Genealogical and personal memorial of Mercer County, New Jersey, Part 3

Author: Lee, Francis Bazley, 1869-1914
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 698

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keen and careful analysis than had hitherto been given to it. He was an ardent realist and had an almost virulent antipathy for idealism and the phenomenal theory. The progress of thought since his time would prevent an unqualified ac- ceptance of his views at this day, but his basic realistic principle is one "which a very wide view school of thinkers have at heart." He had a genius for observation and an intense inter- est in human character which he cultivated in- cessantly and turned to good account in his psychological work becoming in reality a pio- neer in the science of physiological psychology. In the sphere of religious thought his work will be valued for its union of philosophy and religion. Excepting his annual baccalaureates and a volume of "Gospel Sermons" (New York, 1888), few of his sermons were given to the press.

Dr. McCosh left an autobiography which has been expanded and edited by Professor William M. Sloane ("Life of James McCosh: A Rec- ord Chiefly Autobiographical," New York, 1896) and which contains a very extensive list of Dr. McCosh's writings extending from 1833 to 1894 and numbering one hundred and seventy-four titles.

He received the honorary degree of A. M. from Aberdeen in 1850, D.D. from Edinburgh in 1851 and from Brown and Washington and Jefferson in 1868, LL.D. from Dublin in 1863 and from Harvard in 1868, and Litt.D. from Queen's University in 1882. He was a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the American Philosophical Society.

Dr. McCosh married. September 29, 1845, Isabella, born April 30, 1817, daughter of Alex- ander and Mary (Stirling) Guthrie. Alexander Guthrie was the well known physician, and broth- er of Thomas. Guthrie, Dr. McCosh's intimate friend. Five children were born of this mar- riage beside a son who died in infancy: Mary Jane, born July 7, 1846, married, June, 1881, Alexander Maitland, of New York City. Alex- ander Guthrie, born January 16, 1850, died Oc- tober 30, 1881, at Princeton. Margaret, born June 21, 1852, married Dr. David Magie, q. v. Andrew James, born March 15, 1858, at Belfast, a graduate of Princeton of the class of 1877, and now the brilliant surgeon in New York. Mrs. McCosh is still residing in Princeton and con- tinues active in her charity and philanthropy.

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RUTGER JOHNSON, HENRY DRAKE JOHNSON. The first American ancestor of this ancient family was Rutger Johnson (or Janse), who with his brother came from Hol- land during the early colonial days, and with him took up his abode on Long Island. Here he resided for some time, and from thence went to the then province of New Jersey, settling at or near the Princeton of the present time, prior to 1709, as he at that time owned a considerable tract of land, as marked upon an old map of that date now in the hands of Archibald D. Russell, the present owner of the tract. Here he erected a primitive log house, where he resided with his family, and which stood on the west bank of Stony Brook creek, near the present roadway, a short distance below the double bridges. This same house was subsequently removed by Caleb Johnson, his great-grandson, to a point nearly opposite to where the famous Washington Spring is located, on the property of Moses Taylor Pyne. Rutger Johnson afterward built a stone house near the Johnson family burying ground, which comprises a quarter of an acre originally bequeathed by Rutger "as a burying place for all his offspring." The log house succumbed to the ravages of time somewhere about 1867 or 1868.

Rutger and Ann his wife were the parents of two sons: John and Garret; and daughters : Eve, Winifred, Christiana, Elizabeth and Mary. Rutger Johnson died on the home plantation at Princeton about 1748 or 1749. His will is dated August 30, 1748. To his wife Ann he bequeathed three hundred pounds, negro wenches Phebe and Sarah, stone house, garden and apples, two cows, and firewood to be cut and hauled to the door by her son Jolin and his heirs. To his son John he bequeathed the homestead planta- tion and stone house, excepting a quarter of an acre for a burying place ; also his negro man Silas. To his son Garret he bequeathed his plantation on the Delaware river, and in case either John or Garret refused to act, the other was to pay one hundred and eighty pounds. To each of his daughters he bequeathed two hun- dred pounds; to his granddaughter Elizabeth, daughter of John Huff, sixty pounds; to his grandsons Joseph Cornelius and Rutger John- son, sons of Garret Johnson, one hundred and fifty pounds. His two sons were the executors of his will. The old stone house in which he died contained a corner cupboard with a back

of plaster of paris, in which to preserve his valued things. It is now at the Washington Headquarters at Rocky Hill, placed there by the late Mrs. Josephine Swan.

