USA > New Jersey > Genealogical and memorial history of the state of New Jersey, Volume I > Part 55
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entered the junior class at Princeton in 1798, and was admitted to first degree in arts, Sep- tember, 1800, with the highest honors of the institution, and spoke the English salutatory. On completing his course, Dr. Carnahan de- clined the office of tutor in the college for the reason that he was so recently graduated. He returned to Cannonsburg and spent one year in the study of theology under Rev. Dr. Mc- Millan. In the autumn of 1801 he returned to Princeton as tutor, discharging the duties of this office for two years and continuing his theological studies meanwhile. In September, 1803, he resigned his position, though requested to remain as teacher of mathematics, with a better salary and the prospect of becoming professor. In April, 1804, he was licensed by the presbytery of New Brunswick to preach the gospel. After visiting several churches in Warren county, New Jersey, and in Pennsyl- vania, he preached in the Reformed Dutch Church at Albany, and went from thence to Utica and its vicinity. On his return to New Jersey, Dr. Carnahan received two calls-one from the Dutch Collegiate Church at Albany, and the other from the United Societies of Whitesboro and Utica. He accepted the latter call, as he preferred the Presbyterian church. For the six ensuing years Dr. Carnahan labor- ed faithfully and with good results in his new charge. In 1811 he was compelled to seek a milder climate on account of an affection of the throat from which he never entirely re- covered, it being the chief cause of his resign- ing the presidency. After spending a year in Mapleton, New Jersey, Dr. Carnahan and his family removed to Princeton, where he took charge of a classical school for nine months. He then went to Georgetown, D. C., and open- ed a classical school. This proving a success, he remained eleven years at Georgetown, at the end of which time he was chosen by a unanimous vote of the board, May 12, 1823, president of the College of New Jersey. Dr. Carnahan immediately accepted. He afterwards declared that he would not have done this so readily if he had fully understood the condi- tion of affairs at the college. As was the cus- tom of the time, Dr. Carnahan was met and escorted on his entrance into Princeton by a large number of students on horseback. He was inaugurated August 6, 1823. President Carnahan's term of office was one of marked increase in the growth and development of the college. During his administration of thirty- one years, sixteen hundred and thirty-four students were graduated from the institution ;
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the teaching corps was increased from two professors and two tutors in 1823 to six pro- fessors, two assistant professors and four tutors in 1854; and not less than $75,000 was spent in erection of new buildings, purchase of apparatus and books, and on the improvement of the college grounds. During his whole presidency, Dr. Carnahan gave himself with exemplary diligence to the duties of office, taking a full share both in instruction and government. He was a wise and prudent counsellor, kind and courteous to colleagues and pupils, always self-possessed, firm, yet liberal. Ready to make all allowance for youth- ful aberrations, he was inflexible in the dis- charge of duty. In his manner he was un- assuming and modest, entirely free from selfishness and petty jealousy. If good was done, he rejoiced, no matter who suggested or did it. His financial ability has frequently been set forth, but his usefulness to the college was of a higher order. Maclean says: "I question whether in the circumstances under which he conducted the affairs of the college, any man could have been found who would have managed them with so much wisdom and ultimately with so much success." In 1824, when General Lafayette was making a tour of the country, he was received with great hos- pitality at Princeton, and was presented by President Carnahan with a diploma of Doctor of Laws, which had been conferred upon the general in 1790. In June, 1853, President Carnahan resigned his office, but consented to retain his position till 1854. Dr. Carnahan was then unanimously chosen a trustee of the col- lege, and continued to attend meetings of the board and to aid them by his counsel. He was also president of the board of trustees of the Theological Seminary, and a most useful mem- ber. After his wife's death, in 1854, he went to spend the winter in Newark, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. William K. McDonald, where he died March 3, 1859. His remains were brought to Princeton, where the funeral was held at the First Presbyterian Church, and was very largely attended.
