USA > New Jersey > Cumberland County > Historic days in Cumberland County, New Jersey, 1855-1865 : political and war time reminiscences > Part 15
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Strange indeed is the web of human life. Fate had willed that "General Orders No. 50" should be Mr. Lin- coln's last official act. In the stormy days of his first ad- ministration the stars and stripes were lowered at Sumter by the hand of Major Anderson because of overpowering force. With the beginning of his second administration the tide of war had restored the fortress to its rightful owner- ship, and in the hour of his departure he submitted to the nation the appended document for the unfurling of the flag in the honored place it had occupied just four years previous. Then, that very day, like Enoch he walked with God. and was not, for the Lord took him.
"War Department. Adjutant-General's Office. Washington, March 27, 1865. Ordered, first. That at the hour of noon on the 14th
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day of April, 1865. Brevet Major-General Anderson will raise and plant upon the ruins of Fort Sumter, in Charles- ton Harbor, the same United States flag which floated over the battlements of that fort during the rebel assault, and which was lowered and saluted by him and the small force of his command when the works were evacuated on the 14th day of April, 1861.
Second. That the flag, when raised, be saluted by one hundred guns from Fort Sumter and by a national salute from every fort and rebel battery that fired upon Fort Sum- ter.
Third. That suitable ceremonies be had upon the oc- casion. under the direction of Major-General William T. Sherman whose military operations compelled the rebels to evacuate Charleston, or, in his absence, under the charge of Major-General Q. A. Gilmore, commanding the depart- ment. Among the ceremonies will be the delivery of a public address by the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher.
Fourth. That the naval forces at Charleston and their commander on that station be united to participate in the ceremonies of the occasion.
By order of the Presi lent of the United States EDWIN M. STANTON. Secretary of War"'
Under the provisions of an act of the Legislature passed in 1864 the first municipal election was held on Tuesday, March 11th, 1865. The act divided the town into three wards, with a Mayor, City Recorder, Treasurer, Mar- shal, Solicitor, School Superintendent, and a Common Council composed of two members from each ward, and the usual ward officers. The community had been very much divided as to the question of incorporation. so much so that voters were not enthused over the election. A fair vote was, however, polled, the result being a Republican victory. In the division of the city, Commerce street was made the line between the First and Second wards, all north and east
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EARLY MAYORS, CITY OF BRIDGETON James Hood
Isaac B. Dare Ephraim E. Sheppard
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being the First ward, all south and east being the Second ward, taking the Cohansey river for the western boundary. The two wards were composed exactly of the territory in- cluded in the old Township of Bridgeton. The Third ward occupied the territorial limits of the former Township of Cohansey bounded on the east by the Cohansey, the west and south, by Hopewell Township.
James Hood. Republican, was elected the first mayor by a majority of 29 votes over Adrian Bateman, Democrat. Daniel Bacon was chosen City Recorder by 55 majority ; Uriah D. Woodruff, City Treasurer, by 61 majority; Dr. James M. Chaliss, City School Superintendent, by 58 ma- jority. Wallace Taylor was elected Marshal without op- position, as was John T. Nixon, to the office of City Soli- citor.
Members of City Council selected at this election were all Republicans. First ward-Thomas U. Harris, Charles S. Fithian ; Second ward-David P. Mulford. Samuel Ap- plegit ; Third ward-Robert C. Nichols. Robert J. Fithian. the two latter having no opposition.
The Mayor. James Hood, was a man of considerable ability, strong in his opinions of right and wrong. Be- cause of the latter quality his administration was not as popular as it might have been. When the new municipal government was inaugurated the Mayor by a provision of the city charter became the President of Council. In that position as Executive and President of the city local legis- lature Mayor Hood pursued a courageous course, which had a salutary effect upon evil doers in the municipality of the city of Bridgeton during its early days.
With the passing of the Township system, the char- acter of municipal elections was entirely changed. The town meeting which had existed since Colonial days was no more. Thereafter the old-time gatherings at the taverns in the respective townships of Bridgeton and Cohansey in the spring of the year were to become a matter of history only. For the viva voce vote was substituted the ballot.
