Genealogical and memorial history of the state of New Jersey, Volume III, Part 58

Author: Lee, Francis Bazley, 1869- ed
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: New York, N.Y. : Lewis Historical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 650


USA > New Jersey > Genealogical and memorial history of the state of New Jersey, Volume III > Part 58


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He married (first) in his native town, Eliza, who died at sea, October, 1852, daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Whittaker) Whit- taker, of Carlow county, Ireland. Children : I. Mary Ann, born July 29, 1838; married, July 3, 1859, William Spencer Ashby, born January 4, 1838, son of William and Julia (Spencer ) Ashby ; children : i. James Harvey, born October 12, 1860, married Jessie Bird; children : a. James Jacobus, married Caroline ; b. John William; c. Charles Bird; d. Edna May, married Harry Wolfram, child, Kenneth; e. Frank; f. Raymond; ii. Julia Elizabeth, born October 25, 1862, died March II, 1864; iii. Alice Adelle, born June 10, 1865, died July 4, 1885; iv. John, born June 1, 1867 ; married, October 10, 1886, Emily Buell; chil- dren : Alice Hazel, Lillian Mabel, Emily Mil- dred, Lyle Adelle, John Buell, Caroline Brown- ing, Edith, Dorothy; v. Eliza Maria, born August 13, 1869; married Jackson Livingston Brown; vi. Affie Frances, born September 29, 1872 ; married, January 27, 1894, Wallace Jef- ferson Smith; child, Olive Adelle, born July 20, 1897; vii. Lillian Mabel, born June 25, 1878, died October 20, 1886; viii. William Everett, born May 19, 1881. 2. John, born June 15, 1844, mentioned below. 3. Bessie, died in infancy. 4. Benjamin, died in infancy. 5. James, died at sea, aged seven years. 6. Thomas Peter, born May 26, 1851; scalded to death in Newark factory; died December IO, 1902 ; married, May 6, 1874, Julia McSulla ; children: i. Mary Agnes, born February 18, 1875, died June 28, 1877 ; ii. Anna Elizabeth, born September 30, 1876, died December 24, 1881; iii. George Thomas, born February 4, 1878; iv. Clarence Francis, born February 9, 1881 ; v. Harry, born June 9, 1883, died June 29, 1883 ; vi. John, born August 15, 1884, died December 1, 1892; vii. William, born May 16,


1887, died August 8, 1887; viii. Thomas Joseph, born January 5, 1890, died July 6, 1890. ix. Florence May, born May 19, 1888. He married (second) Maria, daughter of James and Mary Ann (McChesney) Wade, of Northfield, New Jersey. She was a mem- ber of the Northfield Baptist Church.


(IV) John (3), son of James and Eliza (Whittaker) Agar, was born at Knockulard, Carlow county, Ireland, June 15, 1844. His early educational training in the Episcopal school of his native parish was of short dura- tion. In 1852, by reason of his father having preceded his family to the United States, John with his mother, sister and two brothers, set sail in the ship "Antartic" from Liverpool to join his father, then two years in the new country. When but a few weeks out, his mother and brother James contracted the fated ship fever and were buried at sea. Dur- ing the seven weeks passage of the ill-fated vessel eighty-seven of her passengers suc- cumbed to the dread disease. The three chil- dren, Mary Ann, John and Thomas, arrived in New York, were met by their father, and for a short time resided in Newark, subse- quently removing to the mountain town of Northfield. Here they attended the nearby district school, the boys assisting their father at farming and working out in the neighbor- hood. At the age of sixteen young John began to learn the trade of shoemaker with Joseph Johnson, of Northfield. After two years with Mr. Johnson and during the progress of the civil war, he became imbued with the spirit of patriotism, and September 3, 1862, enlisted in his country's cause to serve nine months. He was mustered into the United States service at Newark, New Jersey, as a private in Cap- tain George W. Harrison's company, Twenty- sixth Regiment New Jersey Volunteer Infan- try, Colonel Andrew J. Morrison. The regi- ment was quickly recruited in response to a call from the president for volunteers. A draft had been ordered to commence September 3, but so great was the enthusiasm that the entire quota was raised by voluntary enlistment and the organization of the regiment was fully completed, officered and equipped by the 18th, at which time the command was mustered into service. It left the state September 26 for Washington, D. C., where upon arrival it went into camp on Capitol Hill, having been assigned to General Brigg's brigade, Second Army Corps. It remained in this vicinity until October 1, when under orders it proceeded to Hagarstown, Maryland, having been trans-