A letter of his son-in-law's, Mr. McDonald, gives illustration of Dr. Carnahan's singular modesty: "The only meritorious act of his long life which he thought proper to record, has reference to his fondness for shade trees, when he expresses hope that the people of Princeton will remember that he planted the trees in the college campus, and transplanted from his own nursery those noble ones that
adorn the entrance to the vestibule of their church."
Dr. Carnahan had two children: I. Lydia, married Luther Halsey Van Doren, pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church at Middleton, New Jersey. 2. Hannah Mahon, born July 7, 1809; died May 21, 1878; married William King McDonald (see McDonald).
McDONALD
Alexander McDonald, found- er of the family under con- sideration, was born near In-
verness, in Scotland. He emigrated to Amer- ica previous to 1784, as his son John was born that year in New York City, where Mr. Mc- Donald followed the occupation of cloth mer- chant. He married (first) Miss Muncton, and (second) Miss McDowell, who was a resident of Orange county, New York. Among his children was John, referred to below.
(II) John, son of Alexander and
(Muncton) McDonald, was born in New York City, April 23, 1784, and died September 12, 1812. He married Anna King, born February 25, 1786, died January 6, 1863.
(III) William King, only child of John and Anna (King) McDonald, was born in Alex- andria, Virginia, December 31, 1807, and died April 14, 1871. He graduated from Prince- ton in 1827, read law with Adjutant General Walter Jones, of Washington, D. C., and be- came a professor of belle lettres at Washington College, Pennsylvania. Later he established a classical school at Bloomfield, New Jersey. He was admitted to the bar in 1841, and began practice in Newark, where he was clerk of the common council from April, 1844, to April, 1850. He was a member of the New Jersey general assembly in 1856-57; was appointed state comptroller in 1865, and reappointed in 1868; and also surrogate of the county of Essex for five years. He was a member of the Newark Board of Education from 1864 to 1866. He married Hannah Mahon, daughter of James and Mary (Van Dyke) Carnahan (see Carnahan).
(IV) James Carnahan, only son of William King and Hannah Mahon (Carnahan) Mc- Donald, was born at Princeton, New Jersey, October 1, 1831. After obtaining his early education at a preparatory school in Prince- ton, he entered Nassau Hall, Princeton Uni- versity, graduating in 1852. He then read law with his father, and was admitted to the New Jersey bar as attorney, November, 1855, and as counsellor, November, 1858. He is a master
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and examiner in chancery. Mr. McDonald has never sought or held public office, but has devoted his time to his profession, in which he has gained prominence and honor. He is one of the oldest and strongest members of the Newark bar, and has always enjoyed an ex- tensive practice. Mr. McDonald has also active real estate interests, and has been a director of the National Newark Banking Company for several years. He is a member of the First Presbyterian Church. On November 7, 1860, at Madison, New Jersey, Mr. McDonald mar- ried Mary Henrietta Condit, daughter of Peter W. and Martha (Tabele) Condit, who was born in Newark, New Jersey, December 26, 1837, and died May 24, 1897. (See Condit). They have two children: 1. Mary C., born November 9, 1865; married, June 4, 1890, William S. Clawson, and has two children: Mildred, born June 22, 1891, and James Mc- Donald, February 14, 1898. 2. William King, born September 7, 1867; married Mary Mc- Donald, and has two children: James Carna- han Jr., and William King Jr.
(The Condit Line).
(IV) Samuel, son of Samuel (q. v.) and Mary (Dodd) Condit, was born January 13, 1729, and died in middle life, November 18, 1776. He was a farmer on the land inherited from his father, and is known to have been a very exemplary man, truly pious and God- fearing. He married (first), in 1754, Mary, daughter of Joseph Smith, of Orange, New Jersey, who was born 1733, and died May 26, 1770. He married (second), in 1774, Martha Carter, widow of Stephen Wilcox, of Eliza- bethtown, New Jersey, who was born in 1736, and died at the residence of her son Samuel, November 4, 1815. After Samuel Condit's death she married Deacon Paul Day, of Bottle or Long Hill, Morris county, New Jersey, who died October 30, 1802, in the seventy-eighth year of her age. Children, six by first mar- riage : John, born July 8, 1755 ; Daniel, Octo- ber 3, 1756; Moses, 1760 ; Joseph, 1762 ; Aaron, August 6, 1765 ; Caleb, 1768, died of small-pox, April 24, 1777. Children by second marriage : Jotham, born March 27, 1775; Samuel, re- ferred to below.
