USA > New Jersey > Genealogical and memorial history of the state of New Jersey, Volume II > Part 2
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85
(III) William (2), sixth child and second son of the Hon. Archibald Mercer, Esquire, of Somerset county and Newark, was born in Millstone, New Jersey, March 2, 1786, died in Newark less than three years after his mar- riage, and within eighteen days of his twenty- sixth birthday. From several of the ex- pressions in his father's will it would appear as though he were to some extent the favorite son, but whether this was due to the promise of a brilliant career, or to innate and acquired characteristics that endeared him to those with whom he came in contact, or to a delicate con- dition of health that rendered necessary an extra amount of care and devotion on his father's part, there is now no means of deter- mining. William Mercer died intestate, but from his father's will we learn that Archibald Mercer kept a careful account of all the money he had given to his children at any time, and the reasons therefore. On the date of his son, William's death he closed these accounts and his will mentions the totals with the ledger
page devoted to each child, and notes that in the case of "Lucy" (i. e. Louisa ) and William, both deceased "these two accounts are not to be made account of except as so much towards the legacies of their children." In the case of the other children the amounts given to them were to be charged against their respec- tive shares of his estate as were also any addi- tional sums advanced to them since that date. The totals vary all the way from Charlotte's $737.00 to Peter's $5,768; and William's $2,- 600.00 is fourth in the whole list, but in the amounts loaned to his sons it is only exceeded by Peter's amount. Only the ledger, if it is still in existence and can be found, will tell us with certainty the purpose for which these loans were made; but judging from the fact that four out of his nine children died before reaching the prime of life, from the sad his- tory of Peter's first marriage and the early deaths of his wife and children, together with the fact that the greatest amounts were loaned to Peter, Louisa, Gertrude and William, the first of his four grown up children to die, and also remembering that the most of William's married life was spent at a health resort, there is a possibility that the expenses of sickness rather than the opportunities of business and fortune were to a greater or less degree the controlling factors. William Mercer married, November II, 1809, Eliza Vardell, daughter of Thomas Vardell, of New York City, and shortly after his marriage went to Bermuda to visit his uncle, William Mercer, where their first child was born, died, and was buried in the family vault. He and his bride remained at Bermuda until a little while before his death, when they returned to his father's home in Newark. Here William's only son was born, just twenty-three days after his father's de- cease, in the old house of his grandfather on Broad street upon the present site of the Con- tinental Hotel. Children: Margaret Willett, born May 3, 1810, died March 10, 1811 ; Will- iam Theodore, who will now be considered.
(IV) William Theodore, only son of Will- iam (2) Mercer, was born March 7, 1812, died in Newark, June 28, 1886. His mother sur- vived her husband only a few years, and left her child an orphan of about four or five years old. William Theodore was then adopted by his Aunt Charlotte, the wife of the Hon. Theo- dore Frelinghuysen, and in their house in Newark he passed his early years and later on in life made his home. His preparatory education was gained in the old Newark Acad- emy, which had been established by an asso-
407
STATE OF NEW JERSEY.
ciation in 1792, and which for many years was regarded as one of the largest and most promi- nent academic institutions of the country. Dur- ing the time young Mercer spent there as an undergraduate it was enjoying the zenith of its reputation. In 1827, when he was about fif- teen years old, William Theodore Mercer entered the sophomore class at Williams Col- lege, Williamstown, Massachusetts, and grad- uated there three years later, in 1830. He then went to New London, Connecticut, where his uncles, Peter Schenck Mercer and Archibald Mercer, and his aunt, Gertrude Lee, who died the year of his graduation, had made their homes, and there began the study of medicine in the office of his uncle, Archibald Mercer. He remained here, however, only for a short while, and then returning to his Aunt Char- lotte's home in Newark, he finished his pre- paratory medical studies under the tuition of Dr. Lyndon A. Smith, of that city. In 1834 William Theodore Mercer graduated from the Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, and settling himself in practice in his home town he almost immediately met with great success and built up an enormous practice, which, however, soon undermined his health, as it demanded from him far greater physical labors than his inherited delicacy of constitution could bear. Consequently after about ten years of strenuous and vigorous work, Dr. Mercer re- tired from active practice, and devoted himself to the study of materia medica and therapeu- tics, in connection with which he established in Newark, about 1845, a drug business that he managed successfully for over forty years, until the day of his death. A short while after he had received his degree of M. D. and estab- lished himself in the practice of his profession, Dr. Mercer became a member of the Essex County Medical Society, in the proceedings and work of which he took a very great inter- est and a most active part, being a number of different times sent by the association as its delegate to the State Medical Society, and for nineteen years, from 1839 to 1858, was the association secretary. During the whole of his long life, Dr. Mercer was considered to hank at the head of his profession, and he was held in greatest esteem by his contemporaries not only for his intimate and thorough techni- cal and professional knowledge of medicine, but also for his manly and great personal and social qualities and attainments. Dr. William Theodore Mercer married, July 7, 1835, Ger- trude Ann, daughter of Frederick Frelinghuy- sen and his wife, Jane, the eldest daughter of