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IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY
Ephraim Sheppard. Democrat, who because of his fitness for the place, was generally selected by the unanimous con- sent of all parties was to act as Mr. Moderator no more. John Cheesman, Democrat, whose clerical abilities were recognized by the public in repeated elections, would no longer act as Township Clerk, and record the suffrages of the citizens of the good old town of Bridgeton. Town Meeting days, how they loom up in the shadows of the past! The long line of good citizens here they come to tell the Clerk by voice what their judgment is as to the ap- propriation for roads, for police, for light, for salaries, and for township officers. Memory pictures the faces as they pass in the long ago. First the Moderator, Uncle Ephraim, declares in the shrill voice and clearing of the throat once so familiar: "Gentlemen, we are ready to vote! and on the motion just made I vote 'No'! as it appears to me that if there was a little less extravagance in our town affairs it would be considerable better for the tax-payers." Then the Clerk votes-then the rank and file pass. Reader, note these worthies of the good old days: Providence Ludlam, James B. Potter, James Stiles. Ephraim Sheppard, Jr., Lot Loper, Edmund Crozier. John Carter, L. Q. C. Elmer. John T. Nixon, Edmund Roork, David Potter. James Hood, Nathaniel Fish. William McGear. Sr., John S. Mc- Gear. Hugh McGear. Nathan McGear. John Salkeld, Alfred Maul. Henry Knerr. Joseph Gibson. Sr .. Franklin Dare, Isaac Pedrick, Daniel B. Thompson. David P. Mulford, Elam Quicksell. Allen Mulford. Moses Mulford, Joseph Allen, Robert Jordan, Charles S. Fithian, Nathaniel Strat- ton, Alexander Stratton. Samuel Ward Seeley, William Alkire, Johnson Reeves, Joseph Reeves, Elmer Camm, Isaac Nichols. Isaac Laning, Jonathan Loper. Ner Allen, John R. Graham. Dayton B. Whitaker, John Cheesman, H. R. Merseilles, Henry B. Lupton, Lewis M'Bride. J. Barron Potter. Samuel Hider. Henry Nordyke. Joel Fithian, Joseph Borden, Artis E. Hughes. Charles C. Grosscup. Robert Poole. Samuel B. Poole, William Pogue. Richard
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Burch, Levi Wood, Charles Hetzell. Jeremiah DuBois. Jonathan Elmer. William S. DuBois. James Whitaker. Samuel L. Fithian, Jonathan Paynter. James B. Ferguson. Thomas Comac, Francis G. Brewster. Alexander Robeson, Lot Harris. Thomas U. Harris, James Woodruff, Abram Woodruff. Charles Laning, Daniel Fithian, and a host of others.
Honest citizens of the past were they-good men and true. The world has not yet seen their superiors in qual- ities of head and heart.
Commenting upon the result of the first election under the new charter. the "Chronicle" said: "Let it be handed down to posterity and recorded in letters of gold on the pages of history that the first election for city officers in Bridgeton resulted in electing candidates favorable to the Constitution, the Union, the Administration. Liberty, Free- dom and Sound Democracy."
Early in March the announcement came from Wash- ington that Joseph S. Miner had been named by President Lincoln for the Postmastership of Bridgeton, vice George W. Johnson resigned.
Quite a lively contest developed previous to the mak- ing of this appointment. Daniel B. Thompson announced himself a candidate. and made an earnest effort to secure the office. Mr. Thompson had been postmaster of Bridge- ton under the administration of President James K. Polk. 1845 to 1849. being then identified with the Democratic party. When the war for the Union opened Daniel B. Thompson became a War Democrat, and finally a Republi- can. \ man of strong convictions, prominent in the Methodist Episcopal Church, he had many warm friends who zealously contributed time and influence toward his suc- cess. Among his friends was Charles E. Elmer, at that time one of the most influential citizens of Bridgeton. Joseph S. Miner was a young man of fine business capacity, and an ac- tive advocate of Republican principles and the Union cause.
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Daniel B. Thompson Jeremiah DuBois
PROMINENT CITIZENS 1-61-1-65 Joseph S. Miner Benjamin T. Bright Joseph H. Elmer
Robert C. Nichols Jonathan Elmer
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He also had many friends who labored earnestly for him. His petition addressed to "His Excellency, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States," was headed by the names of Providence Ludlam, Lewis H. Dowdney, Jonathan El- mer, Robert C. Nichols, George W. Johnson, Henry B. Lupton, Jeremiah DuBois and many other leading citizens, to the number of 283. It was a powerful petition and car- ried much weight, composed as it was of representatives of the manufacturing and business interests of Bridgeton. But, the influence of Hon. Providence Ludlam, Senator from Cumberland County, was paramount in the fight, and through his efforts largely Mr. Miner became postmaster.
