Genealogical and memorial history of the state of New Jersey, Volume I, Part 16

Author: Lee, Francis Bazley, 1869- ed
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: New York, N.Y. : Lewis Historical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 590

USA > New Jersey > Genealogical and memorial history of the state of New Jersey, Volume I > Part 16

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

(Howell) Phebe, wife of John Scudder (V), was the daughter of Daniel Howell, son of Richard and Elizabeth Halsey, son of Edward and Frances.

Edward Howell, born at Marsh Gibbon, England, resided in colony of Massachusetts and Connecticut, 1639 to 1653, and died that year in Southampton. He was assistant 1647- 5I, representative at Hartford 1650-51-52. (See Howell's History of Southampton ).

(Throckmorton) John, born 1631 in England, was in Massachusetts and Rhode Island from 1638 to 1687, the date of his death. He signed agreement for form of government, 1640, moderator, 1652, original proprietor of Provi- dence plantation, general assembly 1664 to 1675

John (2), born in Massachusetts or Rhode Island, resided also in Middletown, New Jer- sey, from 1669 to 1690, the date of his death. He was justice, 1675, of Monmouth county. deputy 1671-73-75-77. (See Town Records of Middletown and Austin's Gen. Dic. of Rhode Island).

(Grover) Elizabeth, wife of Gershom Still- well, was the daughter of Joseph and Hannah Lawrence, daughter of William, son of James, born in England, died 1686 at Middletown, New Jersey ; lieutenant, 1676, judge of Mon- mouth county, deputy to treat with the admi- rals and commanders-in-chief of the fleet belonging to the states general of Orange, August 3, 1676. (See Saltar's History of Monmouth ).

LINN The name Linn is of Celtic origin and is older than the Christian era. We may trace it to the Greek word signifying a depression containing water, and having a counterpart in the Welsh glyn, the Gaelic gleann and the Anglo-Saxon and Eng lish glen. In the gradual evolution of language the G in the word was dropped and we have the Welsh Llyn and the Gaelic Linne. The Gaelic language includes the Erse or Highland Scotch and the Irish languages. Historians and philologists tell us that the city of London derived its name early in the Christian era from the word Lin, a body of quiet water, and

Dun, a fortified wall on its banks, and hence is defined "the fort by the lake." Sir Walter Scott, in "Old Mortality," in chapter xlii, near the end, puts these words in the answer of the woman: "An awsome place as ever living creatures took refuge in. They ca' it the Black Linn of Lenklater." In the next chapter we find "If he wad please gang to the Linn," and "When grannie sends me milk and meal to the Linn." Campbell, the Scotch bard, en- titles one of his poems "Cora Linn, or the Falls of the Clyde." Hence we have a right to claim for Scotland the early use of the name as a family cognomen, to people who dwelt near turbulent waters, foaming cataracts, pre- cipitous, craggy mountains or gloomy caverns. In the current of migration that followed the bitter struggle between the factions of Prot- estantism and Catholicism, that procured for the pages of history the memorable siege of Londonderry, the battle of Boyne, and the flight of King James to the south of Ireland, and thence to France, flowed the bone and sinew of Scotland.

The followers of the Prince of Orange were in possession of the North of Ireland. The lands that fell into the hands of the conquerors were parceled among his followers and a de- mand for sturdy tillers of the soil, artisans and tradesmen became known in Scotland and the demand was speedily filled. Scotch blood and brawn carrying with them the Protestant relig- ion, changed the North of Ireland into a Prot- estant stronghold and a new race, the Scotch- lrish came from the intermingling. Among these migrants were the Linns. They took up farms and made themselves homes on the northeast side of the province of Ulster in county Down, near Newry. During the Amer- ican revolution thousands of Scotch-Irish came to America and settled in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and among these immigrants we first find the clan Linn. They were mostly learned men, and took place among the educators of the period and preachers of the gospel, after the form that had cost them persecution and voluntary abandonment of their homes. Foes of the English Church and of Catholicism, they welcomed the outcome of the revolution as an era of Protestant rule on the Northern Continent of America, and hastened to take part in the greater reforma- tion. They were followers of the Covenanters, the Puritans and the Huguenots into a new and, as it appeared, to the God-given heritage.