Peter Dumont, of Somerville. Mrs. Mercer was the niece-in-law of the aunts of Dr. Mer- cer, Louisa and Charlotte, and was therefore a connection, not a cousin, of her husband. From this marriage there were seven children, all of whom reached maturity, although only four of them had issue. The three unmarried children and one of the others are dead, the remaining children are still living. These chil- dren were: 1. Charlotte Frelinghuysen Mer- cer, born August 25, 1836; died unmarried, March 4, 1895. 2. Gertrude Eliza Mercer, born July 30, 1838; died May 11, 1899; mar- ried, April 23, 1866, William Whitehead, and had one child, Gertrude Mercer Whitehead, who died in infancy, a few months after her father. 3. Frederick Frelinghuysen Mercer, referred to later. 4. Theodore Frelinghuysen Mercer, referred to later. 5. William Mercer, born December 21, 1845 ; died unmarried, Sep- tember 9, 1884. 6. Archibald Mercer, referred to later. 7. Dumont Frelinghuysen Mercer, born January 23, 1850 ; died single, January 19, 1882.
(V) Frederick Frelinghuysen, oldest son and third child of William Theodore Mercer, was born in Newark, New Jersey, November 7, 1840, and is now living with his family at 33 Washington street, in the house and city of his birth. For his early education he was sent to a private school in Newark, where he was prepared for college and from which, in 1857, he entered the freshman class of Rutgers Col- lege, New Brunswick, New Jersey, where he received his A. B. degree in 1861 and later on his A. M. Turning his attention to the law, Mr. Mercer read and studied for three years with the Hon. Frederick Theodore Freling- huysen, his uncle, and at that time attorney- general for New Jersey. Three years later, in 1864, he was admitted to the bar and began the life of a general practitioner, and in this he was engaged for several years when he gave it up in order to enter other fields of work. Since 1885 he has been connected with the Equitable Life Insurance Company, of New York. In politics Mr. Mercer is a Republican, but has never held nor desired office. He has had no military experience, but he is a member of the Sons of the Revolution. He is also a member of the Zeta Psi college fraternity, but beyond this has formed no club affiliations. He is a member of Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church. On April 14, 1868, Frederick Freling- huysen Mercer was married in Staten Island, New York, to Kate, born February 29, 1844, daughter of William Henry Anable, of New York, and his wife, Mary Barnard (Steele)
t
S
S
e d S
in m, to ds se to C- i-
408
STATE OF NEW JERSEY.
Anable. She bore him five children, all of whom are still living and three of whom are married : I. Frederick William, born June 9, 1869 ; super- intendant of the loan department of the Mutual Life Insurance Company, of New York ; mar- ried, April 28, 1897, Mabel Russell, who has borne him two children, Russell Barnard and Gertrude. 2. Alice Louise, born December 15, 1871 ; become the wife of Easton M. Davitt, of 216 Belleville avenue, Newark; she had one child, Mercer, who died in infancy. 3. Dumont Frelinghuysen, born May 31, 1874; educated in the public and high schools, and is now with the Mutual Life Insurance Company, of New York. 4. John Eccleston, born November 19, 1876; was a member of the Seventy-first New York Regiment during the Spanish war. 5. Gertrude, born March 7, 1881 ; married Cap- tain Frank Wheaton Rowell, and has two chil- dren : Gertrude and Katharine ; one, Wheaton, died in infancy.
(V) Theodore Frelinghuysen, fourth child and second son of William Theodore Mercer, was born in Newark, New Jersey, October 18, 1842, and is now living at 662 High street, in that city. 'For his early education he attended a private school and then entered the Newark Academy, on leaving which he went into the drug business with his father and continued with him for fifteen years when he withdrew in order to accept a position as clerk in the money order department of the Newark post office. Here he remained for twelve years longer, and then took up a position with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company, which he retained for fifteen years longer, and finally resigned in 1903 in order to undertake the work in the mathematical de- partment of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, where he now is. Mr. Mercer is a Republican and a communicant of Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church, Newark. On January 24, 1876, Theodore Frelinghuysen Mercer married, in Trinity Church, Newark, Josephine, daughter of Elias N. Miller and his wife, Susan Maria (Coats) Miller, who has borne him one daughter, Maria Coats Mercer, born November 4, 1878, and now the wife of George Bache Emory, M. D., son of Thomas Emory, of Confederate Navy, and Percy ( Mc- Carthy ) Emory, of Syracuse, New York, and grandson of Brigadier-General William Hems- ley Emory, United States Army, and Matilda Wilkins (Bache) Emory, the sixth child of Richard Bache, the younger, of Philadelphia. They have one child, Thomas Mercer Emory, born March 6, 1908.