(V) Samuel, son of Samuel and Martha (Carter) Condit, was born March, 1777, and died August 22, 1860. After his mother's marriage to Deacon Paul Day, Samuel's sub- sequent home was at Chatham, Morris county, New Jersey, where he afterwards and during the greater part of his life conducted a hotel. i-18
He was widely known and held in high esteem by his acquaintances. He married Mary Car- ter, born 1780, died 1857. Children: Peter W., see below; Henrietta, born 1805, died un- married; Eliza B., born January 28, 1812; Emily, born February, 1815, died October 9, 1816; John, born 1818; Caleb, born 1809, died June 27, 1830.
(VI) Peter W., son of Samuel and Mary (Carter) Condit, was born March 18, 1804, and died December 27, 1839. He was a hatter by trade at Chatham, New Jersey, his native place. He married, September 9, 1827, Martha Tabele. Children : May A., born June 28, 1828, died November 26, 1830; Eliza Soutag, born September 3, 1830, died December 28, 1909, unmarried; Martha Bogart, born July 6, 1833; Mary Henrietta, see below; Helen Maria, born September 25, 1839.
(VII) Mary Henrietta, daughter of Peter W. and Martha (Tabele) Condit, was born December 26, 1837, and died May 24, 1897. She married, at Madison, New Jersey, No- vember 7, 1860, James Carnahan McDonald (see McDonald).
The Plume arms: Ermine, a blend PLUM vair or and gules cottised vert. Crest (English) : Out of a ducal coronet or, a plume of ostrich feathers argent.
The Plumbs are an ancient Norman family and are traced back to Normandy, A. D., 1180; and in England to A. D., 1240. In America the Plumes and Plums are among the oldest New England colonial families. Of the Eng- lish Plume and Plum ancestors of the immi- grant some brief mention may be made in this place.
John Plumbe, yeoman, of Toppesfield, Eng- land, had a wife Elizabeth ; sons : John, Rob- ert, Thomas, and four daughters.
Robert Yeoman, yeoman, of Great Yeldham, Essex, England; married (first) Elizabeth Purchas, and (second) Mrs. Etheldred Fuller. He had sons: Robert, Thomas, Edmund, Jo- seph and one other, and daughters: Margaret, Elizabeth, Mary and Anne.
Robert Plume, gentleman, of Spaynes Hall, Great Yeldham, Essex, son of Robert and Elizabeth (Purchas) Plume, lived and died at Great Yeldham. He married Grace Crack- bone and by her had sons: Robert, John and Thomas, and daughters : Martha, Mary, Ethel- dred, Frances and Hannah.