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ferred to the Second Brigade, Howe's division, Sixth Corps, Army of the Potomac. The regi- ment remained on active duty until the expira- tion of its term of service, and at all times per- forming gallant and meritorious service. While in the field it participated in the follow- ing engagements: Fredericksburg (two bat- tles), Marye's Heights, or Salem Church, Chancellorsville, Franklin's Crossing, Virginia, and a number of minor engagements. It also per formed guard and provost duty. Mr. Agar was constantly with his command during its service as outlined above, bore a gallant part in all its engagements, and rendered faithful service to his country before being mustered out, June 27, 1863, receiving an honorable dis- charge.


After his discharge from service Mr. Agar learned the trade of hatter with William Clarkson, of South Orange, where he remained until his enlistment in the navy. He re-enlisted August 4, 1864. at Jersey City, New Jersey, in the United States navy, to serve one year and was mustered as a landsman on the receiving ship "North Carolina," at the Brooklyn navy yard, and transferred to the "Aphrodite," a transport, which was wrecked off the coast of North Carolina. About half the number on board were lost; he was the only one saved out of the boat in which he left the ship for the shore. Lighters were sent up the sound to take the rescued sailors to Beaufort, where they went on board the "Mercidite," and from Beaufort to Key West, Florida, and were transferred to the "Proteus," which was doing duty in the East Gulf Squadron under Acting Admiral T. Bailey and H. C. Schibling. He was always to be found at his post of duty and achieved a proud record for efficient ser- vice. He received a final honorable discharge at Brooklyn, New York, May 23, 1865, by reason : close of the war.


On his return he again took up his trade of hatter and worked as a finisher with C. B. Alston, Moore & Seely, of Newark, Frederick Cummings, and Cummings & Matthews, of Orange. While engaged with the latter firm, Mr. Agar, who was progressive and practical in his ideas, began to make a study of the needs and requirements necessary to do away with the never ending operation of hand work. Before Mr. Agar invented his hat brim curl- ing machine, the operation of this part of hat manufacture was very crude, the brims being curled into shape by hand process by the use of hand irons of peculiar shape. He conceived the idea of having a machine whereby a hat


brim could be fed through a convex and con- cave wheel on rolls, the concave wheel being four inches in diameter and the convex wheel one and a quarter inches, both running hori- zontally. The concave wheel being heated, gave a setting or stiffening to the shape of the brim as it passed through the rolls. After careful experimenting he soon saw its utility and what the demand might be, as it was bound to revolutionize the entire process of hat brim curling at a most surprising saving of time and money, also giving a greater uniformity to the work. He early realized the success of such an invention, and was alive to the fact that it could only be realized by tireless activity and through demonstration of the device for prac- tical use. In 1896 he took out his patent and his first machine was installed under the most favorable results in Cummings & Matthews factory, and another in the factory of E. V. Connett. In 1898 he was issued his patent and another was granted in 1899 and the invention placed on the market. Mr. Agar, seeing its future, invested his own means with others at the start, forming a company under New Jer- sey laws with Anthony L. Ehardt as president, Mr. Agar as vice-president and manager, Frederick Cummings as treasurer, and H. D. Parmelee as secretary. The present head- quarters are at 17-19 Washington place, New York City. The scope of the enterprise has been extended very materially so that the Agar hat brim curling machines have found a ready sale in every hat manufacturing plant of im- portance in the United States and Canada, and is being adopted by many of the factories al road. Mr. Agar has also taken out patents for a hat shaping machine, which like the first invention, will supersede the process of hand laber.