(V) Archibald Mercer, M. D., fourth son and sixth child of Dr. William Theodore Mer- cer, of Newark, was born December 23, 1847, and is now living at 31 Washington street, Newark, New Jersey. Following in his father's footsteps, he obtained his preparatory educa- tion at the Newark Academy, and in 1864 matriculated at Rutgers College, New Bruns- wick, New Jersey, where he graduated in 1868. He then began the study of medicine, taking the course at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York, and receiving his de- gree from that institution in 1871 ; since which time he has been a practitioner in Newark. On leaving the medical school in 1871, Dr. Mercer was appointed physician in charge of S. Barnabas Hospital, in Newark, which posi- tion he held for about nine years, until 1880, and then he finally decided to make surgery his specialty. A year later, in 1881, he became visiting surgeon of the Newark City Hospital, and four years later, in 1885, was appointed to the same position in S. Barnabas' Hospital. These positions, in spite of the great demands upon his time and energies made by his outside professional and other duties, he still continues to hold. In 1873 Dr. Mercer received the appointment of United States examining sur- geon for pensions, and in 1881 that of police surgeon for the city of Newark, but the press- ure of other work upon him became so great that in 1883 he resigned both of them. In 1891 he accepted the office of surgeon to the New Jersey Home for Disabled Soldiers, but was obliged by the exacting nature of his other duties and responsibilities to resign it in 1897, just as in 1894 he was compelled to decline the honor of his election as surgeon of the Essex troop. Outside of his practice, Dr. Mercer's professional interests and activities have been many and varied. Since 1878 he has been a member of the Essex County Medi- cal Society, of which his father was for so long a time an active member and efficient secretary, for twenty-six consecutive years was elected secretary, thus making a total of nearly half a century that he and his father held this position. In 1905 he was chosen the vice- president of this society and during the year 1906 he was the association's president. Since 1892 he has also been treasurer of the Medical Society of New Jersey. In 1894 he was presi- dent of the Medical and Surgical Society of Newark. In 1889 he became secretary of the Society for the Relief of the Widows and Orphans of the Medical Men of New Jersey, of which association he was in 1899 chosen
·
409
STATE OF NEW JERSEY.
vice-president. In addition to these duties. Dr. Mercer has also for a time been the medi- cal examiner for many insurance companies, and in 1904 was appointed one of the medical directors of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company. Beyond the bounds of his pro- fession, Dr. Mercer's interest and activities are in the main patriotic and educational in their broadest sense ; although the calls which have been made by different members of his own family upon the highly valued and widely recognized business qualifications and execu- tive abilities have been by no means inconsider- able. On July 14, 1886, he was appointed the chief executor of his father's estate, and a few months later, on October 30, in the same year, was called upon to act in the same capacity on the property of his mother, and nine years later, on March 15, 1895, he performed the same office for his unmarried sister Charlotte, and again in 1899 for his sister Gertrude, widow of William Whitehead. Dr. Mercer has for years been a member of the Essex Club; he is a communicant of Trinity Prot -. estant Episcopal Church, in the early days and welfare of which his great-grandfather took such an active interest and part, and in con- nection with his brother now owns two pews in Trinity Church, which were deeded, Decem- ber 16, 1822, by the rector, wardens and vestry of the church to the children of his great-great- grandfather, the two pews being originally one square pew which was owned by him. He is also one of the Sons of the American Revolu- tion, and a life member of the New Jersey Historical Society. In 1903 he was appointed for four years one of the trustees of the Free Public Library, of Newark, and in 1907 he accepted his reappointment for five years to the same office. In 1908 he was elected a member of the Cathedral Chapter by the con- vention of the Episcopal Church, diocese of Newark. In 1909 he was influential in starting the Newark Art Museum Association and was elected one of the charter members of the board of trustees and also chairman of its executive committee. On November 21, 1888, Dr. Archibald Mercer married Katrina, daugh- ter of Alexander Campbell, of Newark, by his wife, Emma (Field) Campbell; they have no children.