The appointment was one of Mr. Lincoln's last official acts ; and had not been sent to the Senate at the hour of his assassination, but Mr. Miner took possession of the office by authority of Postmaster General Dennison. Andrew Johnson, on becoming President, refused to issue a com- mission to him, and for two years there was a prolonged contention over the place. Pending the difficulties which arose between President Johnson and the Republican ma- jority in Congress, Jolinson appointed Samuel R. Fithian, postmaster. Mr. Fithian was not confirmed. and did not get possession of the office. Time went on. the contro- versy between Executive and Congress grew so bitter that the Republican majority passed a measure known as the "Tenure of office act," which the President vetoed. Passed over his veto it became a law. Under that statute there was therefore nothing for Mr. Johnson to do but issue com- missions to Mr. Lincoln's appointees. The commission was issued to Mr. Miner, March 28th, 1867. for four years. At one time during the long contest for the Bridgeton post- office, Mr. Miner received a letter from Hon. Henry Wil- son, Senator from Massachusetts, in which that famous statesman said: "You will either be appointed by Presi- dent Johnson or no other man will ever be confirmed by the United States Senate." Re-appointed by President Grant. March 13th, 1871, and February 26th, 1875. also by President Hayes. March 3d. 1879. Postmaster Miner
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IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY, NEW JERSEY
served the long period of nearly eighteen years. Joseph S. Miner proved a model officer, and brought the postal ser- vice in Bridgeton to a high state of efficiency. It was a max- im of Thomas Jefferson that in the line of office holding, "few die, and none resign." In Mr. Miner's case it was slightly different. The Johnsonites wanted him to either die or resign out of spite, but he did neither. After ahnost a score of years of honorable service he could have con- tinued in office. but did what few others have done, volun- tarily announced through the press, under date of February I. 1883. in a card to the public that : "Whereas my commis- sion will soon expire, I deem it proper to give public notice that I am not an applicant for reappointment. With many thanks to the citizens of Bridgeton and vicinity for their courtesy and kindness to myself. as an official during my years of public service, I remain, yours truly."
Appointed five times, always the free-will offering of his party and fellow citizens, Mr. Miner left a record which is parallel to that of the good and faithful servant who received the highest compliment ever paid to man in the Biblical "Well Done!"
March 18th. 1865, Captain Ethan T. Harris, a Bridge- ton boy, who had served in the "Cumberland Greys," been wounded in the seven days' fight before Richmond, Mc- Clellan's peninsula campaign, afterward organizing Com- pany HI, Third New Jersey Cavalry,"the Butterflies," and re- turning to the seat of war, again found himself in his na- tive town. He was now a paroled prisoner of war, after seven months of torture, privations, and imprisonment in the prisons of the Confederacy. Incidents connected with his capture were interesting. Out with a scouting party of his regiment on the 29th of September. 1864, he was cap- tured by a large force of guerrillas coming upon him sud- denly. The Captain was separated from his command in the excitement of the rush and endeavored to escape. Meeting a farmer on a road which he had turned into he
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inquired the road to Staunton. The man gave him the wrong direction, which soon led him in sight of a body of the enemy. A young girl informed him that they were Confederates. He then spurred his horse in another di- rection. A shot was soon fired at him which whizzed close to his head. He was finally surrounded and taken prisoner. His captors robbed him of his watch, boots and other valu- ables. They told him that they had followed him three miles, and one of them said he had raised his rifle several times to shoot the captain, but feeling certain of his capture he refrained. Captain llarris was taken to Libby prison. thence to Danville, Virginia, then to Salisbury, North Carolina. Eight thousand Union soldiers were at Salis- bury, three thousand of whom perished miserably between the middle of October and the first of January. Deaths still continued after the latter date at the rate of thirty a day. Poor fellows without blankets or shelter were com- pelled to burrow holes in the ground. and from the holes numerous bodies were taken every morning. Terrible trials. terrible scenes did the brave boys in blue pass through and witness in the Inferno at Salisbury.
Captain Harris was fortunate in retaining a fair meas- ure of health, and returned to receive the congratulations of his family and friends. He was a stern disciplinarian some of his men thought, but a good, true, patriotic soldier. During his terms of service he was three times severely wounded and was breveted major for meritorious conduct.
