pennsylvania, then following the same bus- iness in Philadelphia. Here he began to suffer more severely from the wound he had received at Port Royal and which had never ceased troubling him, and so moved to Colorado, in the hope that the more brac- ing climate would induce complete recovery. While in the west, he dealt in real estate, and upon once more returning to his birth- place, Philadelphia, he formed a connection with James S. Mason & Company, in the manufacture of blacking, that continued throughout his active years.
Mr. Cuthbert was a member of the Penn- sylvania Society, Sons of the Revolution; the Naval Order of the United States; the Army and Navy Club, of Washington, District of Columbia; and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, being elected to class one membership, February 6, 1889. He was a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church, and in politics staunchly upheld Republican principles. Mr. Cuth-
bert was one of the first residents of that beautiful section of Beverly known as Edge- water Park, and here, in his home on the Delaware, he died. In closing this brief re- view of his useful career, the following is quoted from a record filed by his com- panions of the Loyal Legion :
"Those who knew him intimately admired his strong will and his untiring energy, his broad sense of justice to his fellow men, his integrity and good faith in all things, and especially his supersensitive sense of honor in all matters in- volving honesty and good faith in the fulfillment of promises. Companion Cuthbert was a man of keen and quick perceptions and ever ready and courageous to defend his convictions."
Mayland Cuthbert married, October 6, 1863, Fanny Chambers, daughter of James- E. and Clarissa McCauley (Chambers) Brooks. Their son Allen now holds an im- portant position as civil engineer with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and is stationed at the Altoona, Pennsylvania, headquarters of the company.
McKENZIE, William,
Public-Spirited Citizen.
Seldom does an alien by birth become so thoroughly imbued with a spirit of devo- tion and interest in his adopted commun- ity as did William Mckenzie, of Carlton Hill, first mayor of the borough of East Rutherford, New Jersey, and organizer and first president of many of the now import- ant institutions of Rutherford and East Rutherford. He revived the almost de- funct Boiling Springs Bleachery at Carl- ton Hill, set its machinery again in success- ful operation, and had the proud satisfac- tion of turning it again into a "hive of in- dustry," employing over six hundred hands, and by this means restoring pros- perity to the community. He entered heartily into the public life of Boiling Springs township, Bergen county, became one of the leading Republicans of the coun- ty, and by his energy, initiative and politi- cal acumen, placed that county high in the-
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favor of the Republican party, although once himself defeated for the Assembly. He was one of the organizers of several important corporations, freely supported all good causes, and left behind him many monuments to his business ability, his public spirit and his devoted interest in the community of his adoption.
William McKenzie was born in Glas- gow, Scotland, August 22, 1841, and died at his handsome residence at Carlton Hill, Bergen county, New Jersey, April 12, 1915. He was educated in Glasgow, and became familiar with cotton manufacture in the famous mills of his native land, not com- ing to the United States until he had at- tained young manhood. Upon first com- ing to this country he located in New Eng- land, was with the Norwich Bleachery Company, at Norwich, Connecticut, for a period of eighteen years, commencing in 1866, then one year with the Dunnell Man- ufacturing Company, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He then came to Carlton Hill, New Jersey, and, forming a partnership, ob- tained control of the lifeless Boiling Springs Bleachery, restored it to a condi- tion of usefulness, and built up a splendid business under the name of the Standard Bleachery Company, of which he became president when it was incorporated in 1896. The rebuilding of the fortunes of the bleachery was not an easy task, but one that taxed his powers to the utmost, and for several years after his coming to Carl- ton Hill, he devoted his great energies and executive ability to the conduct of his pri- vate business affairs, the public seeing but little of him. In 1905 he and his sons be- came the sole proprietors of these exten- sive works.
The plant of the standard Bleachery at Carlton Hill covers more than twelve acres of ground, and it is the largest concern of its kind in the world. Its operations con- sist in the conversion of cotton piece goods from gray cloths, as they come from the loom, into the fine, finished products
which eventually reach the market. Thes goods, manufactured principally in Nev England, are shipped direct to the bleach ery. They include lawns, India linens, or gandies, crepes, Swiss curtains, Persiar. lawns, long cloth, embroidery goods, and a number of fancy woven fabrics for wo- men's and children's dresses, in plain and mercerized finish. Many processes of great interest are used in converting the fabrics into the finished product, several days be- ing spent in passing through the various stages of development. When finished the goods are neatly packed and shipped all over the world, the bleachery having a rep- utation for careful workmanship, which is s unsurpassed. An average of one thousand hands are now employed, and the plant is operated day and night. The village of Carlton Hill is practically an outgrowth of this industry's development, and the company owns eighty acres of land. The offices of the company are at Carlton Hill, and at No. 320 Broadway, New York.
