USA > New Jersey > Genealogical and memorial history of the state of New Jersey, Volume IV > Part 66
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Children of William H. and Emma L. (MacDonald) Copeland: I. Irene, born Sep- tember 13, 1862, in Philadelphia. Educated and graduated M. D. at the Women's Medical College of Philadelphia. She married Stephen Elbridge Coombs, of Brunswick, Maine, Sep- tember 4, 1889. He is a civil engineer, a grad- uate of the Massachusetts School of Technol- ogy. She was married at her father's home in Warren, Pennsylvania. In 1890 they moved to St. Joseph, Missouri. They have one daugh- ter Helen, born July 25, 1891. (Family Bible). 2. Anna Read, born August 8, 1865, in Phila- delphia. 3. Kate MacDonald, born April 17, 1868, in Warren, Pennsylvania. 4. William Warren, born March 22, 1874, Warren, Penn- sylvania. He is married, and has one son.
(VII) Mary Copeland, daughter of Will- iam and Martha (McCracken) Copeland, who became the wife of Edward Martin Furber, October 15, 1862, was graduated from the Girl's high school of Philadelphia with high honors, and is a member of the Alumnae Asso- ciation. In 1869, some years after her mar- riage, she moved to Merchantville, New Jer- sey, and is still living in the home which her beloved husband built for her, and where she has always taken an active and prominent part in the church and community interest of the village. She is a member of Haddonfield Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolu- tion, and for many years historian for the chapter and chairman of the publicity commit- tee.
(VII) George Copeland, youngest son of William and Martha, died suddenly March 17, 1875. He was a noted Mason, and a success- ful merchant. He was buried with Masonic honors, and is buried in the Masonic Circle in Mount Moriah Cemetery, Philadelphia.
(The McCracken Line).
Philip McCracken, father of Martha (Mc- Cracken) Copeland, and great-grandfather of Thomas Blunt, William Copeland, and Sarah Yard Furber, served continuously from the beginning to the close of the revolutionary war. The original discharge of Philip Mc-
Cracken was given by the War Department to his eldest living grandson, Horace M. Blatten- berg, of Smithville, Ohio. (Photograph of the discharge of Philip McCracken is in possession of William Copeland Furber, of Merchant- ville, N. J., his great-grandson.)
Philip McCracken, the revolutionary sol- dier, was a native of Scotland, who when a boy came to America with his parents. On a Sab- bath morning in 1776, Dr. Duffield, pastor of the Old Pine Street Church, preached his memorable sermon, and closed by saying, "there are too many men here; I go to join Washington's Army," and shouldering his musket, marched from his pulpit. Philip Mc- Cracken, a lad about fourteen years of age, marched from the church with him. This account was told to Mrs. Mary (Copeland) Furber by her mother, who was the daughter of Philip McCracken. Philip McCracken was at Valley Forge with the army during the encampment.
Dr. Duffield became one of the chaplains in the army, and a memorial slab in his memory is in the Sunday school room of the old Pine Street Church. He died while pastor of this church, and is buried in the old graveyard.
After the war, Philip McCracken returned to Philadelphia, where he was married, by Rev. Dr. Duffield, to Mary McKeever, in 1783. Philip McCracken was a ship builder, and was killed December, 1811, by one of the masts of the ship he was building, falling on him. He was buried in the graveyard of old Pine Street Church ; his tombstone is still standing, and is quite legible.
The revolutionary war record of Philip McCracken is found in "The Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War." He was a member of Spencer's Regiment, Continental army, Captain John Holmes' com- pany, Second Regiment of Sappers and Miners, Continental army.
DRYDEN John F. Dryden, president of the Prudential Insurance Com- pany of America, and United States senator from 1902 to 1907, was born on a farm near Farmington, Maine, August 7, 1839, son of John and Elizabeth B. Dryden, of old New England ancestry. He was studious, taking every advantage to prepare himself for entrance into Yale College at the age of about twenty-one. Never robust in health, he broke . down before graduation, but in honor of his subsequent achievements the university con- ferred upon him both the Bachelor and Master
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degrees, and his name was entered in the Tri- Centennial Catalogue as one of the graduates of the class of 1865.