Monday, April 3d. 1865. Bridgeton became wildly en- thusiastic over the news received by telegraph from Washi- ington that the Union Army had captured Richmond. When the full particulars were confirmed by the evening papers, business was at once suspended. Professor Dor- ville's Band appeared upon the streets, and began a sere- nade of city officials and the people generally with the finest band music that had ever been furnished by local musicians. Prof. Dorville was a gifted band master-a
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Frenchman by birth, full to the brim with the musical en- dowments of his native land. The way he handled the ba- ton that famous night, won the patriotic admiration of the town. The cannon fired, flags flung to the breeze, windows and residences decorated, torchlight parades, streets filled with people, deafening cheers was the order of the night. "Richmond is Ours!" was the shout from every throat, and each citizen appeared to be trying to outdo his neighbor with noise. The procession passed the Female Seminary in a blaze of red light. Halting there the young lady students appeared upon the veranda, sat upon the window sills of the building to the topmost story, singing the great National song-the "Star Spangled Banner." One young lady of spendid voice led the singing, and as she rang out the verse-
"What is that which the breeze o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam. In full glory reflected, now shines in the stream! 'Tis the Star Spangled Banner, long may it wave. O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave-"
the procession joined in the song with such a vim that it set the old courthouse bell on edge to join in the general re- joicing over the downfall of the Confederate Capital.
April 9th, 1865. again the news of victory electrified the patriotic North. General Robert E. Lee had surren- dered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Grant with 20,000 stands of arms, many guns, and many battle flags. When the news arrived in Bridgeton there was another season of rejoicing, and the town went wild again in preparation for a great celebration.
But this very day. when all was so bright for the Union cause. the assassin Booth was to destroy the gentle life of the sweetest and best ruler the nation had had. And. so the festivities were brought to a sudden end by the telegrams from Washington that President Lincoln had been assassinated while in attendance at the opera house on the night of April 14th.
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Bridgeton was never so sad and solemn as on Wednes- day, the 19th day of April, 1865, the day of President Lin- coln's funeral obsequies. Mayor Hood had issued a proclamation calling upon the people to assemble in due observance of the memory of the illustrious Lincoln, ask- ing that business be suspended, and the day set apart as a day of sermon and prayer. In accordance therewith the churches were filled to overflowing with citizens who had come to pay their last respects to a great man, the nation's fallen chief. While the church bells tolled hundreds of people joined in procession, marching from Sheppard's Hall to the First Presbyterian Church, where obsequial services were held, the band playing funeral dirges. At the church a feeling invocation was offered by Rev. James M. Chaliss. The Scriptures were read by Rev. John W. Hickman. pas- tor of Commerce Street M. E. Church, followed by a solemn hymn by the choir. Prayer was again offered by Dr. C. R. Gregory. Hon. John T. Nixon delivered a splendid eulogy of the dead President to the immense audience which filled the church. Rev. Richard Thorn, pastor of Trinity M. E. Church, read an appropriate selection in his usual eloquent manner: Dr. James Brown. of the Baptist Church, closing the exercises with a fervent prayer.
The Sunday previous the pulpits of all the churches of Bridgeton rang with heroic utterances denunciative of the treacherous act which had brought the nation to such in- tense grief. Especially strong was the sermon of Rev. Richard Thorn, in the Trinity M. E. Church, who declared those who sympathized with rebellion in the North to be equally guilty of the foul crime of assassination with the wretch who did it-John Wilkes Booth.
Great excitement prevailed in Bridgeton during the days immediately following the President's assassination. Several persons were accused of sympathy with Mr. Lin- coln's murderers, because of their indiscreet talk. To add to the bad feeling some unknown person carried off the drap- ery from the altar of the Baptist church, which had. like
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the other houses of worship, been placed in mourning habili- ments. Who the person was, was never accurately ascer- tained. but many were the suspicions which for a long time filled the public mind.
A few days previous to the assassination a gentleman, so said one of the Bridgeton papers, visited Washington on business with President Lincoln. Previous to leaving home a friend requested him to ask Mr. Lincoln whether he (Lin- coln ) loved Jesus. The business being completed, the ques- tion was kindly asked, whereupon the good President buried his face in his handkerchief. turned away and wept. He then turned to his visitor, and said: "When I left home to take the chair of State I requested my countrymen to pray for me. I was not then a Christian. When my son died. (Willie Lincoln who deceased at the White House, ) the severest trial of my life. I was not a Christian. But, when I went to Gettysburg, and looked upon the graves of our dead heroes who had fallen in defence of their country I then and there, consecrated myself to Christ; I do love Jesus!" Like Edward Mote he was ready to exclaim :
Ilis oath, his covenant and blood. Support me in the whelming flood : When all around my soul gives way. He then is all my hope and stay. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.