Pennsylvania became the home of the larger numbers bearing the name of Linn. The Linns

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of Pennsylvania are largely represented in the matriculates and graduates of Union College, (now Union University), Schenectady, New York, and in the College of New Jersey, Princeton, now Princeton University, and Columbia, formerly King's College, New York City, notable examples being: William (3), grandson of William (I), the immigrant in 1732, and son of William (2) Linn, who was a native of the North of Ireland, the father and son settling in the township of Luzerne, Cum- berland county, Pennsylvania, in 1732.

William (3) was born in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, February 27, 1752, graduated at the College of New Jersey, A. B., 1772 ; A. M., 1775; chaplain in the American army in the revolution; pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Big Spring, Pennsylvania; Eliza- beth, New Jersey; the Collegiate Dutch Re- formed Church, New York City ; president, pro tempore, Rutgers College, 1791-94; regent of the University of the State of New York, 1787-1808; chaplain of the United States House of Representatives, 1789-91, and elected presi- dent of Union College but not inaugurated. He married Rebecca, daughter of Rev. John Blair, vice-president of the College of New Jersey, and his son, John Blair Linn ( 1777-1804) was graduated at Columbia A. B., 1795; A. M., 1797; honorary A. M. Union College, 1797 ; law student under General Alexander Hamil- ton; pastor of Dutch Reformed Church in Schenectady, 1797-99; of the First Presbyte- rian Church, Philadelphia, 1799-1804.

His second son, William ( 1790-1876), ma- triculated at Union College in class of 1808, lawyer in Ithaca, New York, and author of "Life of Thomas Jefferson" (1834), and of law books.

John Blair and Esther ( Bailey ) Linn's eld- est son, John Blair (2) graduated at Union College, class of 1820, lived in Plattsburg, New York, and his son, John F., married Mar- garet Irvine Wilson, and their son, John Blair Linn (3) was graduated at Marshall College, Pennsylvania, A. B., 1848; A. M. and LL. B., 1851 ; was a lawyer in Lewisburg, Pennsyl- vania ; a lieutenant in the civil war ; secretary of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1873- 79; joint author of the "Pennsylvania Archives," and died in Bellefontaine, Pennsyl- vania, January 1, 1899.

His cousin, John.Blair Linn (4), of Schenec- tady, was a non-graduate of Union College of the class of 1852, and was a clergyman resid- ing in Key West, Florida, in 1895. Another cousin, William, was a member of the class of

1847, Union College, and died in Schenectady in 1844, during his sophomore year.

There is no doubt that the immigrant Will- iam and his son William, in 1732, were of the same family that sent forth Joseph and Alexander Linn, who were the progenitors of the Linns of New Jersey. Alexander was a resident of Somerset county, and was there known as Judge Alexander Linn, who had a son John, (1750-1821), A. B., College of New Jersey, 1769; A. M., 1772; major in Colonel Sterling's regiment Somerset militia, 1776; deputy to the New Jersey legislature, 1776, and resigned his command as lieutenant-colonel in the New Jersey militia, June 28, 1781. He was the Democratic representative from New Jersey in the sixth United States congress, 1799-1801, and had the opportunity of giving the casting votes of New Jersey delegates to Thomas Jefferson for president of the United States in 1801. He served as supervisor of internal revenue by appointment of President Jefferson, 1801-05, and was secretary of state of New Jersey, 1805-20.

(I) Joseph, brother of Judge Alexander Linn, of Somerset county, New Jersey, was born in 1725, in the North of Ireland, and about 1750 married Martha, daughter of An- drew Kirkpatrick, the immigrant, who migrated from his home at Fratties Beach, Dumfries, Scotland, with his sons, John and David, and his daughters, Martha and Elizabeth, with his brother Alexander and family, and located in Belfast, Ireland, in 1725, and in 1736 embarked for America, landing at New Castle, Delaware, and thence making the journey mostly on foot to Mine Run or Mine Brook, Basking Ridge, New Jersey, which place they made their per- manent home. The name is prominent in the history of the Presbyterian church in Basking Ridge and in the affairs of the government of the state of New Jersey and of the United States, both judicial and legislative.