When this business was on a firm footing and prosperity had come to him, Mr. Mc- Kenzie mingled more with the people, and hand in hand with other leaders worked for community good. His first public inter- est was in township affairs. As chairman of the executive committee from Boiling Springs township, he sat in the county com- mittee, becoming thoroughly familiar with political conditions, and in 1898 was chair- man of the Republican county executive committee, declining the position in 1899. He was defeated for office in his earlier days, but that only nerved him to greater energy, and to his efforts and influence final party success in Bergen county is due. He became well known in political circles all over the county and state, and in 1896 was elected by the State Convention as delegate to the Republican National Convention, held in St. Louis. He was a member of the Passaic Sewerage Commission for a period of twelve years.
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'ignity, Mr. Mckenzie furthered that am- ition by personal work and influence, and when it was finally incorporated, was elected ts first mayor, and served several terms. He was one of the organizers, and the first president, of the Rutherford and East Rutherford Board of Trade; was one of the founders of the Rutherford Free Library, and its first vice-president ; one of the founders of the East Rutherford Free Library; one of the incorporators, of the East Rutherford Savings, Loan and Trust Company, and its first president ; president of the Passaic Lumber Company of Wall- ington ; one of the incorporators, a director, and vice-president, of the Rutherford Na- tional Bank; one of the incorporators of The Hobart Trust Company, of Passaic, and its first president; a member of the Board of Governors of the Passaic Hospital ; and in all of these offices his strong personality and great business ability were valuable assets. In later years Mr. Mckenzie travel- ed abroad extensively, and cultivated his natural taste for good books, art, the drama and the opera. His fine home was "Brae- side," at Carlton Hill, New Jersey, a beauti- ful place on the hillside, overlooking the plant of the concern which he built up. He was a member of the Union Club, the Royal Arcanum, the Order of Scottish Clans, and of various trade associations. He gave freely of his time, his talents, his means, to his town and townsmen, measured up to all the requirements of good citizenship, and left behind him an honored name.
Mr. Mckenzie's sons are : James J., Wil- liam, Kenneth M. and Bertram D., and his daughter is Mrs. Harry W. Pierson, of Boston. The sons are also married.
WHITNEY, Thomas H. and George D., Enterprising Manufacturers.
Since 1807 the name Whitney has been identified with the glass manufacturing in- dustry of South Jersey, and at Glassboro, Gloucester county, the Whitney Glass
Works perpetuate the name in its relation to a great industry. The business, which was incorporated as the Whitney Glass Works in 1887, was founded in 1775 by the Stanger Brothers, Germans, who built and operated a small plant until 1780. They failed through the depreciation of the Con- tinental currency, and when sold by the sheriff the property was bought by Colonel Thomas Heston, of Hestonville, now a part of Philadelphia. Colonel Heston and Ed- ward Carpenter jointly made the purchase, enlarged the works, and began the manufac- ture of window glass, shipping their manu- facture to Philadelphia by flat-boat. In 1802 Colonel Heston died, and in 1807 Cap- tain Eben Whitney, of Castine, Maine, a master mariner, married Bathsheba, daugh- ter of Colonel Heston, and located in Glass- boro. Captain Eben Whitney was a son of Samuel Whitney, descendant of John and Elinor Whitney, who with five sons sailed from London, England, to America, on the ship "Elizabeth and Ann," in 1635. They settled at Watertown, Massachusettts, where John Whitney died, full of honors, June 1, 1673, aged eighty-four years. Cap- tain Eben Whitney, master mariner, while on a voyage from Madeira to Philadelphia, was wrecked off Cape May, New Jersey, in 1806, and for several months thereafter was engaged in saving his cargo and in re- pairing his vessel. During this period he made many trips to Philadelphia, passing through Glassboro. He became acquainted with Miss Heston, they were mutually at- tracted, and on August 27, 1807, they were married in Philadelphia. Captain Eben Whitney then located in Glassboro. Cap- tain Eben Whitney was born in Boston, Massachusetts, March 17, 1780, and died in 1823. His wife, Bathsheba Heston, died in Glassboro, aged seventy-seven years, and was buried in the churchyard there. She was the mother of three sons,-Thomas Heston, Eben, and Samuel A. Whitney. Thomas H. and Samuel A. Whitney, be- coming permanently identified with the glass
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works their grandfather, Colonel Heston, aided in establishing, and they were con- nected with the works for nearly half a century.
Thomas Heston Whitney in 1835 pur- chased a one-third interest in the business, and two years later acquired the entire works. He continued sole owner until 1840, when he sold a half interest to his brother, Samuel A. Whitney. In 1842 the name was changed from the Harmony Glass Works to the Whitney Glass Com- pany. Thomas H. Whitney died in 1882, and Samuel A. Whitney having retired, John P. Whitney, eldest son of Thomas H., and a nephew, Thomas W. Synnot, continued the business as Whitney Broth- ers until 1887, when its magnitude became such that it was deemed wise to incorpor- ate. This was done under the name of the Whitney Glass Works, John P. Whitney being chosen vice-president and treasurer, and later president of the corporation. He was the active head of the works for near- ly twenty-five years, then resigned, and was succeeded by his brother, George Dudley Whitney.