Martyred President! Noble spirit! The bugles of the Union had not yet ceased their victorious notes in the Shen- andoah and on the Appomattox when the gates of Heaven opened wide for the soul of Abraham Lincoln.
Saturday, May 6th. 1865. the Bridgeton Chronicle said :
"The war is virtually ended." But it seems to the writer that the final chapter in the great drama of the civil
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war was enacted in the closing hours of Mr. Lincoln's Presi- dency. Victory was in the air, and the flag floated in triumph o'er all the Southern country so lately in rebellion. The soft winds of the early Spring bore tidings of great joy to the mansion and the tenement in imperial cities; to the humble home in the forest, on the prairie. on broad acres throughout the national domain ; to the sailor upon the sea. to the American in foreign lands. They also brought tidings of sorrow to the citizens of the great Republic everywhere because of the death of the great man, who under God had accomplished so much for the American people. He had lived to the hour of triumph, but he was not to see the columns of veterans who had won the fight in the grand march they were to soon take up on Pennsylvania avenue. God had willed otherwise. That great statesman Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, knew the dead President well and loved him. He voiced the sentiment of the nation when he presented the following resolutions in the Senate of the United States :
T. That in testimony of their veneration and affection for the illustrious dead. who has been permitted, under Providence, to do so much for his country and for liberty. the Congress of the United States will unite in the funeral services and by an appropriate committee accompany his remains to their place of burial in the State from which he was taken for the national service.
2. That in the life of Abraham Lincoln, who by the benignant favor of republican institutions rose from humble beginnings to the heights of power and fame they recognize an example of purity, simplicity, and virtue which should be a lesson to mankind, while in his death they recognize a martyr whose memory will become more precious as men learn to prize those principles of constitutional order and those rights-civil, political, and human-for which he was made a sacrifice.
It is remarkable how many sons of Cumberland county distinguished themselves in the course of the civil war. Cap-
PROMINENT CITIZENS-1-4-1-65
David P. Elmer
Alphonso Woodruff
Robert S. Buck
Capt. Enoch More
Charles D. Burroughs
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tin Enoch More, of Bridgeton, was one of our citizens who took an important part in the final scenes connected with the capture of Jefferson Davis, President of the Southern Con- federacy. As commander of the steamer William P. Clyde, by orders of the War Department, he brought "Jeff" and his Cabinet from Hilton Head, South Carolina, to Fortress Monroe, at Hampton Roads, Virginia. The following let- ter from Captain More to a relative in Cumberland County, at that time, explains itself :
'Fortress Monroe, May 19, 1865.
'We arrived here fifty-two hours from Hilton Head. having been expressly detailed by General Gilmore to be the bearer of Cæsar and his fortunes. under convey of the U. S. S. Tuscarora, and carrying the following valuable freight : Jeff Davis and family, consisting of his wife, four children and four servants, with part of his late Cabinet. composed of Alexander H. Stephens. Vice President, Con- federacy : Postmaster General Reagan. Colonels Johnston and Lubbick, Aids-de-Camp: Colonel Harrison, Private Secretary ; Lieutenant Hathway. Major Manrand, Captain Moody. Major Howell and sister, the latter brother and sis- ter to Mrs. Davis: General Wheeler and staff ; Clement C. Clay and wife, with all their plunder, all under the care of their gentlemanly captor (Colonel D. B. Pritchard, of the Fourth Michigan Cavalry) and guard consisting of seventy men of the party who surprised and captured the last re- mains of the bogus Confederacy. They were encamped in the bushes when captured, and finding themselves beset by the cavalry. the indomitable "Jeff" dressed himself in woman's clothes, and taking a bucket on his arm, accom- panied by his wife attempted to skedaddle à la Richmond. At this time Corporal Munger, of the Fourth Michigan Cavalry, appeared at the tent door and inquired of a lady standing at the entrance who those persons were that he saw moving off. He was informed that the lady with the bucket was her mother going to the creek after a pail of water: but the uncommon tallness of the figure attracted
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