USA > New Jersey > Bergen County > History of Bergen county, New Jersey > Part 62
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BUELL B. BROWN.
Buell B. Brown, was born in Ashtabula county, Ohio, in 1848. His ancestors came from Vermont in the early part of the century, and settled on what is known as the Western Reserve, then a wild region.
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They were noted for their public spirit and patriotism, the great-grand- father on both sides being soldiers in the Revolutionary war, and the grandfathers soldiers of the war of 1812, while the subject of this sketch, his father and brother served in the war of the Rebellion. Mr. Brown is a distant relative of John Brown, "whose soul is marching on" and of Lord Nelson, his mother being a grand-neice of the hero of Trafalgar.
At the age of sixteen he enlisted as a member of the Sixth Ohio Cavalry, and served under General Sheridan until the close of the war. He was graduated from the Spencerian Institute of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1868, the Kingsville Ohio Academy, in 1870, and the Rochester New York Business University, in 1871, being an instructor in the last named institution in 1871-72, when he accepted the principalship of the Louis- ville Business College. He afterwards established and conducted sev- eral commercial schools, which now bear his name. He has been the editor of several weekly papers, and is a frequent contributor to the New York press, also author of works on commercial education. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and director of the Englewood Loan and Building Association.
Mr. Brown gave up the school and newspaper business some time since and is now a real estate and insurance broker.
CHARLES P. BUCKLEY.
Charles P. Buckley, Mayor of the borough, is a native of New Jersey, but has been a practitioner of law in the city of New York for over forty years. He was born in Montclair, N. J., in December 1834. A few years thereafter his parents moved to the city where he received his education. He has followed his profession since 1858, when admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of that State. He was appointed a Master in Chancery in 1873 by Chancellor Rumyon. In 1865 he became a resident of Tenafly, where his name is found in connection with all the movements in that place, socially, politically and other- wise. Mr. Buckley was elected Mayor of the borough of Tenafly in March 1899. He is a member of Lawyer's and New York Athletic Clubs, New York city and of the Long Beach Club and Tenafly Club, New Jersey.
ALFRED JARVIS.
Alfred Jarvis was born at Babylon, Long Island, June 4, 1835, and is the son of Rufus and Onee (Gildersleeve ) Jarvis. Alfred served as Lieutenant in the late Civil war, in the 12th Mississippi Regiment from April 1, 1861, until July 10, 1865. His grandfather Augustus Jarvis served in the Revolutionary war.
CHAPTER XXXII. HARRINGTON TOWNSHIP.
EARLY SETTLEMENT -- CIVIL LIST-CLOSTER, DEMAREST, NORWOOD -
SCHOOLS CHURCHES-BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
This township became a separate organization in 1775, having heretofore been a part of old Hackensack.
The division of the territory for the formation of Washington township called forth strong opposition. In 1840, however, it was nearly equally divided leaving Harrington on the east side, making the line of New York state its northern boundary, with the Hudson river on the east and Palisades township on the south. Inclu ling the borough recently taken off it contains fourteen thousand two hundred and one acres and has two railroads, the Northern Railroad of New Jersey and the West Shore traversing the township from North to South.