Andrew, grandson of Alexander and grand- nephew of Andrew Kirkpatrick, the immigrant, was born in Mine Brook, February 17, 1756, son of David and Mary (McEwen) Kirk- patrick and grandson of Alexander. He was graduated in the College of New Jersey, A. B., 1775; A. M., 1778; studied theology and then law and practiced law in Morristown, New Jersey, and subsequently in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He was a member of the New Jersey assembly, 1798; judge of the supreme court of the state, 1798-1803, and was chief justice, 1803-24 ; was curator of the College of New Jersey, 1807-30, and died in New Bruns-

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wick, January 7, 1831. He married, in 1792, Jane, daughter of Colonel John and Margaret (Hodge) Bayard, and their son, John Bayard Kirkpatrick, married Margaret Weaver, lived in Washington, District of Columbia, and their son, Andrew, was graduated at Union College A. B., 1863; honorary A. M., College of New Jersey, 1872, and admitted to the bar of New Jersey in 1886 ; was presiding judge of Essex county court of common pleas, 1885-96, and United States judge for the district of New Jersey from 1896.

Littleton Kirkpatrick (1797-1859), son of Judge Andrew and Jane ( Bayard) Kirkpatrick, College of New Jersey, A. B., 1815, was a lawyer in New Brunswick, New Jersey ; a Democratic representative from the Fourth District of New Jersey in the Twenty-eighth Congress, 1843-45; and surrogate of Middle- sex county for five years.

Joseph Linn, after his marriage to Martha Kirkpatrick, lived first in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, thence to Johnsonbury, in Hard- wick. Warren county, and finally settled in Har- mony Vale, Sussex county, where he died April 8, 1800, and where his wife, Martha, died March 7, 1791. The children of Joseph and Martha ( Kirkpatrick) Linn, were born in Hunterdon, Warren and Sussex counties, New Jersey, and the personal history of each is briefly narrated as follows :

I. Alexander, December 6, 1753. He mar- ried Hannah Armstrong and they had seven children. The father died in 1796 and the mother August 26, 1818. Their seven chil- dren were: Sarah, born March 10, died 1787; John, July 18, 1781 ; Mary, July I, 1783 ; An- drew, September 29, 1785; Euphaney, March 26, 1788; George, December 26, 1792, married Elizabeth Gibson ; Joseph, August 16, 1795. Alexander Linn was at one time a successful farmer in Hardwick, near Newton, Warren county, New Jersey. He was also a merchant having an interest in a general country store. Later in life he removed to Trenton, where he died in 1796, and his wife and children removed to Crawford county, Pennsylvania.

2. David, lived in Hardwick township, five miles from Newton, where he had a farm. He was quartermaster of a regiment sent out to quell the "Whiskey Boys." He married Sarah, daughter of Colonel Aaron Hankin- son, and they had children: Alexander, Mat- tie, Polly, Margaret, Aaron, Nancy, Sarah and Eliza. David Linn, the father of these chil- dren, died, and his widow married John Smalley.