Mr. Agar is a resident of East Orange, hav- ing erected his residence on Grove place a number of years ago. He has other property interests in the locality. He is a staunch advo- cate of Republicanism, but is not active in the affairs of his party, although he has served as delegate to its various conventions. He and his wife are members of the Hawthorn Ave- nie Baptist Church. He was formerly an affil- iated member of Lafayette Lodge, No. 12, I. O. O. F., of Orange. He is a member of Uzal Dodd Post, No. 12, G. A. R., and has served that body as post commander. As a young man he was a member of the Morris -- town militia.


Mr. Agar married, March 31, 1869, Grace E. born July 24, 1849, daughter of William


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Deyo and Sarah Elizabeth (Hedden) John- son, of Orange. Mrs. Agar is seventh in line from Edward and Jane (Jones ) Hedden, early settlers at Newark. The only child of John and Grace E. (Johnson) Agar is William Clifton, born January 11, 1870 ; married, Octo -- ber 21, 1896, Lillian Brandis, born September 9, 1873, daughter of August and Christina Brandis, and they have one child, Dudley Clif- ton, born October 10, 1897.


That branch of the Wright WRIGHT family that settled in New Jersey was of English origin. The immigrant ancestor was Deacon Samuel Wright, who is believed to have been a son of Nathaniel, and a descendant of John Wright, Lord of Kelvendon Hall, who died in London, England, in the year 1351. Deacon Samuel was an early settler of Springfield, Massachu- setts, and in 1639 was of Agawam, where he is mentioned in 164I as one of the proprietors of that town. In 1655 or 1656 he removed to the neighboring town of Northampton, where he died October 17, 1665. He was admitted a freeman April 13, 1648. He became a well known and prominent man of Northampton, was a deacon of the church, and in the absence of their regular minister preached to the con- gregation. In 1656-57, he served the church regularly as their preacher. Deacon Samuel Wright married, before leaving England, Mar- garet , who died January 25, 1681. She is mentioned in the will of Deacon Samuel, dated November 10, 1663, proved March 27, 1666. Children of Deacon Samuel and Mar- garet Wright: I. Benjamin. 2. Samuel; see forward. 3. Hester, married Samuel Marsh- field. 4. Margaret, married Thomas Bancroft. 5. Lydia, married (first) Lawrence Bliss ; (second) John Newton; (third) John Lamb; (fourth) George Cotton. 6. Mary. 7. James. 8. Judah. 9. Helped. 10. Hannah.


Samuel (2), second son of Deacon Samuel (I) and Margaret Wright, was born in Eng- land, in 1629, and was killed by the Indians during King Philip's war, September 2, 1675. He was an "engager" for Northfield, Massa- chusetts, in 1671, and became a settler of that town in 1673. He married, November 24, 1653, Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Burt. She survived her husband and married ( sec- ond) Nathaniel Dickinson, of Hatfield, Massa- chusetts. Children of Samuel and Elizabeth (Burt) Wright: Samuel; Joseph ; Benjamin, see forward; Ebenezer; Elizabeth, married Thomas Stebbins; Eliezer; Hannah; and


Benoni, born ten days after the death of the father. Eliezer, the sixth child, became noted in Father Rasle's war, as Lieutenant Eliezer. He was the grandfather of Captain Azariah Wright, who had a remarkable career as a soldier and pioneer, served in the French and Indian War and in the Revolution, was captain of a company at Westminster, Vermont, and was known as an "Ethan Allen" for the part he took in the New York-New Hampshire land grant difficulties that culminated in the "Westminster Massacre." A descendant of Captain Azariah Wright, John Bemis Wright, made a national reputation as a news writer on the Boston Herald, and later became editor of the Haverhill Gazette.


Benjamin, son of Samuel Wright, was born July 13, 1660-the first of the family born in America. Other record of him is not to be found, nor of immediate descendants.