John Johnson, son of Rutger and Ann John- son, married Catherine, daughter of Lawrence Opdyke, and of this marriage were born chil- dren : Jolin, Andrew, Rebecca, Jemima, Agnes. Catherine (Opdyke) Johnson died, and Mr. Johnson married (second) Mary Fish, and of this marriage was born a son Andrew. John Johnson died 1752, and his widow married Jo- siah Furman. This John must have been an indulgent father, as old accounts show that lie provided his daughters with velvet cloaks, lace mitts, sidesaddles, etc., which must have been luxuries in those early days, especially in the midst of the forest.

John Johnson, Jr., son of John and Catherine (Opdyke) Johnson, was born June 10, 1728, and died October 6, 1800. He married, in 1749, Elizabeth Huff, born November 29, 1829, and to them were born children: Catherine, born Feb- ruary 1, 1750; John, born December 7, 1752; David, born July 26, 1755; Jesse, born July 30, 1758; Elizabeth, born September 27, 1761 ; Abel, born July 26, 1764, a practicing physician in Sussex county, New Jersey; Elijalı, born No- vember 16, 1769. The mother of these chil- dren died November 9, 1773, aged forty-three years. John Johnson married (second) March 19, 1776, Sarah Furman, daughter of Josiah Furman, born September 7, 1745, and of this marriage were children: Enoch, born February 4, 1777 ; married Susan Phillips, and became the grandfather of William S. Schenck, of whose family a sketch appears in this work; children : Sarah, married Alexander Schenck; Fanny, married William Gulick. Caleb, born February 27, 1779, married late in life Catherine Ann Applegate. Ralph, born November 14, 1780, died August 29, 1854. Sarah, born December 3, 1782 ; married James Lake; children: John- son Lake, who married Ann Bergen, and Mary, who married Theodore Schenck. Lewis, born February 19, 1785, did not marry. Fanna, born January 19, 1787, married David Baker; chil- dren: sons John, Theodore and Jacob; daugh- ters Mary Ann, Caroline, Susan, Lydia and Sarah.

Ralph Johnson, son of John Jr., and Saralı (Furman) Johnson, married Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Henry and Susannah (Blackwell) Drake.

Ralph Johnson on.

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She died a few months prior to her husband, her death occurring May 15, 1854. Their chil- dren were: Caroline Belmont, married Peter H. Gulick; no issue; and Henry Drake, see forward. Jolmn Johnson, second of the name, seems to have been a man of ability, patriotic and public-spirited. He was an elder in the Presbyterian church of Princeton, a justice of the peace during the Revolution, taking an active part in public affairs. The British officers were quartered in his house, the men outside, and be- tween them they stripped the place of nearly everything available. The horses and some cattle were driven out into the woods and hidden, ac- cording to an account of a young student of col- lege who was there for the purpose of teaching Mr. Johnson's son. For many years upon the wainscoting of a room was to be seen the words "Dog Washington," inscribed by British hands. A list of goods taken, also numerous original orders from quartermasters to Mr. Johnson for army supplies and means of transportation arc still in possession of the family.

Henry Drake Johnson, only son of Ralph and Elizabeth (Drake) Johnson, was born Decem- ber 5, 18II. He received his elementary educa- tion in the district schools, and this was sup- plemented by a course in the academy at Pen- nington, New Jersey, after which he returned home. He engaged in the mercantile business in partnership with Thomas J. Skillman, and was successful in this undertaking for many years. Relinquishing this occupation he was for some time engaged in farming. He was a man of wide experience, and was for many years promi- nently associated with the public affairs of the community wherein he resided. While he was not a lawyer by profession, he was well versed in the law, and gave his time and knowledge fre- quently to his neighbors and friends. By his extensive acquaintance he rendered valuable service to the Princeton Bank, and was instru- mental in changing the affairs of that institution to the basis of a national bank. A Democrat in his political allegiance, he was chosen by his party to the office of county clerk of Somerset county, and was elected by a substantial majority. After serving one term he again returned to private life. In 1855 he removed to Princeton and located on the old Johnson homestead, which had been owned by his uncle, Lewis Johnson, who willed the land to him for his use for the remainder of his life, and there he passed the re-

mainder of his days. He died there, April 29, 1878, and it was justly said of him that a good and useful citizen had passed away.