3. Andrew, born in 1755, studied medicine with Dr. Samuel Kennedy, and in the war of the revolution was adjutant of the Second Sussex Regiment. He married, January 29, 1785, Anne, daughter of Richard Carnes, of Bladensburg, Maryland. She was born Janu- ary 29, 1765, and had seven children. Andrew Linn died in Newton, New Jersey, April, 1799, and his widow, June 3, 1845. Children of An- drew and Anne (Carnes ) Linn : i. Robert An- drew, born January 29, 1787, went south on reaching his majority and while in Texas joined an expedition conducted by General Jose Pedros Guitane in aid of the Mexican independence in 1812. He was in New Orleans in January, 1815, and witnessed the battle of New Orleans, January 8, 1815, when General Jackson de- feated the British army. He came north in 1818 and settled in Hamburg, Sussex county, where he married Elizabeth, daughter of Mar- tin and Rhoda (Hull) Ryerson, who was born December 10, 1791, and died January 2, 1868. The Ryerson family descended from Martin Ryerson, the Flatbush, Long Island immigrant, who came from Amsterdam, Holland. The thirteen children of Robert Andrew and Eliza- beth (Ryerson) Linn were born as follows: Robert, November 2, 1817, died November, 1838; Anna Mary, January 23, 1819, died July, 1876; David Ryerson, December 29, 1820, died September, 1875; Thomas Ryerson, Septem- ber 5, 1822, died November, 1867 ; William A., August 28, 1824, died November, 1826; James M., July 17, 1826, died August, 1827; Henry, November 17, 1827, died January, 1828; Louisa, November 25, 1828, died August, 1829 ; Theodore Andrew, October 20, 1830, died Sep- tember, 1852; Martha E., February 2, 1833 ; Helen, July 10, 1834, died September, 1834; Margaret Anderson, July 15, 1837, died Sep- tember, 1837. ii. Joseph, second child of An- drew and Anne (Carnes) Linn, died in infancy. iii. Margaret Gaston, third child of Andrew and Anne (Carnes ) Linn, born January 19, 1790. married William T. Anderson, born in Newton, New Jersey, 1777, was graduated at the Col- lege of New Jersey in 1796, admitted to the Sussex bar in 1800 and practiced his profession in Newton, where he distinguished as a lawyer and in various offices of trust in the county of Sussex, New Jersey. William T. and Mar- garet Gaston (Linn) Anderson had thirteen children. iv. David Ryerson, fourth child of Andrew and Anne (Carnes) Linn, born in 1791. He was a surveyor and, on discovering that much of the wild land of Sussex county had no owners, he purchased large tracts from the

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state at low rates and this property in his hands became very valuable. He was a mem- ber of the New Jersey council, 1830-35 ; presi- dent of the Sussex County Bank, 1831-35, and was classed as one of the most influential citi- zens of Sussex county. v. Thomas Carnes, fifth child of Andrew and Anne (Carnes) Linn, died young. vi. Alexander, sixth child of Andrew and Anne (Carnes) Linn, born Au- gust 21, 1797, married Rachel vii. Martha, seventh child of Andrew and Anne (Carnes) Linn, born August 12, 1799, mar- ried (first) Hugh Taylor, of Georgia, (second) Richard R. Morris, of New Jersey, and died May 30, 1880.

4. Margaret, married Joseph Gaston, who was of Irish descent and came to New Jersey from Pennsylvania and served during the American Revolution as paymaster of the Sussex militia. He died in Sussex county, New Jersey, in 1804, aged sixty-five years.

5. Mary.

6. Anne, married Jacob Hull and died in 1837.

7. Martha, married (first ) Isaac Shaffer, (second) a Mr. de Munn.

8. John, see forward.

(II) John, fourth son and youngest of the eight children of Joseph and Martha (Kirk- patrick) Linn, was born in Hardwick town- ship, Warren county, New Jersey, December 3, 1763, and died January 5, 1821. He was a mere lad when his father removed to Sussex county and purchased a large farm in the township of Hardyston and he grew up on this farm and became strong and finely developed. He was only thirteen years old when the War of Independence began and it was hard to keep him on the farm, aroused as he was with the desire to join in the conflict and drive the British army back to the ships that carried them to the colonies, to put down the rebellious subjects of the King. He had inherited the spirit of the Scotch Covenanters and history had taught him of the persecution and martyr- dom that had forced them to seek liberty in the New World. Before the war closed he was accepted as a private in Captain Manning's Sussex county troop and he became sergeant of the company. On returning from the army he began the study of law and soon was in the active practice of his profession. In 1803 he was elected to the state assembly as a repre- sentative from Sussex county and the next year a member of the council of the state, which office corresponded to that of senator, the first constitution of the state not following

the custom of the other states or of the United States in this respect. In 1805 he was made a judge of the common pleas and notary public by appointment of the assembly and council of the state and he held the position on the bench of the court of common pleas up to 1817, a period of twelve years, when he resigned to take his seat in the United States congress as representative from the Sussex congressional district in the fifteenth congress. He is credited with being sheriff of Sussex county in 1812, but this would have interferred with his duties as judge of the common pleas, so we do not undertake to affirm or deny the state- ment. He was re-elected in 1818 to the six- teenth congress and, while serving in the sec- ond session of that congress, he died from the effects of malarial fever, so prevalent at that period in the national capital.