Larned Moore, son of Benjamin Wright, and a descendant of Samuel Wright, the immi- grant, was born in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, in 1813, and died in 1899. He received a good common school education, and learned the trade of millwright. He became a contractor in the millwrighting line, and erected many mills in Vermont, including grist, starch, and fulling mills. About 1847 he removed to Lowell, Massachusetts, where he engaged as a civil engineer. He was assistant engineer on the great dam at Lawrence, and was con- nected with other engineering work in Massa- chusetts. He was of great mechanical ingenu- ity, and was connected with the building of the first turbine water wheel ever built in the country. He later removed to Troy, New York. At the outbreak of the civil war he recruited a company of volunteers among the Adirondacks, accompanying them to the front. He was later commissioned captain of a com- pany of the Fiftieth New York Engineer Regi- ment. He served in the engineering depart- ment, mainly in the construction of bridges, and was attached to the staff of General Mc- Dowell. After the war closed, Captain Wright returned to Troy and resumed his profession of civil engineering, and he resided in that city until his death. He was a captain in the Ver- mont National Guard when a student of that state. He was an active member of the Repub- lican party, and served locally in important positions. He was a member of the Unitarian Church. Captain Wright married, in 1838, Sarah Blake, born in Sutton, Vermont, 1829, and died in 1894, daughter of Jacob Blake. She was a descendant of the English Admiral


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Blake. Four children were born to Larned M. and Sarah ( Blake) Wright. I. Charles Jeffer- son ; see forward. 2. Walter, a manufacturer, of Illinois. 3. Charlotte, married General McWick, and resides at Eagles Mere, Pennsyl- vania. 4. Emma, a resident of Freehold, New Jersey.


Charles Jefferson first child of Larned M. and Sarah (Blake) Wright, was born in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, October 21, 1839. He was educated at Dwight School, Boston; Buffalo (New York) high school, and was graduated from Hobart College, class of 1861. He early enlisted in the Union army as a private in Company G, Sixteenth New Hampshire Volunteers, recruited at Nashua, New Hampshire. He was promoted to ser- geant, and served through the New Orleans, Red River, and Port Hudson campaigns, under Generals Butler and Banks. He was selected by Admiral Farragut as bearer of dispatches, and for his services was commissioned lieu- tenant and recommended for a commission in the United States regular army. This promo- tion came in the form of a lieutenant-colonel's commission in the Thirty-ninth Regiment of Colored Troops. At the beginning of the Wilderness campaign he was transferred to the Twenty-seventh Infantry (colored) which regiment he led through all the battles of that campaign, being wounded at the Petersburg Mine and later at Fort Fisher. On March 13, 1865, Lieutenant-Colonel Wright was brev- etted colonel for "gallant and meritorious ser- vices during the war." He was employed dur- ing the period of reconstruction, and did not return from the service until 1866.


Previous to the war, and then only sixteen, Mr. Wright was principal of a school at Grand Isle, near Niagara Falls, and after retiring from military life he resumed the profession of teaching. For three years he taught in the Milton Classical Institute at Milton, Pennsyl- vania, his term of service ending with the destruction of the Institute by fire. He next taught at Ossinning, New York, later was vice- principal of the Yonkers (New York) School, after which he began a term of fifteen years as principal of the Peekskill Military Acad- emy, seeing that institution grow from an attendance of seven cadets to one hundred and forty. Colonel Wright now decided on a school of which he should be the real as well as the nominal head. He proceeded to estab- lish at Cornwall, New York, a military school known as the New York Military Academy, of which he is the owner and president of the


faculty. This school has now been in suc- cessful operation for twelve years. In the year 1900 Colonel Wright secured the land and building at Freehold, New Jersey, known as the Freehold Institute, Military Academy, an institution that enrolls annually one hundred boys. Cononel Wright is superintendent, presi- dent of the board of trustees, and commandant of the Cadet Battalion. He has recently acquired another school at Matteawan, New York, which he will conduct in conjunction with his other two well established and popu- lar academies.