After leaving college he became interested in life insurance in its particular application to the practical solution of the economic problems of the poor. Some ten years previous, a great English company, The Prudential Assurance Company of London, had commenced the writ- ing of industrial insurance, or life insurance for wage-earners on the weekly payment plan, and the progress which had been achieved, in the face of serious difficulties, seemed promis- ing for the future. Considerable publicity had been given to parliamentary and other discus- sions on the subject, and the same had also been referred to by Mr. Elizur Wright in the annual reports of the Massachusetts Insurance Department. Devoting all his spare time to the study of available information, Mr. Dry- den decided to devote all his energy and ability to the establishment of a similar system of life insurance in the United States. Gradually perfecting his plan, he finally settled in New- ark, New Jersey, in 1873, provided with letters of introduction to men of affairs and large employers of labor who were in a position to extend to him the best practical assistance in the establishment of an institution similar to the British Prudential, but modified to meet the needs of the American people. The finan- cial disturbances of the period, the panic and long-continued business depression, including the failure of many banks and insurance com- panies, naturally proved a serious disadvantage at the outset. Undaunted by the difficulties which confronted him, Mr. Dryden went ahead and successfully enlisted the hearty coopera- tion of a small group of able men, among them a young practicing physician, Dr. Leslie D. Ward, and Mr. Noah F: Blanchard, a leading leather manufacturer.
After obtaining a charter from the New Jersey legislature, the beginning was made, in the organization of the Widows' and Orphans' Friendly Society, the name of which in 1875 was changed to The Prudential Friendly Soci- ety. The original intent was to establish a workingmen's benefit institution comprehend- ing all the most important contingencies affect- ing wage-earners' lives, financial aid in event of sickness, accident, or death, and an annuity in old age. Subsequent experience proved that the time had not come for the practical realization of so ambitious an undertaking, and when in 1878 the name of the Prudential Friendly Society was changed to the Prudential
Insurance Company of America, the institu- tion limited itself to insurance of sums payable at death. From the beginning the undertaking had been strictly limited to wage-earners' in- surance, or industrial insurance on the weekly payment plan, with the premiums collected from the houses of the insured. For reasons inherent in the life and condition of those who earn weekly salaries or wages, no other system of voluntary wage-earners' insurance had been successful, and it is doubtful whether a better plan could have been devised. The enormous success which followed Mr. Dryden's effort, therefore, challenges the admiration of man- kind. December 31, 1908, the Prudential alone had 7,258,704 industrial policies in force, while the aggregate for all the American industrial insurance companies combined was 19,687,675 policies, insuring $2,668,919,696 of family pro- tection.
While Mr. Dryden's original plan had been to establish an insurance institution for the benefit of wage-earners only, it soon became apparent that with increasing insurance edu- cation and the persistent teaching of systematic savings habits, the field of life insurance would be very much broadened, and as early as 1886 the Prudential commenced the issue of ordin- ary policies of one thousand dollars and over, with premiums payable quarterly, and at longer intervals. Out of this comparatively recent beginning a very large and rapidly growing ordinary business has developed, and on De- cember 31st, 1908, the company had 473,035 ordinary policies in force, for $543,493,909 of insurance protection. A large amount of this insurance is secured by industrial agents, and thus the benefits of every form of safe and sound life insurance are brought home to the mass of the people who are most in need thereof. By combining the two forms of in- surance in one great institution, Mr. Dryden has secured for the Prudential the foremost position among the life insurance companies of the world, and to himself enduring fame as the master mind which the business of insur- . ance has produced in the United States. When the Prudential was first organized, Mr. Dry- den was elected secretary; in 1881, after the death of President Noah F. Blanchard, he was unanimously elected to the position, which he has held to the present time.
Mr. Dryden has also been active in the larger field of public life. He was elected a presi- dential elector in 1896 and 1900, and a United States senator January 29, 1902. Senator Dry- den's term expired March 4, 1907. He was
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the choice of the voters, as a result of the primaries, for re-election. His health break- ing down during the deadlock made possible by a narrow Republican majority on joint bal- lot, he yielded to the advice of his physicians and family and withdrew in favor of his suc- cessor.
During his career in the senate, Mr. Dryden served on various committees, but his most important achievement was his speech on the Panama Canal, during the most critical stage of that important measure. When sentiment was about equally divided in favor of the type of canal which should be adopted, Mr. Dryden came out in favor of the lock project, and by his vote, and perhaps by that vote alone, com- mitted the nation to the most feasible and economical form of canal construction. If he had left in the annals of congress no other evi- dence of his capacity for undaunted leadership, his address on the Panama Canal will always take rank as one of the most able and thor- oughly considered public papers contributed to the proceedings of the national legislature. In the words of former Governor Stokes of New Jersey, "Mr. Dryden's speech on the Panama Canal was a master contribution to the litera- ture of that subject, and probably decided the policy of congress on that question."