The civil powers of the township at that early day were legally vested in the county board justices and freeholders. The first Chosen Freeholders of the township were Johnson Boskirk and Jacob Cole. From that time to 1794 the records are indefinite, but from the year last named the freeholders, with the respective years in which they served, will be found as follows:
1794, Capt. Abr. Haring; '94-96, 98-99, Abrm. G. Haring; 95-96, Henry Harring; 97, David Durie; '97-1800, John I. Banta; 1800-5, Peter Harring: 1801-2, '08-13, Jacob I. Banta; '03-5, Cornelius Blauvelt; '06-9, John D. Harring; '06-7, '10-11, Garret A. Ackerman; '12-17, John W. Ferdon, '14-17, James G. Demarest; '18, David A. Demarest; '18, Gar- ret A. Zabriskie; '19-21, David A. Demarest; '19, Garret A. Zabriskie; '20-21, Jacob Al. Terhune; '22-25. John W. Ferdon; '22, 26-28, John R. Blauvelt; 23-25, 30, Samuel G. Demarest; 26-28, '31-33, Garret Acker- son; '29-39, Jacob I. Blauvelt; '29, Peter Wortendyke; '31-33, Stephen Powles; '34-36, Matthew S. Bogert; '34-36, '46-48, John I. Blauvelt; '36-40. John H. Zabriskie; '37-39, Aaron H. Westervelt; '40-42, William V. D. Harring; '41-43, Samuel R. Demarest; '43-45, Tunis Harring; '44, John I. Ackerman, Jr,; '45-47, Benjamin Bogert; '38-40, Jacob J. Ferdon; '49-51, David D. Harring; '51-53, David Doremus; '52-54, Garret A. Ackerson; '54-56, Ralph S. Demarest; '56, Peter D. Harring; '57-61, Garret I. Auryansen; '57-59, Henry G. Zabriskie; 60-62, John T. Har- ring; '62-64, John S. Powles; '63-64, '66, Abraham C. Eckerson; '66, Barney N. Ferdon; '67-68, Cornelius Eckerson, Jr .; '68-70, Ralph S. Demarest; '69-70, Abraham Harring; '71, John Van Buskirk; '72-74, James P. Blackledge; '75-77, Peter S. Yeury; '78-80, Peter A. Demarest; '83-84, John Ackerman, Jr .; '84-86, Jacob B. Eckerson; '86-90, W. L. Lindemann; '90-99. Garret T. Haring; '99, George N. Brewster.
Justices of the Peace, 1872, Barney A. Ferdon; '75, Henry G. Zabriskie; '76, Cornelius Eckerson, Jr., John C. Ackerson. Moses J.
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Taylor; '77, John B. Kipp; '78, James Y. Van Orden; '80, Martin De Wolf, Albert B. Eckerson; '82, J. P. Andrews, H. G. Zabriskie; '83, P. C. De Wolf, James Y. Van Orden, Robert N. Sueden; '85, Jenkins Sloat; '88, Moses J. Taylor, Peter C. De Wolf, James Y. Van Orden; '89, C. Eckerson, Jr., B. N. Ferdon; '91, H. Campora, B. N. Ferdon; '92. George Dayton; '93, George Dayton, who still holds that office; J. Y. Van Orden, who was elected for five years and J. B. Eckerson, who was elected for three years.
Town Clerks, 1871-73, Jacob J. Demarest; '74-76, Cornelius A. Eckerson; '77-79, William J. Demarest; '80-87, Charles L. Du Bois; '87- 89, Charles H. Lyons; '89-93, C. A. Eckerson; '93-96, W. C. Endres, resigned November, 1897, George Dayton appointed; '98, George Day- ton elected.
The officers for the year 1899 are: Town Committee, Ward Varian, Closter; George E. Tooker, Demarest; Garret D. Durie, Closter; Town- ship Collector, John H. Lindemann, Closter; Assessor, William J. Demarest, Norwood; Township Clerk, George Dayton, Closter.
EARLY SETTLERS.
The Harings, or Harrings, as the name was sometimes spelled were among the first settlers, giving the name to the township upon its organization in 1775. Peter Haring came to America from North Holland early in the seventeenth century. His son John born December 26, 1633, married Margaret Cozine. Their son Cozine whose son John, had a son Frederick whose son John, was born June 14, 1760. He married Jemima, daughter of Teunis Blauvelt. Their son Teunis, born September 7, 1787, married Elizabeth Perry who died in 1858. Among their children were Abram B., and Jane, wife of Ralph S. Demarest. Abram was born on the old homestead May 20, 1811. He is a member of the board of freeholders, was surveyor, and was sheriff of Bergen county from 1853 to 1856. He also served two terms in the State Legislature.
Peter Westervelt the ancestor of the branch of the family of that name living in this part of Bergen county, settled here in the first part of the seventeenth century. His son. Peter Benjamin, was the father of John Peter Benjamin of this township. The Blauvelts, Ackermans and Ferdons were also early settlers in the township. Garret Ackerson, the first of his name in America, settled at Old Tappen. He sometimes spelled his name Eckerson.
SCHOOLS.