He married, May 19, 1791, Martha, daugh- ter of Richard Hunt, of Hardwick, New Jer- sey. She was born in 1773, became by this marriage the mother of fourteen children and died July 15, 1827, having been a widow for six years. On account of the honorable posi- tion of the father and the unusual honors that fell to his descendants, we make place for an extended notice of his children and grand- children. The children were born in Sussex county, New Jersey, as follows :

I. Elizabeth, September 2, 1792, married Rev. Edward Allen and they had six children as follows: i. John Linn Allen, who married Charlotte Bell. ii. Elizabeth, who married Milton Dimock. iii. Martha, who married T. Haskins Du Puy. iv. Mary. v. Emma, who married Dr. George Boyd. vi. Edward, who married Amelia Clapp. vii. Henrietta L., still living.

2. Joseph, September 25, 1795.

3. Sarah, March 7, 1796, who married Na- than Shafer and had six children as follows : i. Mary, who married Joseph Courson. ii. William D. Shafer. iii. Joseph Shafer, who married Elizabeth Ward. iv. Abraham Shafer, who married Hannah Casterline. v. Lucilla, who married David Morris. vi. Louisa, who died unmarried.

4. Alfred Richard, died in infancy.

5. Andrew. May 7, 1799, who married Sy- billa Beardslee, born April 21, 1802. She be- came the mother of his ten children and died April 4, 1884, having outlived her husband thirty-four years. These children were: i. John, who married Hannah Smith. ii. Edward N., who married Naomi Decker. iii. Martha E., who married Rev. R. A. Sawyer. iv. Susan

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C., who married Rev. William Travis. v. Joseph A. vi. Lucilla, who married Charles W. Bunn. vii. Hubert Seldon. viii. Julia, who married George Neldon. ix. Sarah. x. Amelia, who died in infancy.

6. Margaret, died in infancy.

7. John, May 6. 1803, died 1819.

8. Mary Anne, March 4, 1805, who married Rev. Benjamin Lowe and had seven children: Martha, William, Joseph, Alexander, Mary, Henrietta and Caroline Lowe. Of these chil- dren Martha married Munson Hillyer, Mary married a Robinson, and Caroline a Hast- ings.

9. Caroline, December 18, 1806; married Roderick Byington, M. D., and had five chil- dren: i. Theodore Linn Byington, who mar- ried Margaret Hallock. ii. Edwin Byington, who became a physician. iii. Frances. iv Lillian. v. Roderick Byington.

IO. Henrietta.

II. David Hunt, who died in infancy.

12. Alexander, see forward.

(III) Alexander, sixth son of Hon. John and Martha (Hunt) Linn, was born in Har- mony Vale, Hardyston township, Sussex coun- ty, New Jersey, February 17, 1811, and died at Deckertown, New Jersey, May 12, 1868. He was educated as a physician and practiced his profession in Sussex county, New Jersey, dur- ing his entire life. He was graduated at Union College, Schenectady, New York, A. B., in 1831, studied medicine, received his M. D. de- gree in 1834, and established his office at Deckertown, now Sussex. He married Julia Vibbert. Children, born at Deckertown : I. William Alexander, see forward. 2. Charles H., born March 16, 1848, married Elizabeth K. Skinner, born September 17, 1858, died April 23, 1894; children : Mary R., born Au- gust 15, 1880; Alexander, December 12, 1881 ; Julia V., September 2, 1883; Elizabeth K., January 14, 1894. 3. John, born January 14, 1854, married Janet W. Lawrence, born April 26, 1849; children : William A., born May 28, 1880; Margaret L., August 2, 1882; John L., July 30, 1884, died September 23, 1885 ; Janet L., March 20, 1889. 4. Robert A., born July 30, 1867, died July 21, 1897; married Sallie Gould, born September 12, 1867; children: Margaret A., born December 31, 1891 ; Alice, October 17, 1895. 5. A daughter Lucilla, died in infancy.