(I) John Plume, immigrant, son of Robert and Grace (Crackbone) Plume, was born in Spaynes Hall at Great Yeldham, Essex, Eng-
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land, and was baptized there, July 28, 1594. He came from England to Wethersfield, Con- necticut, in 1635, and his name first appears there in a court record of the following year. He was a member of the court there from 1637 until 1642. He is mentioned in the rec- ords as "Mr. Plum," indicating a social station of more than ordinary importance. In 1636 it is recorded that "Whereas, there was tendered to us an inventory of the estate of Mr. Jo. Old'a (Oldham) which seemed to be somewhat uncertainly valued, wee, therefore, think meete to, & so it is ordered that Mr. Jo. Plum & Rich. Gildersleeve, together with the constable, shall survey the saide inventory and perfect the same before the next corte & then to de- liver it into the corte." At a court held at Hartford, in March, 1636, "Mr. Plum," being a member of the court, the business before it was the adopting of some measures to buy corn from the Indians, as the inhabitants were in a starving condition. They agreed to pay from four to six shillings a bushel for it, and "Mr. Plum" was appointed to receive the corn for Wethersfield. He held various town offices and performed many public duties, such as marking town boundaries, laying out roads, determining lines between towns, looking to the improvement of the lands of the planta- tions, and attending the court as a deputy. He was also one of the men in Captain John Mason's little army that wiped out the Pequot Indians in 1637, and for his services he re- ceived a grant of lands. He was a ship owner and it is thought that he might have been owner of the vessel that carried seventy-seven of Mason's men around from the mouth of the Connecticut river to the Narragansett. In 1644-45 he was appointed to attend the clear- ance of vessels at Wethersfield, but in the former year, 1644, he sold his lands in Wethers- field and removed to Branford, where in 1645 he is mentioned as "Keeper of the Town's Book." He died there in 1648, and his wife, "Mrs. Plume," administered on his estate, Au- gust 1, 1648. Only one of his children was born in this country, and no record exists of any of his children except that of his son Sam- uel, who lived with his father in Branford when the former died. By wife, Dorothy John Plume, had eight children: I. Robert, bap- tized December 30, 1617. 2. John, May 27, 1619. 3. William, May 9, 1621. 4. Ann, Oc- tober 16, 1623. 5. Samuel, January 4, 1625- 26; see forward. 6. Dorothea, January 16, 1626. 7. Elizabeth, October 9, 1629. 8. Deb- orah, July 28, 1633.
(II) Samuel Plum, son of John and Doro- thy Plume, was born in England, January 4, 1625-26; died January 22, 1703. He was of Wethersfield and Branford, Connecticut. In 1668 he sold all the remaining part of his lands in Branford and removed to Newark, New Jersey, and was among the very earliest settlers in that region. The town of Newark was bought in 1666 by certain men of Milford. New Haven, Branford and Guilford, Connecti- cut, and lots were divided among the pur- chasers as early as 1667. The name of the wife of Samuel Plum is not known, but he married and had eight children : I. Elizabeth, born January 18, 1650-51. 2. Mary, April 1, 1653. 3. Samuel, March 22, 1654-55. 4. John, Octo- ber 28, 1657 ; see forward. 5. Doratha, March 26, 1660. 6. Joshua, August 3, 1662. 7. Jo- anna, March II, 1665. 8. Sarah, born prob- ably in 1676.
(III) John, son of Samuel Plum, was born in Branford, Connecticut, October 28, 1657; died July 12, 1710. He came with his father's family to Newark in 1668 and afterward lived in that town. His children, born in Newark, are only known by being named in his will and other wills with their husbands and wives, but the dates of their births and deaths are not known. In 1677 John Plum married Hannah Crane, and by her had five children : 1. Mary, married (first) Elihu Crane; (second) Rev. Jonathan Dickinson. 2. Sarah, married John Lindsley. 3. Jane, married Joseph Riggs. 4. Hannah. 5. John, see forward.
(IV) John Plume, youngest child and only son of John and Hannah (Crane) Plum, was born in Newark, New Jersey, about 1696; died after 1785. His entire life was spent in New- ark and he appears to have been one of the few of his family who wrote his surname "Plume." He married (first), about 1724, Joanna Crane, who died about 1785, and mar- ried (second) Mary He had in all eight children, all born of his first marriage : I. Isaac, October 1, 1734; died November 19, 1799; married (first) Sarah Crane; (second) Ann Van Wagenen. 2. Stephen, died 1828, aged seventy-three years. 3. Mary, married Rufus Crane. 4. Jane, died after 1780. 5.
Phebe, married Captain Robert Provost. 6. Joseph. 7. John, see forward.
(V) John Plum, youngest son and child of John and Joanna (Crane) Plume, was born in Newark, about 1743; died there, about Jan- uary, 1771. He always wrote his name with- out the final "e," and his example has been followed by all of his descendants. The date
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Lume Historical Pub Co
ZA ShuckE Orange NJ.