Benjamin Blacklidge, who was the first teacher of English in Ber- gen county, located in Harrington township as a doctor in the latter part of the eighteenth century. He married Caroline Tallman, and began housekeeping in a part of the house in which he taught school. teaching both Dutch and English.
The oldest school house of which we have any definite account was built on ground given by Abraham Ackerman on condition that it
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should be used always as a school lot. The house was of stone one- story high, with two rooms, one of which was for school and the other for the teacher to live in. It was in that house that Mr. Blacklidge began housekeeping with his sixteen-year-old wife. It was built by subscription. The deed was written in Dutch, but was never recorded.
The first school in Closter City District, No. 15, was a private enter- prise begun in 1864 in the basement of the church and became a flourish- ing institution. The first public school in this district was opened in 1870, in a barn rented for the purpose, while the new building was in process of erection. This new house was of brick, thirty by seventy- one feet and two stories high. . Alpine District, No. 16, had no school of importance until 1845.
The old Closter District, No. 17, is in the northeastern part of the township, where the first building was of stone, near the house of Moses Taylor. This was used until 1830, when a new one was built on the farm of Mr. Taylor, where the lease was to be good as long as used for school purposes. The next building was erected in 1858, and was twenty-eight by forty feet in dimensions.
Old Tappan District No. 19, is upon historie ground, Major Andre having been executed near the boundaries of this district. The first school building in No. 19 was built a long time ago. According to some accounts, it was about 1785, when a little school house was built with no ceiling and having a chimney built of sticks and mud. A house erected in 1856 was the fourth to be put up in the district, but they did not all occupy the same site.
Harrington township will always be interesting as the locality in which young Andre was executed as a spy, October 2, 1780, the execu- tion taking place between the village of Tappan and the state line, not over two hundred feet from the boundary line of Harrington township. This vicinity was the scene of the massacre of Colonel Baylor's troop, a small force detached from the main army to intercept a British forag- ing party. The massacre of these men was a cruel and inhuman act calling forth the greatest hatred of the Americans against their British foe.
The borough of old Tappan was taken out of this township, and incorporated in 1894. John H. DeWolf was elected the first mayor December 6, 1894. and has been re-elected to that office every election since that time.
VILLAGES.
Closter, the largest village in the township, is very pleasantly situ- ated on the Northern Railroad of New Jersey, twenty miles from the city of New York. It has one hotel, several stores and four churches, with a flourishing public school.
Manufacturing of window shades was begun under the firm name of Adam Richter & Co., the business being carried on from that time to the present. The present proprietor, Mr. Joseph Schuessler, who
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HISTORY OF BERGEN COUNTY
has always been interested in the company from the beginning, is to-day manufacturing about ten thousand every two days. He employs nearly twenty hands constantly.
HOTELS.
The Closter Hotel was built by William L. Lindemann many years ago, but it proved a failure, and subsequently, for want of an occupant, stood idle for a number of years. Finally a manager, in the person of the genial landlord, John W. Hutton, took the property, and from that time the house became a landmark of some value to the village. Mr. Hutton purchased the property in 1889, and, in 1898, sold it to Garret L.
DEMAREST SCHOOL
Haring, the present proprietor. Mr. Hutton at one time carried on an extensive trucking business in New York, and later opened a large restaurant there on Wall and William Streets, where he conducted two bars, and kept about thirty men constantly employed. Tiring of such an active life, he sought a home where the remainder of his days could be spent in retirement.
DEMAREST.
The village of Demarest follows next in population. It was laid out by Ralph S. Demarest, and has a store and church. As a place of residence it has attracted a number of New York business men, whose coming has helped to build up the place. The Murray Hill House is
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located here. An artificial lake adds to the beauty and attractiveness of the place.
NORWOOD.
This village has two churches, two stores and a hotel. J. Wyman Jones, who bought the land, laid it out in lots for a village. Among the older settlers Henry ver Valen and his son-in-law, David Haring, are worthy of mention. Mr. Haring lived where Peter A. Blauvelt now resides.
CHURCHES.
