Genealogical and memorial history of the state of New Jersey, Volume III, Part 6

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 6

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).

garet Treen, born 1852; married Robert T. Kenny, of Wahoo, Nebraska.

(V) Joseph Edward Potts Abbott, third child and son of John Chattin and Ann God- frey (Treen) Abbott, was born at Mays Land- ing Atlantic county, New Jersey, August 20, 1840. For his early education he attended the public school, after which for about three years he taught school, and then began the study of the law in the office of the Hon. George S. Woodhull, of Camden, who in 1866 became one of the justices of the supreme court. He was admitted to the New Jersey bar as an at- torney in November, 1865, and as counsellor in June, 1870. From 1866 to 1872 he was the only attorney practicing in Atlantic county. and his law practice covered a very wide range, especially in real estate and corporation cases. March 7, 1898, at the earnest solicitation of Governor Griggs, he accepted the appointment of prosecutor of the pleas of Atlantic county. In 1903 he accepted a reappointment of the same position from Governor Murphy, and filled the office until 1908. He is a member of the New Jersey Bar Association, and of the Atlantic County Bar Association, and he is known to-day not only as one of the oldest living practitioners in the state, but also as the father of the Atlantic county bar.

In politics Mr. Abbott is a Republican, and he has been one of the most active members of his party in his state and county. What was known as the two term rule for members of the congress in New Jersey was broken by the election of James Buchanan to a third term largely through his efforts, and to his efforts was due the method of representa- tion in the Atlantic county delegation which prevents the undue preponderance of a place like Atlantic City is settling legislative matters relating to the country districts of the county. Mr. Abbott has long been a great student of and is one of the authorities on numismatics and minerals, and he has been for over thirty years gathering a collection. He has made a specialty of American silver coins, and his collection is regarded as one of the finest in the country. His mineral collection of nearly one thousand species has among it some of the rarest specimens which were exhibited at the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, 1876.

Mr. Abbott married, November 8, 1862. Adeline H., born March 27, 1836, daughter of Charles and Mary Gibson, of Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Children, both of whom died in infancy : Joseph Edwin and Wilbur Mere- dith. They have an adopted daughter, Nellie

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M., born October 28, 1885, a graduate of the public school of Mays Landing, and devoted to music.

HARRIS Great difficulty is found in trac-

ing individual members of this numerous family owing to the number of immigrants who came to New Eng- land in the first period of settlement and to the similarity of christian names abounding, such as John, Thomas, William, etc. In 1643 Will- iam Harris opened in Ipswich, Massachusetts Bay Colony, and took up land. The same year John Harris also located there and was allotted two or more lots and the same year Thomas appears and is also allotted two lots. These men may have been brothers or cousins, as they were of the same relative ages. Will- iam, John and Thomas each took a wife and possibly one or more children. With a sec- ond installment of settlers another brother or cousin appears in the person of David Harris, who arrived in 1643 and who is the progenitor in whom we are interested in this sketch.

(I) David Harris, a wheelwright by trade and Mary Weld, his wife, was allotted two lots of land in Ipswich, which they sold in 1653 and removed to Middletown, Connecticut colony. William and Edde or Edith Harris had removed from Ipswich to Middletown, the same or possibly the previous year, having sold their allotted two acres of land in Ips- wich, David and William Harris thus becom- ing proprietors and freemen of Middletown in 1652. David and Mary (Weld) Harris had one child, Mary, born in Ipswich, April 2, 1651, and other children born in Middletown, including Thomas, see forward.

(II) Thomas, son of David and Mary ( Weld) Harris, was born in Middletown, Con- necticut Colony, probably in 1653, and he lo- cated in Fairfield where he brought up a family which included a first child Thomas, see for- ward.