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of his marriage with Susan Crane is not known, but it was about the year 1764. They had four children, all born in Newark: I. Joseph R., July 30, 1766; died November 12, 1834; mar- ried (first) Mary Banks ; (second) Anna Price. 2. Matthias, 1768; see forward. 3. David, 1769; died August 27, 1835; married Matilda Cook. 4. Robert.
(VI) Matthias, son of John and Susan (Crane) Plum, was born in Newark, 1768; died there, in 1852; having spent his entire life in that city. He married, about 1793, Phebe Woodruff, and by her had five children, all born in Newark: I. Lucetta, May 21, 1794; died July 3, 1881 ; married Joseph Plum. 2. Sarah, September 19, 1797; died March 22, 1875 ; married Ambrose Williams. 3. Stephen Haines, January 7, 1800; see forward. 4. Elias, November 18, 1804; died April 12, 1883 ; mar- ried (first) Susan Rankin; (second) Mary Mann; (third) Martha M. Buell. 5. David B., May 2, 1813; died July 15, 1851 : married (first) Leonora Whittaker ; (second) Anna M. Arnold.
(VII) Stephen Haines, eldest son and third child of Matthias and Phebe (Woodruff) Plum, was born in Newark, New Jersey, Janu- ary 7, 1800; died there, April 1I, 1885. He received a good common school education, and was then apprenticed to a shoe manufacturer, with whom he remained until he was old enough to establish a business for himself. From the outset he was very successful, and establishing a place of business in New York City he soon extended his operations through- out the southern and western states, being among the first of the Newark manufacturers to make for that city its well-deserved and earned reputation. About 1850 he began to withdraw gradually from business of a mer- cantile and manufacturing nature and invested his means in other directions, becoming largely interested in the Newark Gas Light Company, of which he was for a number of years a di- rector. He was also a stockholder and director in the New Jersey Fire Insurance Company, the Mechanics' Fire Insurance Company and the St. Mark's Fire Insurance Company of New York. He was a man of high character and his influence was always felt for good. He married Margaret Monteith, born in Belvi- dere, New Jersey, died in Newark, January 6, ' 1883, daughter of Michael and Martha (Rams- den) Todd, the former of whom emigrated from Glasgow, Scotland, to America in the latter part of the eighteenth century. Children,
all born in Newark: I. Charlotte, born 1835; married Theodore B. Coe. 2. Matthias, No- vember 24, 1839; see forward. 3. Stephen Haines, November 12, 1842 ; a sketch of whom also appears in this work.
(VIII) Matthias, son of Stephen Haines and Margaret Monteith (Todd) Plum, was born in Newark, New Jersey, November 24, 1839. He attended the New Street Seminary and the school conducted by Professor Nathan Hedges, who was widely known as a cultured man and a thorough instructor in the educa- tional field. At the age of fifteen years he secured employment in the firm of Martin R. Dennis & Company, book sellers and stationers, with whom he remained twelve years, during which time he acquired a thorough knowledge of every branch of the business. He then formed a partnership with Messrs. Williams and Hardham under the style of Williams, Hardham & Plum, and succeeded Benjamin Olds in business. This connection continued for several years, after which Messrs. Will- iams and Hardham retired and Mr. Plum con- ducted the business alone, increasing his stock steadily and adding new departments until at the present time (1909) he has the largest business of its kind in the state of New Jersey. In addition to the sale of books and stationery, he does all kinds of printing, book binding, and has an extensive paper warehouse. During Mr. Plum's forty-three years connection with business he has always enjoyed the confidence and respect of his associates and patrons, owing to the fact that he conducted his affairs in a straightforward and honorable manner and exerted every means to please his customers. His life has been one of unquestionable integ- rity, of fidelity to duty and of sterling worth, and he enjoys the acquaintance of a large num- ber of people throughout the community. He is a director in the Firemen's Insurance Com- pany of Newark, and was formerly connected with many of the financial institutions of the city. He is a consistent member of the First Baptist Church of Newark. Mr. Plum mar- ried, September 4, 1862, Josephine A., born August 7, 1841, daughter of William and Anne Eliza (Howard) Terhune, who were married January 15, 1839. William Terhune was born December 9, 1818, and his wife, August 28, 1819. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Plum: I. Anne Howard, born May II, 1864; married. October 25, 1882, George W. Downs ; child. Harry Plum Downs, born October 6, 1883. 2. Matthias, December 8, 1865 ; see forward. 3.