The Methodists have held services in the town of Harrington since the year 1841. At that time Rev. Mr. Stur, a local preacher, from the Bedford Church in New York, came to the vicinity of Demarest and held meetings, which were continned by DuBois and others from the same church in New York. From that time a movement was set on foot which resulted in the building of a church edifice on what is known as Hilltop, at a cost of five hundred dollars. The first board of trustees consisted of Henry DuBois, Thomas DuBois, Jacob Jordan, and William Jordan. Before this church was built, it is stated that the mother of Jacob DuBois was in the habit of walking four miles to a Reformed Church in the valley. At that time there was no village on the cliff, but most of the people lived on the river bank and on the hill. Among the early members of this church were Oliver Cosine, Henry DuBois, Thomas DuBois, Mrs. Thomas DuBois, Jacob Jorden, William Jorden, Mrs. Springstead, and Mrs. Older.
In 1867 a new edifice was erected sixty feet long and thirty feet wide, the building material being hard bluestone. Mr. Nordhoff defrayed the architect's expenses.
The A. M. E. Zion Church of Closter was organized in 1896, and is a small congregation.
In the fall of 1860 Rev. E. S. Hammond began preaching at Closter, and in February, 1861, at a public meeting held at the house of Peter Maxon it was resolved that an effort be made to secure a church edifice for the better and permanent accommodation of the county, and in 1862 a plot of ground was deeded to the congregation by Thomas W. Demar- est and wife, and a church was erected under the supervision of Daniel Blauvelt, Nicholas Duree, Garret J. Demarest, John H. Stevens, and Matthew S. Bogert. The church was completed, and dedicated October 7. 1862, by Rev. Isaac W. Cole, of Tappan, N. Y. The church was organized September 30, 1862, by Rev. W. B. Mabon, Rev. W. R. Gordon, Rev. James Demarest, Jr., and William Williams. The first members were Garret J. Demarest, Agnes Westervelt, Peter A. Blauvelt, Eliza Herring, Robert D. Huyler, Mrs. R. D. Huyler, John H. Stephens, David D. Blauvelt, George H. French, Phebe W. Peck, Gideon Peck, Lydia Coddington. Isabella Percell, Margaret H. Hammond, Peter J. White, Sarah Zabriskie, and Abraham J. Hopper. The first elders were Gideon Peck, Daniel Blauvelt, Garret Demarest; deacons, Peter Blauvelt, Abraham J. Hopper, Peter White.
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The church is located on the hill, and is built of wood, forty by sixty feet, and cost ten thousand dollars. The pastors have been Cor- nelius Blauvelt, 1865, who continued until April 27, 1868, as a supply, and was succeeded by Rev. P. E. Vanbuskirk, May, 1869, who remained in pastoral charge until April, 1887, when he was succeeded by the Rev. Henry Ward, the present pastor who took charge September, 1887.
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
The First Congregational Church of Closter is the outcome of the meetings for prayer, instituted by a number of Christian people who first met in the building then known as Closter Institute, but is now Hammond Hall. This prayer service resulted in the People's Church, organized with eighteen members, December 6, 1877, becoming in time the First Congregational Church of Closter. February 22, 1878, the church was recognized in a council of which Rev. R. B. Howard, of East Orange, was moderator, and Rev. William H. Brodhead, of Spring Valley, scribe. The first pastor was Rev. Herbert B. Turner, installed February 6, 1879. The dedication of the new church building took place on December 8, 1881.
In October, 1883, Mr. Turner left the congregation, and in October. 1884, Rev. G. W. Plack was installed, remaining until September. 1890. In December of the same year Rev. G. M. Walton was called, serving the church until April, 1893, when Rev. C. A. S. Dwight followed him, beginning his labors in November of the same year, and in November, 1894, was installed, continuing to serve as pastor to the present time.
A Protestant Episcopal church in the village has a small member- ship. Rev. Arthur Whitaker is the rector.
A Lutheran church was built in 1887 in the village of Closter, and dedicated in 1888. The membership is small. The Rev. Gustav H. Scheild is pastor.