(III) Thomas (2). eldest son of Thomas (I) Harris, of Middletown, was born about 1685 in Fairfield, and he became a member of a company of New England colonists who left Fairfield in Connecticut Colony early in the eighteenth century and settled in Cumberland county, New Jersey, where they purchased land, founded a town which they called Fair- field and parcelled the tract among the adven- turers, according to the size of their respect- ive families as was the custom in New Eng- land. His will was probated at Trenton, New Jersey. January 24. 1750, which places the

year of his death 1749. He named his eldest son Thomas, see forward, as was the custom of the family.

(IV) Thomas (3), son of Thomas (2). was born in Fairfield, Cumberland county, New Jersey, November, 1710. He served as surgeon in revolutionary war with New Jer- sey troops and became known as Captain Thomas. In 1750 he was sent to England in behalf of the people of Fairfield, New Jersey, to try and secure a perfect title to the land in the southern portion of the township, taken up by the New England settlers, but in this effort he was not successful. Among the valuable mementos he brought back with him from England was a large folio volume of the works of Rev. John Flavel, the eminent non-con- formist preacher, which is now owned by his great-great-grandson and namesake, Thomas W. Harris. Captain Thomas Harris died in Fairfield, New Jersey, April 27, 1783.

(V) Ephraim, son of Captain Thomas (3) Harris, was born in Fairfield, Cumberland county, New Jersey, in 1731. He received a good education, was prominent in public af- fairs, was appointed by the governor a justice of the peace of Cumberland county, September 17, 1772, a justice of the court of pleas, Feb- ruary 28, 1774, a representative in the council of the state that met at Trenton, New Jer- sey, October 21, 1778, and served at one time as speaker pro tempore of the house of assem- bly. He was in the state legislature when the state constitution was framed and was consid- ered one of the leaders in the adoption of that measure. He was a strong Presbyterian in religious faith and became a ruling elder of the "Old Stone Church ( Presbyterian) of Fair- field. Dr. Whitaker, historian of that church, says of him that he was "the most intelligent man in the session." He married twice and by his first wife had children, Thomas and Pier- son, see forward.

(VI) Thomas (4). eldest son of Hon. Ephraim Harris, was born in Fairfield, Cum- berland county, New Jersey, about 1794. He was a farmer and innkeeper, and an unsuc- cessful candidate for sheriff of Cumberland county, defeated by a few votes only. He had a son, Theophilus Elmer Harris, born January 28, 1796, who was sheriff of Cumber- land county, 1848-51, township assessor for several years, a prominent anti-slavery advo- cate and an early member of the Republican party. He married, February 12, 1817, Lydia, daughter of Urben Dixon, of Fairfield, and they had ten children and he married a second

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wife by whom he had two children. One of his sons by his first wife was Thomas Urben Harris, a prominent merchant of Bridgeton, and originator of the Bridgeton Saving Fund and Building Association founded in June, 1865, and its secretary ; treasurer of the West Jersey Transportation Company and president of the Bridgeton National Bank from 1884. He married (first) Mary C. Holmes, August 30, 1853, and (second) Isabella Robinson, April 15, 1896. His children all died in early childhood.

(VI) Pierson, son of Hon. Ephraim and brother of Thomas Harris was born in Fair- field, Cumberland county, New Jersey, about 1824. He married and removed to Borden- town, Burlington county, where his son Pier- son, see forward, was born.

(VII) Pierson (2), eldest son of Pierson (I) Harris, was born in Bordentown, Burling- ton county, New Jersey, about 1825. He was a carriage manufacturer. He married as his first wife Emma Holmes, and as his second wife Mary Beebe. He removed to Tuckahoe before 1854. Children: Lewis D., Emma J., Edward P., Hannah, Gilbert Tyce, see for- ward. Hannah resides at Clifton, Delaware county, Pennsylvania.