Thomas H. Whitney married Josephine Whitney, and resided in Glassboro until his death at the beautiful homestead "Hol- ly Bush." He was a man of great business ability, and of deeply generous impulse and public spirit. To his sons he left the priceless legacy of an honored name, and to them committed the care of the business he had developed. Under John P. Whit- ney the business grew to large proportions, giving at one time employment to about one thousand operatives, and producing over six million bottles annually. Besides five furnaces at Glassboro, the company operated a plant at Salem, New Jersey, owned a plant at Blairsville, Pennsylvania, and a window glass plant at South Glass- boro. To the Whitneys belong the credit of introducing many improvements in glass manufacturing, the result of years of costly experiment, and it was largely
through them that the recognized standar of efficiency in machine bottle blowing wa reached. To the head of this great busi ness George Dudley Whitney, a lawye practicing in Philadelphia, was called upor the resignation of his brother, John P Whitney, in 1907. While all his previou: training had been professional, he relin. quished the position he had gained at the Philadelphia bar, and until his death faith- fully and capably administered the trust confided to him. He had inherited execu- tive ability from his honored father, Thom- as H. Whitney, whose whole life was de- voted to business, and in addition pos- sessed a clear, logical, well trained, judi- cial mind, strengthened by his college training and years of legal practice. His brothers, Thomas H., Samuel A., and Cut- ler Whitney, were associated with him, and now represent the Whitney name in the glass manufacturing business. A sister, Fannie, married Frank C. Hatch, of Bos- ton.
George Dudley Whitney was born at "Holly Bush," the family homestead in Glassboro, March 22, 1872, and died Febru- ary 24, 1915, youngest son of Thomas H. and Josephine (Whitney) Whitney. He passed through an extended course of pre- paratory study in the best schools, then en- tered Princeton University, whence he was graduated A. B., class of 1894. He then prepared for the legal profession, graduat- ing from the Columbia University of Wash- ington, D. C., was admitted to the bar, and began practice in Philadelphia, where he successfully established a lucrative business. After the resignation of his brother, John P. Whitney, from the presidency of the Whitney Glass Works, a position he had capably filled for nearly twenty-five years, George D. Whitney succeeded him as ex- ecutive head of the business that had been so long and so efficiently operated in the Whitney name. He gave up his legal prac- tice, and devoted all his energies to the management of the business. The blowing
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of glass bottles has been an industry that has witnessed many changes, has passed through periods of great prosperity and cor- responding depression, but the Whitney works have steadily progressed and to the Whitney brothers the honor of the present high standard of excellence in machine bot- tle blowing is largely due.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Whitney took deep interest in party success, serving for years on the executive committee of the Gloucester County Republican Central Committee. He never sought office, and when without his consent he was made a member of the county Board of Freeholders, he but served his term, then positively de- clined re-elections. He was a member of St. Thomas' Protestant Episcopal Church, a vestryman and treasurer. He was a mem- ber of the Union League, University and Princeton clubs, of Philadelphia, and in that city, as everywhere, was highly esteemed. He was a man of high character, cultured and literary in his tastes, a gentleman al- ways, courteous and companionable. He never married, but always maintained his residence in Glassboro, his home a beautiful country estate.
The funeral of Mr. Whitney was largely attended, many Philadelphians being pres- ent to testify the love and respect they felt toward their dead friend. Reverend Charles Bratten Dubell, rector of St. Thomas', con- ducted the services, after which he was laid with his fathers in the family plot in the churchyard. St. Thomas' has ever been near and dear to the Whitney heart, an attrac- tive stone church edifice belonging to the parish in Glassboro having been erected by Thomas H. and Samuel A. Whitney many years ago.
BARNETT, William Hall,
Business Man, Ideal Citizen.
William Hall Barnett, who for many years was identified with the financial and business world of Newark, and not less
closely with its religious and charitable interests, came to that city when but a year old, from which time until his death he made his home there. Growing up with it at the time of its largest development, he formed for himself a prominent place in its active life, and left behind him the name not only of a practical, successful man, but also of a philanthropist whose interest lay ever in the betterment of his city and the assistance of the more unfortunate among its inhabitants.