THE NORWOOD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
The Norwood Presbyterian church was established in the fall of 1868. Meetings had been held in the hotel parlors for about one vear prior to this time. A lot was then donated to the church by J. Wyman Jones, upon which a church was erected and dedicated in 1868. The building was afterwards remodelled and moved so as to face the street. The church was organized May 18, 1869, by Rev. John Spaulding, D. D., of New York city, and Rev. Henry M. Booth, of England. Twenty- one were received by letter and four on profession of faith. These con- sisted of Paul Powless, John Powless, Margretta Powless, Mrs. M. A. Kline, William Hammell, Mrs. Elizabeth Hammell, Mary Atwale, George H. French, Mrs. Phobe French, Lydia Coddington. E. R. Houghton, Mrs. Louise S. Houghton, Matthew H. Houghton, Mrs. Sarah S. Houghton, Peter A. Blauvelt, Mrs. Eliza Blauvelt, John H. Serviss, Mrs. Mary E. Serviss, Curtiss N. White, Mrs. Delia D. White. C. M. Buck, W. J. Demarest, Leah Demarest, Matthew Powless, and Maggie Powless.
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The first elders were Paul Powless, William Hammell, and George H. French.
The first deacons were Peter A. Blauvelt, Matthew Houghton, John H. Serviss. The first pastor was Rev. William P. Fisher, who was installed November, 1871; Rev. L. F. Stevens, October 14, 1873; Rev. S. M. Jackson, May 30, 1876; Rev. J. E. Abbott, stated supply for 1880; Rev. Charles B. Chapin, September 13, 1881, and following him came various other clergymen until the present pastor, Rev. William E. Westervelt succeeded the Rev. Mr. Hegerman two or three years ago. The present elders are Peter A. Blauvelt and Tunis A. Haring.
There is a Baptist church in Demarest under the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Coleman. This society was organized in 1874, with seventeen members, as follows: William M. Whitmore, Mrs. W. M. Whitmore, William R. Whitmore, Mrs. W. R. Whitmore, Miss G. P. Whitmore, Miss Amelia C. Blacklidge, H. S. Downs, Mrs. H. S. Downs, George Allen, Mrs. George Allen, Miss Annie Rich, Miss Nellie Rich, Mrs. Mary F. Rich, William H. Westervelt, Miss Anna Randall, W. F. Laroche, Mrs. W. F. Laroche.
Meetings were first held in the school house until a church edifice could be erected. Mr. Ralph Demarest donated a plot of ground, and the erection of a chapel was commenced, and completed in the fall of 1874. On the 17th of December, 1874, the chapel was dedicated. The first pastor was Rev. James H. Andrews, who was called February, 1875. He died October 17. 1875. He was succeeded by Rev. B. F. McMichael, who was installed October 11. 1876, and preached there until 1879. Various other clergymen have had charge of the flock since that time. The present pastor is Mr. Coleman. The first deacons were W. J. La- roche and William M. Whitmore; trustees, William M. Whitmore and William H. Westervelt.
GARRET Z. DEMAREST.
Mr. Demarest's early ancestors were among the first settlers of Bergen county. Mr. David des Marest of French parentage, together with his wife, Marie (Sohier ) and their three sons, John, David and Samuel, emigrated to America from Amsterdam, Holland, in the ship " Bontekoe," (spotted cow), arriving at New Amsterdam April 16, 1663. On June 8, 1677, a deed of conveyance was made for a large tract of land in the northern New Jersey province and Mr. des Marest with his entire family settled at what is now known as River Edge, N. J. in . 1678.
Samuel des Marest son of David, married Maria daughter of Simon Dreuns, August 11, 1678. They had eleven children. Peter, their son, married Margrietie Cornelise Hariugh, a daughter of Cornelise Hariugh, one of the first settlers of Tappan, N. J., September 14, 1717, and made his home at Schraalenburgh, N. J. having two children, Samuel and John. Samuel was born June 5, 1724, and died March 14, 1808. His wife Margaret Brinkerhoff who was born October 4, 1729, died March 21, 1802, bore him the following children: Peter, Hendrick, Cornelius,
GARRET Z. DEMAREST
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Roelof and Margaret Ann. All of the sons served in the Revolutionary war. The father, Samuel, was captured by the Tory leader, Colonel Abraham Van Buskirk, in his famous Old Closter raid and was im- prisoned in the Sugar House in New York city. Cornelius was killed in this raid and Hendrick wounded. Roelof, the grandfather of our sub- ject, was born August 23, 1756, and died September 4, 1814. His wife, Maria Demarest born August 8, 1756, died May 10, 1810. She had borne him three children Samuel R., John R., and Margaret. Samuel R., the father of our subject was born February 5, 1783, in the old township of Hackensack now Palisades, and died February 24, 1872. His occupa- tion was farming and distilling .. In politics he was a staunch Demo- crat, representing the county in both branches of the State Legis- lature. He was a very active man, and was connected with all mat- ters in both church and civil life, that pertained to the prosperity and welfare of the community, and can safely be classed as a representative man of the past He married Elizabeth Zabriskie December 22, 1808, who was born February 13, 1789, and died May 14, 1875. Their chil- dren were John Z., Ralph S., Cornelia, John S., Maria, Samuel S., Margaret, Catherine, Garret Z., and Ann Eliza.