(VIII) Gilbert Tyce, son of Pierson (2) and Emma (Holmes) Harris, was born in Tuckahoe, New Jersey, 1854. He married in 1870 Sarah, daughter of Parker T. and Sarah Townsend. She was born in 1856, and they removed to Atlantic City, Atlantic county, New Jersey, after their four children were born, as follows: I. Howard Godfrey, born October 16, 1871, see forward. 2. Parker Townsend, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Febru- ary 5, 1873; married Augusta, daughter of Ephraim and Augusta Sooy and they had two children : Ephraim and Augusta Harris. 3. Hannah Naomi, born Pittsville, Maryland, De- cember, 1879; married Charles Q. Barker and had three children : Howard, Gilbert and Ruth Barker. 4. Edward Gunby, born Atlantic City, May, 1883.

(IX) Howard Godfrey, eldest child of Gil- bert Tyce and Sarah (Townsend) Harris, was born in Tuckahoe, New Jersey, October 16, 1871. He attended public school in Atlantic City, to which place his parents had removed and he prepared for college, entering Rutgers College, New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1890, and graduating B. S., 1894. He took up the profession of civil engineer in Atlantic City and also carried on an extensive business in buying and selling real estate, in which he was

eminently successful. He laid out streets, parks and road systems for Atlantic City, which greatly increased the value of real es- tate in that winter capital so liberally patron- ized by the wealthy classes. His business as a real estate dealer is conducted in partner- ship with George A. Elvins, with offices in the Bartlett building, Atlantic City, New Jersey. He was elected president of the Ventnor city council, in which place he took up his residence after his marriage. His religious and political affiliation is with no particular church or party, but he supports both good government and good works in the line of bettering humanity. He married, May 9, 1897, Ida Moore, born June 12, 1873, daughter of Evan J. and Emity (Read) Risley. Children : 1. Helen Lucile, born May 9, 1899. 2. Howard Godfrey (2), January 12, 1904.

There are numerous tra- LINDSLEY ditions concerning John and Francis Lindsley, according to most of which, it is said that the two broth- ers came from a place not far from and to the southwest of London. One story is that the place was the town of Lindsley or Lindley, which would indicate, if the story were true at all, that the place was the country seat of the head of the family. In an old family Bible in Morristown, which formerly belonged to Mrs. Elizabeth (Lindsley) Shaw, is found this item among others: "Francis Lindsley came to this country in the ship with Robert Kitchel in 1639." This vessel is said to have been the first to anchor in New Haven bay. John Lindsley signed the oath of fidelity in New Haven in 1641, but it seems probable that the first authentic record of Francis is in connec- tion with his law suit brought by Stephen Med- calfe, in 1645, when he and his brother were living in Branford, Connecticut. Francis was sued by Medcalfe, who won suit. Some gen- ealogists say that John and Francis came to America with their father, John Sr., who is said to have died at Guilford, in 1650, but as yet no proof of the statement has come to life. There is also a tradition that Francis was in Cromwell's army, and took part in the battle of Wallby, which, however, was fought in 1685, when both brothers were recorded as being in Brandford, and if they came to America in 1639 or 40, they could not have been in the Cromwellian army, because the first battle of the Great Rebellion, Edgehill. was fought in 1642.

(I) Francis Lindsley, founder of the fam-

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ily in New Jersey, came to that colony from Branford but with the Milford company in 1667, and died there between the years 1704 and 1710. His name appears among the forty additional settlers who signed the Fundamental agreement, June 24, 1667. His home lot was number 44, and he obtained patents for several tracts of land, part of which was in the right of Ebenezer Canfield. He was a large land- holder, but does not appear to have taken a prominent part in the town affairs. In the first tax list of Newark he was assessed for £210. His house lot of six acres is on the south side of Market street, at the corner of High, where the courthouse now stands. In the distribution of lands by lots, he drew sev- eral tracts in different parts of the township, and in 1696 or 1697 obtained the patent from the proprietors of East Jersey, confirming these lands to him. The patent covered two hundred and eighty-seven acres of land in small tracts, and the patent is still preserved in the rooms of New Jersey Historical Society in Newark. In 1686 he was one of the com- mittee chosen to lay out highways during the ensuing year. Francis Lindsley married, June 24, 1655, at Branford, Susanna Culpep- per. His children, born in Branford and Newark, were: I. Deborah, born 1656. 2. Ruth, 1658. 3. Ebenezer, referred to below. 4. John, 1667. 5. Benjamin. 6. Joseph. 7. Jonathan. He divided his estate while he was living between his five sons and left no will.