Henry Drake Johnson married Catharine Maria, born August 12, 1814, daughter of Will- iam Peter and Lydia (Hagaman) Young, and their children were: I. Alvira Adelia, born Sep- tember 12, 1832, died August 1, 1855. 2. Au- gustine Morgan, born December 25, 1837. 3. Sarah Elizabeth, born 1838, died unmarried. 4. Josiah Furman, born March 25, 1844, mar- ried Sarah E. Moore, daughter of Charles B. Moore, and their children are: Charles Henry, born October 3, 1873, married Emma Rule ; Lewis Morgan, born July 5, 1876, married Mac Willson Symmes Appleget, daughter of Ad- rian Appleget, who is a practicing attorney of Cranberry, New Jersey; they have one child, Adria Josephine; William Peter Johnson, born December 7, 1878, married Sarah Rick, of Manayunk, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and they have two children, Charles Furman and Daniel Rick; Edna, born August 5, 1882, unmarried. 5. William Young, see forward. 6. Lydia Young. born March 6, 1855, married Thomas W. Monk- house, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 11, 1886, and their children are: William John- son, born January 6, 1890; Thomas Stewart, born November 23, 1890; Henry Drake, born April 8, 1893, dicd July 22, 1905. 7. Henry Paul, born June 18, 1857, died January 17, 1892. Catharine Maria (Young) Johnson died April 26, 1895. She was for a number of years a member of the Protestant Episcopal church in Princeton. She was a woman amiable, generous and retiring, and possessed of many excellences of character, and was highly esteemed and be- loved by all who knew her.

William Young Johnson, fifth child and sec- ond son of Henry Drake and Catharine Maria (Young) Johnson, was born April 14, 1845, died October 25, 1895. He received his preparatory education in the Edge Hill school in Princeton, then entered Princeton College, graduating from that institution with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then took up the practice of the law in the office of his preceptor, Hon. John P. Stockton, and was for a number of years associated with him in general practice, and also was associated with Mr. Stockton in the office of attorney-general of the state. Mr. Johnson's career as a lawyer was successful, and at the time of his death it was justly said that he

Vol. II-2

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had left the impress of his individuality upon the community. William Young Johnson married Elise F. Hernandez. No children were born of this marriage. His wife did many years ago.

HENRY CLAY CAMERON, Ph. D., D. D., one of the most noted of the many prominent professors who have been connected with Prince- ton University, was born in Shepherdstown, Vir- gina, now West Virginia, September 1, 1827. His preparatory classical education before enter- ing college was obtained under the auspices of Rev. James McVeen, of Georgetown. He was admitted to the junior class of Princeton Uni- versity, at that time a college, in 1845, and was graduated with high honors and the English salutatory in 1847, a member of the one hun- dredth class that had left that institution of learn- ing. Three years later he returned to Princeton and entered the Theological Seminary the fol- lowing year. He became the principal of the Edgehill School and was appointed to a tutorship in Princeton College in 1852. This he held for three years, when he was elected by the board of trustees as adjunct professor of Greek. He was also instructor in French in 1859 and 1860, and in the latter year became associate professor in the Greek department, and one year later was appointed to the full Greek chair. He was librarian of the college from 1865 to 1873 and for a time acted as Curator of the grounds and buildings as well. The degree of Doctor of Phil- osophy was conferred upon him by Princeton College in 1866, and that of Doctor of Divinity by Rutgers College, in 1875. Wooster Univer- sity also conferred upon him the degree of Doc- tor of Divinity in the same year. For twenty years he was clerk of the Princeton faculty, an arduous position, and retired from active work October 21. 1902. Upon receipt of his resig- nation the trustees of Princeton University pre- sented him with a set of resolutions setting forth their gratitude for the efficient services he had rendered that institution. President Grant ap- pointed him a member of the board of visitors to the Military Academy at West Point, and in 1876 he was chairman of its committee on edy- cation. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Philadelphia in 1859, and ordained in February, 186 !. He was several times sent as Commis- sioner to the General Assembly of the Presby- terian Church. He was for two summers chap- lain at West Point. He served on many commit-