HOWE The name of Howe is not only scattered through the registers and records of all parts of England, but the bearers of the name have written it in their blood and graven it deeply with their
swords, high up on their country's roll of honor. The Howe banner is in the chapel of Henry VII., and in the struggle between France and England in the New World, Howes fought and fell, notably at Ticonderoga and on the Nova Scotia frontier. Among the more fam- ous members of the family may be named Rev. John Howe, chaplain to Oliver Cromwell, whose noble features are preserved in old en- gravings; and Lord Charles Howe, created baronet by James I., November 18, 1606, and made Earl of Lancaster by Charles I., June 8, 1643. It is with the latter that John Howe, of Sudbury, founder of the present family, is re- ported to be connected.
(I) John How was born in England, in 1602, and came to New England with his wife Mary, between 1630 and 1640. He settled in Watertown, but in 1639 removed to Sudbury, where he was made freeman the following year, in 1642 was chosen selectman, and in 1655 was appointed by the pastor and select- men "to see to the restraining of youth on the Lord's Day." He was the first white man to settle in Marlborough, Massachusetts, about 1657, where he built his cabin, a little east of the "Indian planting field," and where his de- scendants lived for many generations. In 1661 he opened the first public house in Marl- borough, and about nine years later petitioned for a renewal of his license. He was highly respected for his justice and impartiality by his fellow townsmen as well as by the Indians, and was frequently made arbiter of their disputes. According to one annalist he died in 1680, aged seventy-eight, but another gives the date as 1687. His will, proved in 1689, mentions wife, Mary; sons, Samuel, Isaac. Jonah, Thomas and Eleazer ; daughters, Sarah Ward and Mary Weatherby; and grandson, John How, Jr., son of John, deceased. His property was inventoried at £500. Samuel, his eldest son, married Hepzibah Death, in 1700; he was opener and proprietor of the Howe tavern at Sudbury, immortalized by Longfellow in his "Tales of a Wayside Inn." Samuel's descendants kept and owned it until it was sold, about twenty-five years ago.
(II) Thomas, son of John How, was born in Sudbury, June 12, 1656, and died at Marl- borough, February 16, 1733. He was one of the most prominent citizens of the town, at various times filled some of the principal offices, and seems to have always had the welfare of his fellows at heart. Nor were his efforts con- fined to his home and town. He was represent- ative in the general court, and one of His
410
STATE OF NEW JERSEY.
Majesty's justices of the peace. He was a well trained and efficient soldier, proving his worth in the severe action at Lancaster, and in the early wars against the Indians. For many years he served in the colonial militia, and a special legacy to him in his father's will is "the horse he troops on." He retired with the rank of colonel. He was keeping a public house at Marlborough in 1661, but whether he was carrying on the business established by his father, or was founding a new venture of his own, cannot be determined. He married (first) June 8, 1681, Mary Hosmer, who died April 7, 1724; and (second) December 24, 1724, Widow Mary Baron. Children, all by first wife: I. Tabitha, born May 9, 1684. 2. James, June 22, 1685. 3. Jonathan, April 23, 1687. 4. Prudence, August 27, 1689. 5. Thomas, June 16, 1692. 6. Sarah, August 16, 1697.
(III) Jonathan, son of Thomas How, was born in Marlborough, April 23, 1687, died there June 22, 1738. His entire life was passed in his native town. He married, April 5, 1711, Lydia Brigham; children: I. Timothy, born May 24, 1712 ; died October 15, 1740. 2. Pru- dence, November 3, 1714. 3. Bezaleel; of whom further. 4. Charles, April 20, 1720. 5. Eliakim, June 17, 1723. 6. Lucy, May 20, 1726. 7. Lydia, April 12, 1729; died young. 8. Mary, August 12, 1730. 9. Lydia, June 29, 1732.
(IV) Bezaleel, third child and second son of Jonathan How, was born in Marlborough, June 19, 1717. Records concerrning him are few and imperfect, and the family traditions of him rest mainly in the reminiscences of his grandson, Rev. John Moffat Howe, M. D., and upon researches made in 1844 by another grandson, Rev. Bezaleel Howe, the mss. of which are in possession of Andrus Bezaleel Howe, of Montclair, New Jersey. From these materials we learn that he married Anna Foster, and that of their at least seven chil- dren, three sons and two daughters were born in Marlborough, and the other two, both sons, at some place on the family journey to Hills- borough, New Hampshire, whither they re- moved shortly before the death of the father. Of his two daughters, Susanna, born 1740, and Edith, 1744, little is known, and one of them apparently died young. His sons were: Timothy, born 1742; Darius, 1746; Bezaleel, 1750; and Baxter and Titus, birth dates un- known. Of Titus no record is left. The others, especially Bezaleel (q. v.), have bril- liant military records. Darius was a lieuten-
ant in the revolution. Timothy served in the French war, and soon after his marriage to Elizabeth Andrus, of Stillwater, New York, removed to Wyoming, Pennsylvania, where the family lived until driven out by the In- dians and Tories, in July, 1778. At the time of this famous massacre, Timothy was serv- ing as first lieutanant under Captain Hewitt. Baxter was a lieutenant in Colonel Jonathan Brewer's regiment of the New Hampshire line, and later an artillery captain in the army under Washington. He died of fever at Ethron, during the forced march to York- town, and left a son, Brigham Howe, of New York City.