Mr. Dryden, in the midst of an extremely busy life, has from time to time contributed suggestive and well-considered papers and ad- dresses on life insurance and other subjects, reprinted in book form, to give permanency to his views on principles and measures vitally affecting the interests of the business of insur- ance. The volume of collected papers and ad- dresses contains chapters on "The Inception and Early Problems of Industrial Insurance," "The First Quarter Century of Industrial In- surance in the United States," "The Social Economy of Industrial Insurance," "The Prac- tice of Industrial Insurance," "Life Insurance as a Career," "The Taxation of Life Insur- ance," "The Regulation of Insurance by Con- gress," "The Commercial Aspects of Federal Regulation of Insurance," "The American Type of Isthmian Canal," and "A Brief Address on Abraham Lincoln and Alexander Hamilton." The mere titles of these papers and addresses suggest the broad field with which Mr. Dry- den has concerned himself during the leisure hours of an active life.
The private life of Mr. Dryden is happy, and of quiet, dignified simplicity. Out of his marriage, in 1864, to Cynthia Fairchild, sur- vive two children-Forrest F. Dryden, second
vice-president of the Prudential, and Susie Dryden, who married Colonel Anthony R. Kuser, of Trenton, New Jersey. Forrest F. Dryden has children-John F. Dryden (2d), Dorothy Dryden and Elizabeth Butterfield Dry- den, and Mrs. Kuser has one child, John Dry- den Kuser.
Mr. Dryden maintains a town house in New- ark, a beautiful summer residence in Bernards- ville, and for some years past a winter resi- dence in Washington. His art collection in Newark ranks as one of the most carefully selected in the state, including a number of very valuable paintings by modern masters. Mr. Dryden is a member of the Union League Club, New York Yacht Club, Railroad Club, Automobile Club of America, Metropolitan Club of Washington, Blooming Grove Hunting and Fishing Club, Essex Club, Essex County Country Club, and Automobile and Motor Club of New Jersey.
Among the old families of CONOVER Monmouth county, New Jer- sey, there is none probably which has taken a more prominent position than that of Conover. The family belongs among the earliest of the Dutch settlers who came to this country, and the descendants of the original emigrants are to be found through- out New York, Long Island and New Jersey, whence they have spread into many states of the Union.
(I) Wolfert Gerretse, the common ancestor of the family, emigrated with his wife and children from Amersfoort in the province of Utrecht, in the Netherlands, to Rensellaers- wyck, New York, in 1630, where he was at first employed as superintendent of farms by the patroon. Not liking it here, Wolfert Ger- retse removed to Manhattan Island, where he cultivated a farm, and in June, 1637, with An- drus Hudde, he purchased of the Indians the westernmost of the three flats in Flatland and Flatbush, called Caskateur or Kaskateuw, which were patented to them by Director Gen- eral Wouter van Twiller, June 16, 1637. Au- gust 2, 1639, Hudde conveyed to Wolfert Ger- retse his interest in his part which he called Achtervelt, and September 16, 1641, 1231/2 morgans of woodland in the same locality. In 1657 Wolfert's name appears on the list of small burghers in New Amsterdam, and it is possible that he died there sometime after 1660. By his wife Neeltje he had three sons: I. Gerret Wolfertse, referred to below. 2. Jacob Wolfertse, died about 1670; married (first)
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Hester Jansen; (second) Magdaleentje Jaco- buse Bysen. 3. Peter Wolfertse, of New Am- sterdam, the most prominent of the three brothers, and one of the surveyors general of the colony; married (first) Hester Symons Daws, widow of Jacques de Vernus ; (second) Aeltje Sibrants.
(II) Gerret Wolfertse, son of Wolfert Ger- retse and Neeltje, was born in 1610, and died about 1645. He emigrated with his father in 1631, and lived in Flatlands. Like his father he made his mark to documents. He was one of the eight men who, representing the people, on November 3, 1643, memorialized the states general for relief in consequence of their for- lorn and defenceless condition. He married Aeltje, daughter of Cornelis Lambertse Cool, of Gowanus. Children: 1. Willen Gerretse, referred to below. 2. Jan Gerretse, born 1639; married Geradientje, daughter of Nicasius De Sille. 3. Neeltje Gerretse, baptized September 20, 1641; married, 1660, Roelof Martense Schenck, of Flatlands; died about 1672. 4. Marytje Gerretse, baptized April 10, 1644, in New Amsterdam; married, prior to 1666, Coert Stevense van Voorhies (q. v.).