(II) Ebenezer, eldest son of Francis and Susannah (Culpepper) Lindsley, was born in Branford, 1665, died in 1743, and was buried in the old graveyard at Orange, his daughter Hannah being buried by his side. The deed of gift for his share of his father's land is now among the Lindsley papers in the posses- sion of the New Jersey Historical Society in Newark. He was two years old when his father came to New Jersey, and in a deed from Josiah Ogden, to him, he is styled wheel- wright. It is not known whom he married. His children, however, were: I. Hannah, born 1693, married Elisha Stansborough. 2. Ebe- nezer, 1696. 3. Josiah. 4. Elihu. 5. Benja- min, referred to below.

(III) Benjamin, youngest son of Ebenezer Lindsley was born in Newark, 1715, died in 1785. He was buried beside his father in the Old Mountain Society graveyard at Orange. In 1753 he subscribed £6 to the Second Meeting House at Orange. He married (first) Mary, born May II. 1724, died August 15, 1755. youngest child of John Morris, of Newark,

who died in 1729. She was the granddaughter of Captain John Morris, born in New Haven, 1666, died 1749, by his wife, Sarah; great- granddaughter of John Morris and his second wife, Elizabeth (Harrison) Lampson, daugh- ter of Richard Harrison and great-great- granddaughter of Thomas Morris, who signed the Plantation Covenant in New Haven, 1639. Children of Benjamin and Mary (Morris) Lindsley were: I. Sarah. 2. Elizabeth, born 1749. 3. John, referred to below. Benjamin Lindsley married (second) Dorcas Harrison, who survived him many years, and died with- out issue.

(IV) John, only son and youngest child of Benjamin and Mary ( Morris) Lindsley, was born in that part of Newark which is now known as South Orange, 1752, died in 1819, and was buried in the Old Orange graveyard. He was an important and influential citizen, and for his time quite wealthy. From 1788 to 1813 he was justice of the peace, and for many years, beginning in 1808, was a judge of the inferior court of common pleas. He was in the battle of Monmouth Court House, but being an only son, and having besides a family of his own and various other responsibilities, he found a substitute to take his place for the remainder of the war. This substitute was killed in a later engagement, and Judge Lindsley contrib- uted to the support of that substitute's mother as long as she lived. In 1784 he was one of the subscribers to the "Parish Sloop." At the usual Fourth of July celebration, held in 1814, he and Major Abraham Winans were the bear- ers of the National Standard, an honor always conferred on two of the leading men of the town. He was an elder of the First Presby- terian Church of Orange, and a man of affairs, of undoubted integrity and good judgment and his advice and counsel were of weight in every department of life.

Judge John Lindsley married Phebe, born 1756, died 1839, daughter of Israel and Mary (Curry ) Baldwin; granddaughter of Joseph and Rebecca Baldwin ; great-granddaughter of Benjamin and Hannalı (Sargeant) Baldwin, of the Milford-Newark settlers; great-great- granddaughter of Joseph Baldwin, of Mil- ford, Connecticut. Children of Judge John and Phebe (Baldwin) Lindsley were : 1. Lydia. 2. Sarah, became the first wife of Stephen D. Day. 3. Mary, became the second wife of Stephen D. Day. 4. Matilda. 5. John Mor- ris, referred to below. 6. Benjamin. 7. Phebe. 8. Eliza. His home was where the Ro- man Catholic Orphan Asylum now stands in

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South Orange, the land having been inherited from Ebenezer Lindsley.