(V) Bezaleel (2), youngest son of Beza- leel (I) Howe, was born December 9, 1750. He was the first of the family to give the fam- ily name the form of Howe, with the final "e." He was very young when his father died, leav- ing the family in straitened circumstances, and his opportunities for education were limited, though he managed by stealth to secure one quarter's tuition at night school. He made a brilliant record during the revolutionary war. "About three weeks before the battle of Bunker Hill," writes his son in his rem- iniscences, "officers were recruiting soldiers
to withstand the British in Boston. On the morning when the soldiers were to march, my father stood looking on; there was one of the recruits, described by him as an old man, sur- rounded by his wife and daughters, who hung about his neck and wept bitterly. The scene affected my father's heart, and with a dash he came to the man and said, 'Here, give me your old gun, and I will go for you, and if the gov- ernment ever gets able to give me a gun, I will send your old thing back to you.' So, taking the old gun and cartridge box, he fell into line and marched to the music of the fife and drum." Such was the beginning of his mili- tary career, which covered a period of twenty- one years. He was present at the battle of Bunker Hill, although not brought into action, being held with the reserves, and he continued with the army throughout the war. Enter- ing as a private, he was promoted from one position to another. As lieutenant he served in the Long Island and New Jersey campaigns, and for the last six months was an auxilliary lieutenant in the personal guard of the com- mander-in-chief. Once at least he was sent to Philadelphia with dispatches, and he was present at the execution of Major Andre. He was taken prisoner by the British shortly after the battle of Long Island, and at the close of
4II
STATE OF NEW JERSEY.
the war, as captain, commanded the escort that brought General Washington's baggage and papers to Mount Vernon. He subse- quently served in the Indian wars under "Mad Anthony Wayne," with whom he continued for three years. He resigned about 1792. His military record appears as follows in the "His- torical Register of Officers of the Continental Army during the War of the Revolution," published in Washington, D. C., by F. B. Heitman, 1893: "Second lieutenant Ist N. H. Regt., 8th November, 1776; wounded at Still- water (Freeman's Farm) N. Y., 19 Sept., 1777; first lieutenant 23d June, 1779, and served to close of war; lieutenant 2d U. S. Infantry, 4th March, 1791 ; captain 4th No- vember, 1791 ; assigned to 2d sub-legion 4th September, 1792; major, 20th October, 1794; honorably discharged Ist November, 1796."
After resigning from the army, Major Howe went to New Orleans, Louisiana, in- tending to establish himself in business, but changed his mind and soon returned to New York, where he received appointment as cus- tom house inspector, a position which he prac- tically held until his death, although he was three times removed on political grounds, due to change of Federal administration. He mar- ried, September 16, 1787, Hannah Merritt, of Mamaroneck. New York, who died September 18, 1789, leaving an infant, Maria, born January 6, 1789, who married November 23, 1805, John Guion, and became the mother of eleven chil- dren, two of whom, William H. and Stephen B. Guion, were the founders of transatlantic line of steamers known by their names. Major Howe married (second) February 15, 1800, Catherine, youngest daughter of Rev. John Moffat and Maria (always called Margaret) his wife. Three of the children of this mar- riage died in infancy. The others were: I. George C., born September 23, 1802, died De- cember 4, 1841 ; married, May 24, 1832, Hes- ter Ann, daughter of Michael and Betty (Gregory) Higgins; four children. 2. Mar- garetta, born February 22 or 27, 1804, married, August 1, 1820, George Washington Dupig- nac; nine children. 3. John Moffat, see for- ward. 4. Catherine, born September 21, 1812, died March 4, 1883; married, October II, 1831, Samuel R., son of Phineas Spelman ; three children. 5. Bezaleel, born August 17, 1815, died January 18, 1858; married, August 5, 1838, Jane Cordelia, daughter of Jacob Frank and Mary Barnet; one child, Jacob Frank Howe, M. D., of Brooklyn, New York. Major Bezaleel Howe died September 3,
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.