Colonel Wright is an active Republican, and a campaign orator of force and vigor. He formerly served his party freely "on the stump" during campaigns. He is a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, the Society of the Army of the Potomac, and the Sons of the Revolution. At the dedication of a monument erected on the battlefield of Monmouth, Colonel Wright was one of the chosen orators. He is a member of Lafayette Post, G. A. R., New York City, of the Army and Navy Club, the Arts Club, and the Artists' Aid Society. He is a worldwide traveler, and his home is beautified and his artistic taste gratified by numerous beautiful paintings and art treasures found in foreign lands. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and serves the Freehold congregation as vestryman.


Colonel Wright married, in 1866, Margaret Bard, daughter of James M. Bard, of New York, of an old Pennsylvania family. Her father was at one time recorder of West- chester county, New York.


OGDEN The Ogden family trace their ancestry to England, and author- ities on English surnames gener- ally agree that the name comes from the Saxon ock, oak-tree, and den, a local termination occurring in the weald of Kent, Sussex, and elsewhere, implying a covert and feeding place for animals, and synonomous with dean, a wooded valley, or tract yielding acorns or mast. The surname is thus freely rendered, "the oak valley," "oak dale," "vale of oaks," "leafy vale," "the oak vale," or "shady valley." In support of this interpretation the fact may be stated that on all the escutcheons of the arms-bearing Ogden families of England, the oak branch, or oak leaves and acorns are always found, and usually in the crest. One of the earliest arms (that of "Okton," in Guil -. lim's "Display of Heraldry," 1724) has the


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quartering of the Quaker Ogden arms, but in blue, and canton in corner, while the same quartering is found in the "Okeden" arms, by Edmondson, 1780, in which the blue is replaced by red; for "Okeden of Ellingham in Hamp- shire," 1780, the arms consist of "sable, on a fesse argent, between 3 acorns gold, as many oak leaves vert."


When surnames became necessary it was common to designate a man by some dis- tinguished locality or calling in life. Thus, John de Oketon retained this surname, as he lived near a thickly wooded valley. Many old English works give unmistakable evidence that several families of this surname, variously spelled and located in different parts of Eng- land, extend back to the time of William the Conqueror (1027-87). Beardsley says that Ogden was first written de Hoghton. Peter de Hoton, 1150 A. D., founded Erden or Arden Priory, a Benedictine nunnery near Black Hameldon, in the deanery and arch -. deanery of Cleveland. In A. D. 1200, John de Hoton, father of Sir John de Oketon, Knight of Rowcandura, granted mill and water power and gave two oxgangs of land to the parish of Hoton. The various Ogden families (or the civil and church authorities for them) often spelled the surname differ- ently, even among their immediate connec- tions, and, in its mutations, we have "de Oke- ton," "Oketone," "Ocktone," "Okedone," "Okedon," "Okeden," "Oakden," "Okden," and finally "Ogden." The earliest date of the present spelling of the surname is circa 1500 A. D., while some of the earlier spellings, especially "Okeden," are found as late as 1738.


(I) The earliest discoverable ancestor of the Ogden family here represented was Robert Ogden, who appears as witness to a grant of land in Nutley, Hampshire, 1453, and again with others in 1457 in connection with a post- mortem search concerning lands in Nutley, belonging to one Joan Ogden, of Ellingham county, Southants. He was the father of two sons, Richard and William.


(II) Richard, son of Robert Ogden, mar- ried, before March 8, 1503, Mabel, daughter of Johannes De Hoogan, of the parish of Lynd- hurst, Hants. Children: John, married Mar- garet Wharton; William, see forward; Rob- ert, whose line became extinct in 1613.


(III) William, son of Richard and Mabel (DeHoogan) Ogden, died before July 19, 1569, on which date Abigail, widow of William Ogden, of Bradley Plain, confirms to Edward Ogden, her eldest son, and to Margaret his


wife, all her lands and tenements in Bradley Plain and Minstead. William Ogden married, May 9, 1539, Abigail, daughter of Henry Goodsall, of Bradley Plain. Children: Ed- ward, see forward; Abigail, born July 14, 1541 ; married, October 3, 1562, Philip Ben- nett ; Charles, born 1543; married Williams.