tees in religious, civil, necrological and other work. He practically founded, and was the act- ing president until his death of the Princeton Battle Monument Association, whose efforts of twenty years have now resulted in the passage, by the general and state governments, of grants which assure the construction of the memorial to the turning-point of the Revolution : the battle of Princeton. His death occurred October 25, 1906. He was a man of affable demeanor, and his kind heart and ready assistance smoothed the path of many under his charge. He was bril- liantly intellectual and a man of great wit, which was famous in his earlier relations with his stu- dents, to whom, also, he was known as a strict disciplinarian. He accomplished more of his work in the line of preaching and speaking than in book form. For more than fifty years he illustrated in many demands and capacities the type of the stalwart qualities which devoted themselves. unselfishly to the causes with which, in education and in private life, they were as- sociated. For many years he was the editor of the Triennial Catalog of Princeton; he wrote the History of the American Whig Society, and did considerable writing in connection with points of interest concerning Princeton and the Uni- versity history. He contributed to Johnson's Cyclopedia and to reviews. He was also the editor with Arnold Guyot of a series of classical maps, long a standard.

He married, September 14, 1858. Mina Chol- let, born in the canton de Vaud, Switzerland, whose mother was Constance Guyot, sister of the world-renowned scientist, Dr. Arnold Guyot, and they had one daughter: Constance, born in 1859, died when nearly fourteen years of age; and a son :

Arnold Guyot Cameron, born March 4, 1864. He was graduated from Princeton University in the class of 1886, with honor, and professor of the French and German languages and their literatures in Miami University from 1888 to 1891 ; then assistant professor of French in charge of that department in the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University from 1891 to 1897 : and was called to the professorship of French in the John C. Green School of Science at Princeton University from 1897 to 1900; and then made Woodhull Professor of French in the university, a position he held until 1905. He has contrib- uted much valuable material to the annals of liter- ature, notably in the authorized edition : "Selec-

Senry Co lourneron

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tions from Edmond and Jules de Goncourt," which earned words of praise from institutions of learning throughout the civilized world, and similar authorized works from Pierre Loti, François Coppée, Emile Zola, Jean Richepin. Besides these he has edited Tales of France and other works and has written for the literary press. He married, June 21, 1899, Anne Wood Finley. daughter of the Reverend C. W. Finley, of Lon- don, Ohio, and their children are: Constance Guyot Cameron, born October 20, 1900; Arnold Guyot Cameron, born June 3, 1902 ; David Pierre Guyot Cameron, horn April 1. 1904: Nicholas Guyot Cameron, born November 6, 1905.

ARNOLD HENRI GUYOT, Ph. D., LL. D .. one of the most famous of the notable men of science who came to this country from Switz- erland in the middle of the nineteenth century, was a man of impressive personality, whose in- fluence upon the scientific world cannot be over- estimated.

The Guyot family became Protestants carly in the sixteenth century through the preaching of the French reformer; Farel, a contemporary of Luther. At the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, this family was one of the sixty that removed to the principality of Neuf- chatel and Valangin from the high Alps of Dauphiny. The race was one of the kind and origin that contributed largely to the foundations of the American republic.

David-Pierre Guyot, father of Arnold- Henri Guyot, esteemed for "his prompt intelli- gence and perfect integrity," married. in 1796. Constance Favarger, of Neufchatel, "a lady of great personal beauty and rare nobility of char- acter."

Arnold Henri Guyot, one of twelve children, was born at Boudevilliers, September 28, 1807, and was named after the Swiss patriot of the fourteenth century. Arnold von Winkelried. The family removed to Hauterive, three miles from Neufchatel. about 1818, where his father died in the following year. From this house the whole chain of the Alps, from Mount Blanc to Titlis, was visible, and there is no doubt that the sensi- tive nature of young Guyot was deeply inspired by this view, and that it bore a great share in the formation of his future life. He early found pleasure in the collection of insects and plants. and thus gave evidence of the impression that Nature made upon him. For a short time prior