Garret Zabriskie Demarest the only surviving son, was born in Lower Closter or what is now Demarest, in Harringtown township June 21, 1829. He married Margaret Zabriskie, a daughter of John Zabris- kie, October 18, 1849. She was born October 14, 1830 and died October 10, 1893, having borne him two children, John H. Z., who mar- ried Elizabeth V. Moore ( children J. Westervelt and Gretta ) and William E., who married Sarah Ferdon ( children Margretta, Garret and Bessie ).
Mr. Demarest was educated in the public schools of his town, and early in life turned his attention to farming and later entered into the coal business, to which enterprise he is now devoting his entire attention.
Mr. Demarest, though a strong Democrat, has never sought any political office. He is a man of amiable disposition, and one who has the respect of his entire community, always an ardent supporter of all enterprises that lead to the advancement and prosperity of his town. Mr. Demarest has ever been an earnest supporter of the True Reformed Church of Schraalenburgh known as the "South." This church has been the place of worship for his ancestors since its organization.
Mr. G. Z. Demarest is the brother of the Hon. Ralph S. Demarest who represented Bergen county in both branches of the Legislature, and who held many other offices of trust in the county, being also one of the promoters and first directors of the Nothern R. R. of New Jersey.
Demarest, N. J. was named in honor of this branch of the family.
GEORGE DAYTON.
George Dayton, for many years Justice of the Peace, is a great- grandson of Jonathan Dayton, one of the incorporators of the borough
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of Elizabethtown, N. J., and father of General Elias Dayton, who was born in Elizabeth Town in 1737. Here Jonathan, son of General Elias Dayton, was born October 16, 1760. General Elias Dayton commanded the Third New Jersey Regiment in the Revolutionary war, and was made a major-general by act of Congress. His son Jonathan was a captain of one of the companies in his father's regiment, and afterwards United States Senator. Nathan Dayton, brother of General Elias Day- ton, was grandfather of our subject. He was born May.11, 1758, and died October, 1842. He also was a Revolutionary soldier. His wife, Mehitable (Hutchinson) Dayton, was born October 11, 1759, and died June 4, 1803. Their son, Samuel Hutchinson Dayton, father of Judge George Dayton, was born on Long Island September 2, 1790, and died August 9, 1864. He married Sally S. Crary, October 13, 1814. She was born May 25, 1793, and died March 6, 1846. He was a farmer and spent most of his life in the vicinity of Troy, Albany county, N. Y., where the subject of our sketch was born October 2, 1827, and where he spent the first twenty years of his life.
A few years before the civil war Judge George Dayton took up his abode in the city of New York where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. and where he on February 1, 1859, married Miss Martha J. Dennis, daughter of Stephen A. Dennis, a manufacturer of jewelry of that city. The names of his children are Ella Fitch Wiswall and George Crary Dayton.
In 1868 a residence was established in Rutherford, N. J., and next a removal was made to Saratoga county, N. Y. In 1890 Mr. Dayton came to Closter, where he has resided ever since. He has held numer- ous positions of trust. While in Rutherford he was elected to various offices and was sent to the State Senate from 1874 to 1877. In 1891 he was elected Justice of the Peace, and has since served the township of Harrington in that capacity. In 1897 he was elected Township Clerk and still holds that office.
ROBERT GRAHAM CONTRELL, M. D.