(III) Willen Gerretse van Couwenhoven, son of Gerret Wolfertse and Aeltje Cornelisz Cool, was born in Flatlands, about 1636. He resided at first in Brooklyn, of which place he was a magistrate in 1661-62-64, and where he was a deacon in the Reformed Church in 1663. Thence he appears to have removed to Flat- lands, being a patentee of that town in 1667, and his name appearing on the rolls as late as 1693. In 1687 he was one of those who took the oath of allegiance to the British crown in Flatlands. November 1, 1709, he sold his Flatlands farm to his son Willen, and in 1727 he removed to Monmouth county, New Jersey. In 1660 he married (first) Aeltje, daughter of Joris Dircksen Brinckerhoff, who bore him one son, Gerret Willense, born January 4, 1662, married Aeltje February 12, 1665, he married Jannetje, daughter of Pieter Mon- foort. Children : I. Aeltje Willense, born December 14, 1665, died before 1691; mar- ried, March 16, 1687, Cornelis Symonse van Aersdalen. 2. Neeltje Willense, born Febru- ary 7, 1669; married Jan Pieterse Wyckoff, of Freehold, New Jersey. 3. Pieter Willense, referred to below. 4. Cornelis Willense, born November 20, 1672; removed to Middletown, New Jersey; married, September 8, 1700, Grietje Roelosse Schenck, died March 17, 1736. 5. Sara Willense, born December 20, 1674, died
January 31, 1761; married Jan Roelefse Schenck, of New Jersey. 6. Albert Willense, of New Jersey, born December 7, 1676; mar- ried, October 2, 1701, Neeltje, daughter of Roelof Martense Schenck; lived near Free- hold, New Jersey. 7. Jacob Willemse, born January 29, 1679, died December 1, 1744; married, November 12, 1705, Sara, daughter of Roelof Martense Schenck; lived in Free- hold. 8. Jan Willense, born April 6, 1681, died 1756; married, about 1704, Jacoba Vander Veer; removed to Penns Neck, New Jersey. 9. Annatje Willemse, born April 13 or 22, 1683 ; married (first) Aert Willemsen ; (second) Johannes Antonides, both of Monmouth coun- ty. 10. Willem Willemse, born March 7, 1686, died January 19, 1769 ; married, June 5, 1709, Annetje, daughter of Lucas Stevense van Voorhigs; and besides these, probably Joris Willemse and Jacomina Willemse, born Decem- ber 28, 1689, married June 5, 1709, Elbert Williamsen, of Monmouth county.
(IV) Pieter Willemse van Couwenhoven, son of Willem Gerretse and Aeltje Jorissen (Brinckerhoof) van Cowenhoven, was born February 12, 1671, and died about 1754 or 1755. He removed to Monmouth county, New Jersey, in 1709; was a member of the Re- formed church there, and in 17II and 1721 was an elder. He married Patience, daughter of Elias Daws. Children: I. Johanna, bap- tized October 20, 1695, in Brooklyn. 2. Will- iam, of Englishtown, New Jersey, died 1777; married Annetje or Marytje - -. 3. Marike, born 1700, married October 10, 1725, Coert Gerretse Schenck. 4. Hannah married Antonides. 5. Jane, married - William- son. 6. Nelke, baptized January 22, 1710. 7. Peter Jr., baptized April 6, 1712, died 1774; married, December 17, 1735, Leah, daughter of Jan Roelefse Schenck. 8. Elias, referred to below. 9. Aeltje, married Willem Willemse. IO. Ann, married Longstreet.
(V) Elias, eighth child and third son of Pieter Willense and Patience (Daws) Cowen- hoven, was born September 12, 1707, and died in 1750 or 1759. He was an ensign in the British army during the reign of George II. He married Willentje Wall, granddaughter of Major James Hubbard, of New York.
(VI) Peter, son of Elias and Willentje (Wall) Cowenhoven, was born in 1732. Dur- ing the revolutionary war he was a paymaster in the American army. He married Hannah, daughter of Captain John Forman, of Cross- wicks, or Upper Freehold. They had a number
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of children, among whom were: James, born June 9, 1765; Samuel F., M. D., born about 1767 ; Lewis; Elias, referred to below.
(VII) Elias, son of Peter and Hannah (Forman) Cowenhoven, was born in 1778. He married Mary Schenck, a descendant of a fam- ily as old as honorable and as prominently connected with the fortune and history of New Jersey as his own. Children: 1. Ruliff E. 2. John E., born February 26, 1801, died July 24, 1871, married, March 27, 1822, Eleanor Peacock, descendant of one of the old and prominent Quaker families of Burlington coun- ty. 3. Hendrick E., referred to below.