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Stephen Haines, June 6, 1872 ; married Madge Wilder ; one child, Emeline Plum. 4. William Terhune, April 14, 1876; see forward.
(IX) Matthias, son of Matthias and Jo- sephine A. (Terhune) Plum, was born in New- ark, New Jersey, December 8, 1865. He was educated at Newark Academy. For a number of years he was associated in business with his father, but is now ( 1909) operating the Wav- erly Paper Box & Board Company's plant at Waverly, New Jersey, of which he is pro- prietor. He is a member of the Morris County Golf Club, Essex County Country Club, Essex Club and Trinity Church (Episcopal), New- ark. He married, April 23, 1890, Mary Camp- bell, born November 4, 1870, daughter of Elisha Bird and Mary (Campbell) Gaddis, of Newark. Children : I. Mary Gaddis, born April 5, 1892. 2. Elisha Gaddis, June 16, 1897. 3. Matthias, third, October 1, 1904.
(IX) William Terhune, youngest son and child of Matthias and Josephine A. (Terhune) Plum, was born in Newark, New Jersey, April 14, 1876. He graduated from Newark Acad- emy in 1895, and from that time until 1906 was engaged in a general stationery business in Newark, of which his father was the head. June 29, 1909, he built and became the sole proprietor of the Meadow Paper Box Board Mill of Newark, manufacturers of bristols and paper box boards. In addition to this he serves as director in Lyon & Sons Brewing Company, and in several other prominent business con- cerns in Newark. He holds membership in various subordinate Masonic bodies at New- ark, lodge, council, commandery and also the Scottish Rite bodies up to the thirty-second de- gree, being also a member of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member of the Auto and Motor Club, Essex County Country Club and Essex Club. Mr. Plum married, October 26, 1898, Bertha, daughter of Gottfried and Bertha (Lible) Krueger. Children, born in Newark: I. Will- iam Terhune Jr., September 6, 1899. 2. Gott- fried Krueger, October 9, 1902 ; died Septem- ber 12, 1904. 3. Bertha Krueger, October 6, 1905.
TRUAX Elias Truax, the earliest member of this family of whom we have definite information, was born in Shrewsbury, in July 1788, and died June 2, 1881, in his ninety-fourth year. The name in the various spellings of Treuax, Treux, Trewex, Triax, Tryax and Truax, both with and with- out the prefix "de" is found in the old records of New Amsterdam, but there is no evidence
to indicate whether the prefix is the French preposition meaning "of" or the Dutch article signifying "the," and it is consequently im- possible to determine whether the family is of Holland Dutch or French Huguenot extraction. Jacob, second son of Philip de Treuax, who is said to have settled in New Amsterdam about 1621, was baptized in the Dutch Church in New Amsterdam, December 7, 1645; on April 14, 1682, he took up one hundred and thirty acres of land in Freehold township, Monmouth county, New Jersey, between Swimming River and 'Holmdel. Here he settled and became the ancestor of the New Jersey branch of the fam- ily. Elias Truax, referred to above, a descend- ant of Jacob de Treuax, owned a large farm in Hamilton, Monmouth county, New Jersey. He was originally an old line Whig and later a Republican. It is said that he never experi- enced a day's illness until attacked by the pneu- monia which caused his death. In the war of 1812 he served from September 16 to Decem- ber 9, 1814, as private in Captain Daniel D. Hendrickson's company of riflemen, Third Regiment of New Jersey Detailed Militia. He married Hannah Layton, who died about four years after her husband, at the age of ninety- four. Children : Anthony, referred to below ; John; Sarah Ann, married Hamilton Banta ; name unknown, died in infancy.
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