to this period, he had been at school at La Chaux- de-Fonds, a village more than three thousand feet above the level of the sea. At the age of fourteen years he entered the College of Neuf- chatel, where he was a classmate of Leo Les- quereux, the botanist, with whom he studied and worked in common, the two frequently spend- ing their vacations together. The studies were classical-Latin, Greek and Philosophy-enabling a boy to prepare for the professions of law, medi- cine or thcology, and with nothing in particular to foster the love of nature. He left his home in order to complete his education in Germany, in 1825, and after three months spent at Metzin- gen near Stuttgart, to perfect himself in the German language, he went to Carlsruhe and be- came a member of the family of Mr. Braun. father of the distinguished philosopher and bot- anist. Alexander Braun, the discoverer of Phyl- lotaxis, this family having been on terms of in- timacy with several of his relatives for a number of years. There were also a younger son and two daughters in the family, and when the gifted son Alexander came home to spend his summer vacations, bringing with him his three univer- sity friends-Agassiz. Carl Schimper, the gifted co-laborer of Braun, and Imhoff, of Bale, it was a stirring event which brought new life into this circle. The acquisition of knowledge was the rule of the day, and Guyot remarks: "My re- membrance of those few months of alternate work and play, attended by so much real progress, is among the most delightful of my younger days. Add to these the attractions the charm of the society of a few select and intimate friends, pro- fessors, clergymen and artists, dropping in almost every evening, and you will easily understand how congenial, how fostering to all noble im- pulses, must have been the atmosphere of this family for the young and happy guests assembled under its hospitable roof. Months were thus spent in constant and immediate intercourse with nature, the subjects of investigation changing with the advancing season. It would be idle to determine the measure of mutual benefit de- rived by these young students of nature from their meeting under such favorable circumstances. It certainly was great, and we need no other proof of the strong impulse they all received from it than the new ardor with which each pursued and subsequently performed his life-work." Young Guyot was deeply impressed with the newly-developed views in botany, embryology,

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and zoological classification that were the sub- jects of thought and discussion.

From Carlsruhe, Guyot went to Stuttgart and took the course at the Gymnasium, in order to perfect himself in the German language, and re- turned to Neufchatel in 1827. There the preach- ing of Rev. Samuel Petit-pierre influenced his religious faith and feelings to such an extent that from a sense of duty he turned from science to theology, and commenced serious preparation for the ministry. Two years later, with this pur- pose still in view, he went to Berlin and at- tended the lectures of Schleiermacher, Neander, and Hengstenberg, remaining in that city from 1830 to 1835, in the latter year receiving his degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the Univer- sity of Berlin. In order to defray his expenses during these five years he had accepted the in- vitation of Herr Müller, Privy Councillor to the King of Prussia, and lived with him, giving his children the benefit of conversation in French. This position brought him into contact with the best society of Berlin and was of advantage to him in many ways. While earnestly engaged in the study of theology his hours of recreation were devoted to making collections of the plants and shells of the country, and in other scientific pur- suits. By Humboldt he was introduced to the Berlin Botanical Garden, and courses of lectures on Psychology, the philosophy of nature, chem- istry, geology, physics and meteorology, and espe- cially those of Carl Ritter, the eminent geogra- pher, touched his eager and sympathetic mind. His love for nature-science rapidly gained pos- session of him, and he yielded to the demands of his mind and conscience, and determined to drop theology and make science his life-work. Of all his Berlin teachers, Carl Ritter made the strong- est impression upon Guyot, and a paragraph from his biographical sketch of him, presented to the American Geographical Society in 1860, will show the mental affiliation between them: "Rit- ter, in the introduction to the 'Erdkunde,' de- clares that the fundamental idea which under- lies all his work and furnishes him a new prin- ciple for arranging the well-digested materials of the science of the globe, has its deep root in the domain of faith. This idea, he adds, was derived from an inward tuition which gradually grew out of his life in nature and among men. It could not be, beforehand, sharply defined and limited, but would become fully manifested in the completion of the edifice itself. That noble

edifice is now before us, and, unfinished though it be, it reveals the plan of the whole and allows us clearly to perceive that fundamental idea on which it rests. It is a strong faith that our globe, like the totality of creation, is a great organism, the work of all All-wise Divine Intel- ligence, an admirable structure, all the parts of which are purposely shaped and arranged and mutually dependent, and, like organs, fulfill, by the will of the Maker, specific functions which combine themselves into a common life. But for Ritter, that organism of the globe comprises not nature only ; it includes man, and, with man, the moral and intellectual life." "None before him perceived so clearly the hidden but strong ties which mutually bind man to nature-those close and fruitful relations between man and his dwell- ing place, between a continent and its inlabi- tants, between a country and the people which hold it as its share of the continent-those in- fluences which stamp the nations and races each with a character of their own, never to be effaced during the long period of their existence." We have here ideas that in Guyot took a still larger expansion. He derived great benefit also from the friendship and works of Humboldt, and his address at the Humboldt Commemoration of the American Geographical Society in 1859 was a fine tribute to this model student of nature.

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Genealogical and personal memorial of Mercer County, New Jersey, Part 3

Author: Lee, Francis Bazley, 1869-1914 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 698

Author: Lee, Francis Bazley, 1869-1914
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 698