(VIII) Hendrick E., youngest child of Elias and Mary (Schenck) Conover, inherited the old family homestead, upon which is located the historically famous Topanemus burying- ground, dating far back into the seventeenth century, and which has ever been preserved from desecration, and contains the mortal re- inains of many of Monmouth county's early prominent citizens. In 1861 Hendrick Cono- ver removed to Freehold in order to afford his last surviving child the best possible educa- tional advantages. He was considered by all to be a man of most excellent character, and there was none in the community held in higher regard than he. He had been conscientiously reared in the old Dutch Reformed religion of his forefathers, as had also been his wife in the Presbyterian faith of hers, who attended the Old Tennent Church, but after their removal to Freehold they both became members of the Presbyterian church of that town.
Hendrick Conover married Mary Barriclo, a member of an old Dutch family, prominent in Monmouth and other counties of New Jer- sey, whose name appears under various spell- ings, principally, however, as Borculo, Barka- low and Barriclo. Their children were three sons and one daughter, all of whom with the exception of one son, John Barriclo, referred to below, died young.
(IX) John Barriclo, only child who reached maturity of Hendrick and Mary (Barriclo) Conover, was born on the old homestead in Marlboro, Monmouth county, New Jersey, June 19, 1848, and is now living at Freehold, New Jersey. He passed his boyhood days upon his father's farm and began his education in the Marlboro school. When he was about thirteen years of age his parents removed to Freehold, and he was prepared for college in the Freehold Institute and the Lawrenceville Preparatory School. In 1870 he entered Princeton College, from which he was grad-
uated in 1873, with the great distinction of having been chosen by his classmates as the class poet. His poem written for this occa- sion was a production of unusual merit. It is of considerable length and is constructed in various pleasanty contrasting metrical forms. Three years after his graduation he received from Princeton University his master's degree. In 1873 he entered the law department of Co- lumbia College, and after receiving his degree of LL. B. he passed two years in the law office of Governor Joel Parker- at Freehold, and then entered on the practice of his profession, which he continued for several years, first in his own office and then as assistant to David S. Crater, surrogate of Monmouth county. His health failing him about this time, however, he aban- doned law work for a period of about ten years, not resuming active pursuits until 1900. In that year he became largely interested in patents upon incandescent gas burners of a powerful and promising type, using about the ultimate practical flame, producing maximum of air with minimum of gas, the resultant light being of remarkable intensity and even- ness, and recognized by experts as one of the most attractive and efficient yet publicly known.
In connection with the rearing of the stately Monmouth Battle Monument, Mr. Conover performed a most useful public service for which his name well deserves to be com- memorated. The erection of such a memorial was a project dear to the heart of Hon. Joel Parker, the distinguished governor of New Jersey, and when the Monmouth Battle Monu- ment Association and Commission were form- ed, the first in 1877, and the next not long thereafter, Mr. Conover was made the treasurer. primarily through the instrumentality of Gov- ernor Parker, who reposed much confidence in him and had the highest respect for his busi- ness ability. This position Mr. Conover held from the first organization until the completion and dedication of the monument, November 13, 1884. During all of this period of seven years he was the sole fiscal agent and handled all of the funds, some forty odd thousand dol- lars, investing them in government bonds and other first class securities, and doing this so discreetly and successfully that the accruing interest and premiums on sales and transfers were sufficient to meet all the expenses of the organizations. In fact, at the end, there was about one hundred dollars of surplus, which increased to something like one thousand dol- lars, when the larger part thereof was spent
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upon bronze finials for the three spurs at the angles of the base of the monument. The great success attending this undertaking re- ceived the highest praise throughout the nation as well as the state, and Mr. Conover and his associates well deserve the encomiums which have been unstintingly accorded them.
Among many public and semi-public inter- ests and offices, beginning in 1873, Mr. Con- over was for fourteen years a member of the Freehold Fire Department, and for several years he was the president of that organiza- tion. For one year he was also secretary of the board of trade, and for several years the secretary of the Monmouth county Bible soci- ety. In religion Mr. Conover is a Presby- terian and when thirty years of age he was made an elder, being at that time, the youngest elder in the church. He has also served as clerk of the church session, and minute clerk
of the Presbytery of Monmouth, and the Sy- nod of New Jersey. In politics, he is a Dem- acrat, but since the silver scare in 1896, he has been a member of the gold wing of the party.
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