Mr. Barnett was a native of South Car- olina, having been born on the twenty- seventh day of April, 1847, in the city of Columbia, in that state, the second of the three sons of James G. and Mary (Hen- drickson) Barnett. His brothers were David H. Barnett, of Columbia, South Car- olina, and James G. Barnett Jr., who was born in Newark after the family had come to that place, and still resides there. In 1848, Mr. Barnett Sr. removed with his family from their southern home and settled in the New Jersey city, where he opened a clothing store and conducted it successfully for many years. It was here that William Hall Barnett received his ed- ucation, first at Dr. Pingrey's school, later at the school of Mr. Grant, and finally at the Newark Academy, from which he grad- uated in 1864. In that year, Mr. Barnett being then seventeen years of age, he joined with his father in the latter's flour- ishing trunk business, and here he re- mained ten years, or until 1874, when he formed a most successful partnership with Henry Elcox for the manufacture and sale of jewelry. But Mr. Barnett had not yet found his permanent berth in the mer- cantile world, and, at length, with T. J. Preston as partner, took up the linseed oil business, in which he was highly success- ful. In 1906, at the age of fifty-nine, he retired entirely from active participation in business life, and devoted himself to those charitable and religious interests which so claimed his attention. The Home
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for the Friendless was for a long time a matter of special solicitude to him, and he served it in the capacity of trustee and up- on its building committee. He was a de- voted member of the Central Methodist Episcopal Church, and one of its trustees, as well as a trustee of the St. John's Col- ored Church. Besides all these activities, Mr. Barnett found time to engage in social and club life, and a number of organiza- tions, secret and otherwise, named him among their members. He belonged to Kane Lodge, No. 55, Free and Accepted Mason; Damascus Commandery, Knights Templar ; Salaam Temple, the Scottish Rite bodies ; and was also a member of the Es- sex Club.
Mr. Barnett was married to Miss Mary Wildin, a daughter of Captain Wildin, of Newark. She died in 1883, leaving him childless. Mr. Barnett's death occurred on January 16, 1913, and he left a considera- ble fortune consisting of real estate and a considerable quantity of stock in the Mur- phy Varnish Company. To the Central Methodist Church he made a four thou- sand dollar cash bequest.
The life of William Hall Barnett exem- plifies in many ways the idea of good citi- zenship, in that it displayed an active in- terest in so many and diverse affairs of the community of which he was a mem- ber. Private and public matters were alike deemed neither too insignificant nor too remote for the bestowal of his personal care and attention, and in both alike he gave to all that he undertook the best that was in him.
BENTLEY, Peter (2nd),
Lawyer, Corporation Counsel.
Peter Bentley (2d), of Jersey City, son of Peter Bentley Sr., displayed in large de- gree the paternal characteristics, and was a lawyer of excellent attainments, and a marked capacity for large affairs. He was born in Jersey City, December 5, 1845. He
attended no public educational institution but received liberal instruction under the tutorship of the Rev. Mr. Van Cleck. From the outset he was marked for the law, by his own disposition and the paternal example, and he early engaged in preparation for his profession, in his father's office, and under his watchful care and solicitude. Mentally, he resembled his father in many respects, and it was said of him that few, if any, at- torneys of his day came to the bar so well grounded in legal knowledge, and concep- tion of its practical application. On being admitted to the bar he was at once received by his father as a partner, and was entrust- ed with the entire care of office business. Af- ter the death of his father he became senior member of the firm of Bentley & Harts- horne; this partnership was dissolved in 1886, and thereafter he practiced alone. While he added largely to his clientele, he retained his father's former clients, who held to him with well-reposed confidence. He frequently championed the cause of his neighbors as his father had done. In a no- table instance, he was the successful counsel in proceedings whereby the unjust water rents on vacant property and upon property where water privileges were not used, were set aside and made inoperative, effecting a great saving to taxpayers. Again, at the time of his death, he was counsel for citi- zens in the proceedings instituted to set aside the entire tax levy on the ground of gross inequality in its assessment. Mr. Bentley was conspicuously successful in safeguard- ing large corporate interests, to the avoid- ance of tedious and expensive litigation. He was leading counsel for the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, and counsel for the Standard Oil Company, the Barber Asphalt Company of New York City, and the Prov- ident Institution for Savings and the Con- sumers' Gas Company, both of Jersey City, and he also rendered important professional service to the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- pany.
Mr. Bentley married, November 3, 1869,
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Emma Parker, of Jersey City, daughter of Captain Robert Parker, the owner of Watts' Island, in Chesapeake Bay, which has been in the Parker family since its first occupa- tion in Colonial times. Children : Eleanor, born July 13, 1871, married Warren H. Dixon, son of the late Justice Dixon, of Jer- sey City; Emily, born December 5, 1872, married John H. Winans; Peter (3d), born February 6, 1874; Richard Parker, born September 25, 1875; John, born June 16, 1879; Eugenie, born December 23, 1881 ; Parker, born June 16, 1884. Mr. Bentley died in Jersey City, April 30, 1888.
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