(IV) William Alexander, eldest child of Dr. Alexander and Julia (Vibbert) Linn, was born at Deckertown, Sussex county, New Jer-

sey, September 4, 1846. He was the eldest of four sons and his father desired that he should have the advantages of a college education. To that end he sent him to Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, the celebrated pre- paratory school, and he was graduated in the class of 1864. He at once matriculated at Yale College and was a brilliant under-grad- uate, winning the editorship of the Yale Liter- ary Magazine and securing the honor of being class poet. He was graduated A. B. in 1868. His amateur newspaper work at Yale deter- mined the line of his endeavor in the literary field and he obtained a position on the New York Tribune as reporter in 1868; he left the position of night editor in 1871 to accept that of city editor of the New York Evening Post. He was connected with that high-class news and literary evening paper (for the last nine years as managing editor) until 1900, when he resigned to engage in general literary work. He has had the benefit of such able school masters and associates in journalism as Horace Greeley, John Russell Young, William Cullen Bryant, E. L. Godkin and Wendell Phillips Garrison. His books bear the stamp of his thorough journalistic training as can readily be seen in his "The Story of the Mormons," 1902 ; "Rob and his Gun," 1902; "Horace Greeley," 1903, bearing the imprint of and issued from the notable publishing houses: The Macmillan Company, Charles Scribner's Sons and D. Appleton & Company, respectively. He was appointed in 1899 by Governor Voorhees a member of a commission to report upon the condition and desirability of preservation of the Palisades, and this commission framed and secured the passage of the law under which the Inter-State Palisade Park commission was ap- pointed and the Palisades rescued from im- pending destruction through the quarrying of the stone forming the great natural wonder. Mr. Linn was made a member of the Inter- State Commission and is still serving in that capacity. He was elected a trustee of the Johnson public library of Hackensack at its opening and is still serving. He has been, since its organization in 1887, president of the Hackensack Mutual Building & Loan Associa- tion, and is serving in the same capacity for the Peoples' National Bank of Hackensack, which he organized in 1903. He makes his summer home on his fruit and dairy farm at McAfee Valley, Sussex county, New Jersey. He married, in 1871, Margaret A. Martin, of New York City, who died in 1897.

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The Voorhees, Voorhis, VOORHEES Voorhies, and the same name with the prefix "van" is another specimen of the local or place sur- name which is so common in the old Dutch records, where the personal cognomens changed with each generation, being confined mostly to the baptismal name with the addition of the father's name coupled with a suffix sig -- nifying "son." In the present case, the earl- iest ancestor of the Voorhees family of whom we have any trace was

(I) Albert van Voorhees, or Albert of the town of Hees, Holland, who died about 1684, leaving six out of his nine children to survive him, namely : 1. Coert Albertse, referred to be- low. 2. Steven Albertse. 3. Hendrick, who had five children living in 1684. 4. Suytgen van Haecxwolt, who with one child was living in 1684. 5. Jan van- Heffelying, died before 1684, but left one daughter surviving him and then living. 6. Hilbert Albertse van Voor- hees, dying before 1684, left living at that date two sons and one daughter. 7. Wesvel Al- bertse van Voorhees, himself deceased, but having one son and daughter living in 1684. 8. Geertjen Albertse van Oshaer en Veghten. 9. Merghin van Voorhees, married Jan Mer- vas van der Hught.

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Genealogical and memorial history of the state of New Jersey, Volume I, Part 16

Author: Lee, Francis Bazley, 1869- ed Publication date: 1910 Publisher: New York, N.Y. : Lewis Historical Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 590

Author: Lee, Francis Bazley, 1869- ed
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: New York, N.Y. : Lewis Historical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 590