(V) John Morris, elder son of Judge John and Phebe ( Baldwin) Lindsley, was born in South Orange, New Jersey, April 25, 1784, died in Orange, October 19, 1863. He was a leading man in the community, and was one of the first to start a country store in that place. He was associated with his brother-in- law, Stephen D. Day, until 1806, when the firm was dissolved and the business continued by Mr. Lindsley in the store built for the firm, on the easterly corner of Cone street, the site now occupied by the Orange Savings Bank. For many years he did a thriving business, and was recognized as one of the leading and most enterprising merchants in Essex county. When his sons, Nelson and George, became of age, they were taken into partnership and the business continued as John M. Lindsley & Sons, until his death. In 1850 Nelson and George Lindsley established the coal business, which they ran so successfully, and they were the first to introduce that article in the Oranges. This business gradually increased to such an extent that they finally gave up their dealings in general merchandise, limiting their trade to coal and hardware. While tak- ing no prominent part in politics, John Morris Lindsley encouraged improvements in every direction and had the greatest faith in the fu- ture development of his native town. He wit- nessed its growth from a simple farming dis- trict to a flourishing township, which gradually developed into a prosperous city.

John Morris Lindsley married Charlotte, daughter of Daniel, granddaughter of Daniel, born 1720, died 1794, great-granddaughter of the Rev. Daniel, 1691 to 1747, and great-great- granddaughter of Daniel Taylor, of Saybrook, Connecticut. Her great-grandfather, the Rev- erend Daniel Taylor, was the first pastor of the Mountain Society in Orange. Charlotte ( Taylor) Lindsley was born September 23, 1787, died August 25, 1857. Children of John Morris and Charlotte (Taylor ) Lindsley were : I. Nelson, referred to below. 2. Romana A., born January 13, 1811, died March 31, 1889; married (first) Philip Kingsley, the first law- yer of Orange, and (second) Locke Catlin. 3. John Philip, born October 3, 1813, died June 19, 1884. 4. Ann Eliza, born August 12, 1816, died March 6, 1893 ; married Edward Truman Hillyer. 5. James Girard, born March 19, 1819. 6. George, see sketch.

(VI) Nelson, eldest child of Jolin Morris and Charlotte (Taylor) Lindsley, was born

August 23, 1808, died Sunday, July 1, 1888. For his early education he attended the public schools and the Orange Academy, and after leaving the latter entered his father's store as clerk, and later with his brother George suc- ceeded to the business. In 1862 the new brick building was erected on the opposite corner, and for twenty years the firm was the most prominent of any in the county, outside of Newark. In 1883, owing to increasing weak- ness, Nelson Lindsley withdrew from the firm and left the business to be conducted by his brother. Mr. Lindsley had no desire for poli- tics or social life, but he was a staunch Re- publican and he was always a leader in every movement which tended to improve the town or to benefit his neighbors. He was especially active in the movement made in 1857 to secure better facilities on the Morris and Essex road. He was one of the committee which waited upon the managers of the railroad to protest in the name of Orange against an increase of fares to New York and Newark, of fifty and twenty-five per cent., and he continued to agitate the matter until the committee's object was accomplished. He was also prom- inent in securing the incorporation of Orange as a town. This movement started in 1859, and he called to order the first public meeting held to consider that question in Willow Hall, on November 17, of that year. In the follow- ing year he was elected to represent the third ward, when the first town committee was or- ganized, and he served for one term of three years. For many years he was the president of the Rosedale Cemetery Association, and spent much of his time in bringing the ceme- tery to that state of development for which it has since become noted. Under the old militia system he took an active interest in military affairs, and was the adjutant of the Fiftieth Regiment, Essex Brigade. There have been few men who occupied a more im- portant position or exercised a greater influ- ence in the community.