Among the younger physicians of the county who are fast pushing their way to recognition in the profession of medicine, is Doctor R. G. Contrell of Closter, N. J., whose admission to the practice of Materia Medica, is but recent. He is the son of John P. Contrell of Newark. N. J., who has been cashier for Clark's O. N. T. Spool Cotton Works for thirty-seven years; and the grandson of John Contrell of New York. the proprietor and manufacturer of Contrell's Magic Troches, which have been known to the world for years. Doctor Contrell is a native of Newark, N. J., in which city he received a public school education. Subsequently he was a student at Lafayette College, Easton, Pa .. and in 1896, his degree of M. D. was received from the University of Penn- sylvania, Department of Medicine. Following graduation he took up his residence in Newark where he was in charge of the Newark City Dispensary until his removal to Tenafly July 2, 1897. He resided here
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until October, 1899, when he removed to Closter, N. J., where he is at present practicing. He is examiner for the Prudential Life Insurance Company, Newark, N. J .; the Colonial Life Insurance Company, Jersey City, and for the Knights of Honor, Tenafly.
Dr. Contrell was married on May 9, 1899,, to Miss Ann May Curtis of Englewood, N. J.
MR. CHARLES W. WETYEN.
Mr. Charles W. Wetyen, one of the substantial and progressive citizens of Closter, is a native of New York city, and was born in 1858. He is the son of John Henry and Mrs. Adeline Brickwell Wetyen, both of whom were born in Germany. His father came to New York when a young man, and was successful, first in the milk business then in the grocery trade for many years. About forty years ago he mnoved his family to Bergen county, locating on a valuable tract of land near Demarest, N. J. Soon after this time the father died. Mr. Wetyen has spent his life principally, in this part of Bergen county. In 1882 he was married to Miss Anna L. Schenck, daughter of John Schenck, a business man of New York, now dead, and by this union is the father of nine children all living.
In 1893 Mr. Wetyen took up his family residence in Closter, where he has been active in all the forward movements made in the interest of his village and church, is identified with the schools, and has been a member of the school board for the past five years. He is a stockholder and director in the Harrington Building and Loan Association, is a member of the Closter Hook and Ladder Company, and is otherwise identified with the interests of the village.
PETER .A. BLAUVELT.
Peter A. Blauvelt, pioneer undertaker at Norwood, and for many vears an official in the church at that place, is a grandson of Abraham Blauvelt of Paramus, a history of whom can be found in another part of this work.
Abraham A. Blauvelt, father of Peter A., was born in Paramus, but owing to the death of his mother he was placed in infancy under the care of an uncle who lived in the vicinity of Norwood. He became a farmer, but having learned the trade of tailor followed that occupation also. In early manhood he married Mary Bogert, daughter of Matthew P. Bogert. By this union he became the father of six children, four girls and two boys, all of whom married except one daughter, who died when fifty years of age. Mr. Blauvelt senior died in 1867 at the age of sixty-nine.
Peter A. Blauvelt, the eldest of this family was born in 1829. His early life was spent in the vicinity of his present residence. In 1848 he married Eliza Haring, daughter of David D., and Leah Vervalen Haring. They reside on the estate formerly owned and occupied by Henry Ver- valen, grandfather of Mrs. Blauvelt. In 1850, Mr. Blauvelt removed to the city of New York, where he followed the business of truckman for
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HISTORY OF BERGEN COUNTY
several years, returning to Norwood in 1858 to take charge of the home- stead, where Henry Vervalen died in 1871, in the eighty-ninth year of his age.
Mr. Blauvelt has been an active participant in all the affairs of Norwood during his residence in the village. For the first few years after his return he followed farming, but the past twenty-six years of his life he has taken care of the dead, as an undertaker, and has had a business experience reaching to all portions of that part of Bergen county.
He was formerly a deacon in the Old Reformed Church, but has been for the past twenty-one years an elder and trustee in the Presby- terian Church. His children are Leah, now Mrs. T. J. Haring, whose husband is a manufacturer of silverware in New York city; and Ira J. Blauvelt, who married Miss Anna De Pew. Their children are Flor- ence and Marjorie.
David D. Haring died aged eighty-nine years, his wife, Leah, in her eighty-first year.
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