(IV) Edward, son of William and Abigail (Goodsall) Ogden, born in Bradley Plain, September 6, 1540, married there, December 16, 1563, Margaret, daughter of Richard and Margaret Wilson. On December 18, 1563, Richard and Margaret Wilson confirm to Ed- ward and Margaret Ogden, and their law ful issue, land in Bradley Plain, also four acres in Minstead. Children: Thomas, born May 4, 1565; married Elizabeth Samford; Mar- garet, born February 21, 1566; married, Feb- ruary 6, 1593, Isaac, son of John Samford; Richard, see forward; Edward Jr., died April 17, 1570; John, born September 19, 1571 ; mar- ried, May 2, 1592, Margaret, daughter of Sam- uel and Margaret (Crane) Huntington.


(V) Richard (2), son of Edward and Mar- garet (Wilson) Ogden, was born in Bradley Plain, May 15, 1568. He appears to have lived in Wiltshire, and had lands in New Sarum and Plaitford. He married, May 2, 1592, Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel and Margaret (Crane) Huntington. Children : Richard, born May 3, 1596, died in infancy ; Richard, born September 18, 1597, died May 3, 1599; Edward, born July 21, 1598; married, Decem- ber 2, 1630, Elizabeth, daughter of Edward and Alice (Dimery) Knight, of Woodbury Hill, Worcester ; Elizabeth, born December 17, 1603, died in infancy ; Elizabeth, born May 13, 1607 ; married Martin; John, see for- ward; Richard, born July 1, 1610, died in Fair- field, Connecticut, 1687 ; married, August 21, 1639, Mary, daughter of David Hall, of Gloucester, England; David, born June II, 16II.


(VI) John, son of Richard (2) and Eliza- beth (Huntington) Ogden, born September 19, 1609, in Bradley Plain, Hampshire, Eng- land. died in May, 1682. He acquired prop- erty in England, and prior to his emigration to the new world conveyed, October 18, 1639, to Ezekiel Howard, also of Bradley Plain, a garden, orchard, four acres of pasture and two acres of woodland, with appurtenances. The name of the vessel in which John Ogden. and his fellow emigrants sailed is not known, but it probably landed at Southampton, on the southern shore of Long Island, early in 1640.


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The first mention of John Ogden's name is in connection with his taking up residence at Southampton, and being one to whom was granted, April 17, 1640, the tract known as Shinnecock Hill, which adjoined Southampton on the west. He was a leader among the set- tlers in founding the town. In 1647 he obtained permission of the Southampton authorities to plant a colony of six families at "North Sea" (Great Peconic Bay), about three miles north of Southampton. Two or three years elapsed before his removal and planting of his colony at "North Sea," which later was called Northampton. One of the enterprises which engaged the attention of John Ogden was whaling, an industry in which he was interested as late as 1668. He was made freeman at Southampton, March 31, 1650. His integrity and ability in public affairs are attested by the fact that he sat in general court as representative from South- ampton in May, 1659, and in the upper house, May, 1661, and at subsequent periods. He is many times mentioned in the records as sitting upon juries. When past fifty-four years of age and after having spent twenty-four years on Long Island, he evidently determined to remove to New Jersey, and began to dispose of his real estate, which was quite extensive. The integrity of John Ogden and his associates is shown by the fact that they first secured the consent of habitation from the Indians and bought the Elizabeth Town tract in New Jer- sey from them, October 25, 1664, a month before the patent was granted by the English governor. Philip Carteret was appointed first proprietary governor, and he appointed John Ogden deputy governor, and the Dutch, who had retaken New York by force of arms, July 30, 1673, made John Ogden sheriff in charge. The high regard and confidence of Governor Carteret, of New Jersey, is manifested in the following commission, making John Ogden deputy governor :




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