Nelson Lindsley married Ann, daughter of Caleb, granddaughter of Captain George, great-granddaughter of Caleb, great-great- granddaughter of George Jr., and great-great- great-granddaughter of George Sr., and great- great-great-great-granddaughter of Richard Harrison, of Newark. Their children were . I. Charlotte. 2. Edward. 3. Anna, married (first ) Farrand Dodd, and (second) Orrin S. Wood. 4. John Nicol, referred to below. 5. Lucy. 6. Walter.

(VII) John Nicol, fourth child and second

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son of Nelson and Ann (Harrison) Lindsley, was born on the corner of Center and Reuck streets, Orange, November 23, 1846, and is now living in Orange, New Jersey. He was sent to the public schools for his early educa- tion and completed his studies at Dr. Hay's school, the Orange Academy, and at a private school at Fergusonville, Delaware county, New York. After leaving school, wishing to ob- tain a more thorough knowledge of general business affairs than he could acquire in Orange, he went to New York City, and for six years worked in the employ of the Russell & Erwin Manufacturing Company of that city. In 1885 when his father on account of failing health, retired from the coal and hard- ware business, John Nicol Lindsley returned to Orange and took his place in the firm under his uncle, George Lindsley. On the death of the latter, Charles Alfred, his cousin, suc- ceeded his father, George Lindsley, and the two were for a time associated in the business. In 1889 a division was made, Charles Alfred taking the coal business, and John Nicol the hardware. This he enlarged and made many changes in, adding a greater variety of goods and conducting a more extensive trade than was carried on by either his father or his grandfather. He is a man of great force, energy and determination of character. Al- though taking no active part in politics, Mr. Lindsley is an ardent Republican and true to the principles represented by his party, and is president of the board of police commissioners of Orange. He is one of the directors of the Orange National Bank; one of the managers of the Orange Savings Bank, and he has suc- ceeded to his father's position as one of the managers of the Rosedale Cemetery Associa- tion. He is also president of the board of trustees of the First Presbyterian Church of Orange. His clubs are the Essex County Country Club and the Hardware Club of New York.

John Nicol Lindsley married, November 24, 1875, Ella, daughter of Napoleon and Mary (Leonard) Stetson, granddaughter of Stephen and Susan (Batterson) Stetson. Children of John Nicol and Ella (Stetson) Lindsley are : Mary, Anna, Isabel.

(For ancestry see preceding sketch).

(VI) George Lindsley, young-

LINDSLEY est child of John Morris and Charlotte (Taylor) Lindsley,

was born at his father's homestead, on the corner of Main and Cone streets, August 23,

1821, died in Orange, New Jersey, February 24, 1886. He was educated in the public schools and Orange Academy, and began his business career as clerk in his father's store. Later on he was taken into partnership with his father and elder brother, Nelson, and when his father retired from business he and his brother continued the business under the firm name of John M. Lindsley & Son. At this time they gave up dealing in dry goods, but continued the grocery, hardware and coal busi- ness, which they were already conducting. For several years the business was conducted on the old plan, on the southeast corner of Main and Cone streets, but about 1860 John Morris Lindsley, the senior member, made a division of his property and the west corner came into the possession of the two brothers, Nelson and George, and they erected their brick building on the site of the old homestead and conducted business under the firm name of N. & G. Lindsley until the failing health of the elder brother, Nelson, necessitated his retirement, and George assumed control and associated with himself John Nicol Lindsley, son of his uncle, Nelson Lindsley. George Lindsley was a public-spirited man, took a keen interest in the development of Orange, and to his enter- prise and energy are due many of the im- provements that have given Orange a fore- most rank as a suburban city. He was one of the original incorporators of the Orange Savings Bank. He was a shrewd business man, and made a number of profitable invest- ments in real estate. He was an ardent Re- publican and an earnest worker for his party, his influence being largely felt at the polls. For some time he represented his ward in the common council and in the board of chosen freeholders.

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Genealogical and memorial history of the state of New Jersey, Volume III, Part 6

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

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