USA > New Jersey > Burlington County > Burlington > History of Burlington and Mercer counties, New Jersey : with biographical sketches of many of their pioneers and prominent men > Part 62
USA > New Jersey > Mercer County > History of Burlington and Mercer counties, New Jersey : with biographical sketches of many of their pioneers and prominent men > Part 62
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by which he conveyed large quantities of ordnance stores, and cannon weighing seven thousand five hun- dred and eight thousand pounds each. He continued in this business until the close of the war. After peace was proclaimed he began the lumber and mer- cantile business in South Trenton, and continued in the lumber business until 1877, when he sold out his interest to his partner, Mr. George S. Green. Dur- ing the winter of 1823 he received twenty tons of coal from Easton, Pa., of which he sold about ten tons that winter at ten dollars per ton. This was the first shipment and sale of coal in Trenton. Coal at that time was brought down the Delaware River in huge boxes containing ten tons each, which were so joined together as to form rafts and were called arks.
In 1825 he became connected with the Union Line Stage and Steamboat Company, for the transportation of passengers and merchandise between New York and Philadelphia. The route was similar to that pur- sued in transporting governinent stores, the only dif- ference being that steamboats were used instead of sailing vessels and stages took the place of wagons. Two daily lines were run each way, starting at 6 A.M. and 12 M., and conveyed passengers from one end of the route to the other in about ten hours. In this he continued until the Camden and Amboy Railroad was built. The charter for this road was granted by the Legislature in February, 1830. He was one of the original projectors aud stockholders of the road, and first conceived the idea of the great projeet by seeing the short railroad which connects the stone quarries with Quincy, Mass. This latter was built in 1826, and was the first railroad ever constructed in the United States. The building of the Camden and Amboy Railroad was begun in the spring of 1830, and the first car with passengers passed over the road, be-
Benjamin Fish was born Nov. 15, 1785, in the towuship of Trenton (now Ewing), county of Hun- terdon (now part of Mercer), State of New Jersey, abont five miles from the city of Trenton. His early | tween Bordentown and Amboy, in December, 1832. years were passed on his father's farm, and his educa- The cars were then drawn by horses, and horse-power was exclusively employed for nearly two years after the road was opened to travel. The first ear with merchandise passed over the road Jan. 20. 1833, and was driven by Mr. Fish himself from Amboy to the Sand Hills, whence the freight was then sent by wagons to Philadelphia, the river being closed by ice. The first locomotive was a small and eurious-looking tional advantages were all comprised in a few terms' attendance at the district school in the winter. In 1808 his father moved to Treuton, then containing thir- teen hundred inhabitants, and Benjamin entered into the hotel and livery-stable business in partnership with his brother. When the war with Great Britain broke out in 1812, he became interested in vessels ply- 1
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CITY OF TRENTON.
affair `compared with those in present use, and was purchased in Europe by Robert Stevens. It was ealled the " Johnny Bull," was exhibited at the Cen- tennial Exhibition, and is still sacredly preserved by the company as an interesting memento of its carly days. Mr. Fish was a director of the company when it first organized in 1830, and was annually re-elected ' for fifty years. This record is unparalleled among the railroad men of this country, and probably in the world. He was always one of the leading men in the councils of the company and largely controlled in shaping its policy.
He was one of the original stockholders in the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company, and was col- leetor of tolls at Trenton from the time of its comple- tion until the same was leased to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He was one of the managers of the Trenton Savings-Fund Society from its organiza- tion, and until January, 1880, and was always a mem- ber of the committee that made the annual examina- tion of the aecounts. He was also one of the organizers and directors of the Philadelphia Ferry Company, and director of the Freehold and Jamesburg Agrieul- tural Railroad, and at one time was president of the latter. He was a director of the Trenton Banking Company, president of the Merchants' Transportation Company, and projector and president of the Trenton Delaware Bridge Company. " His account with the Trenton Bank was opened in 1810. It is safe to say that the books of no other bank in the State contain the name of a customer who has kept an account with it continuously for nearly seventy years.
"Mr. Benjamin Fish, who attended the meetings of the board very regularly, was elected Feb. 11, 1833, and served for nearly forty-seven years.
" Early in the history of the bank two or three runs for the redemption of its notes were made by its de- positors. It is related by Mr. Benjamin Fish that about 1837, one of these runs being in progress, he went to Philadelphia, obtained a large sum in silver from the Philadelphia Bank, went over to Camden, and thence to the Sand Hills, now Yardville, where a wagon was waiting for him, as no railroad then ex- isted from Trenton to Philadelphia. He then drove rapidly to Trenton and unloaded the silver in front of the bank. The crowd thereupon immediately dis- persed, being satisfied that the bank had the ability to redeem its notes in eoin on demand."
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Mr. Fish was formerly an Old-Line Whig, and at the breaking up of that organization he allied him- self to the Republican party, of which he was an earnest but unobtrusive member. He took a lively interest in all that eoneerned good government and good morals. Many years ago he was a member of the Legislature, and could doubtless have had other political honors, but political office was not suited to his tastes and he declined further public service .. He was elected a trustee of the First Presbyterian Church on Dec. 8, 1825, and on Dec. 5, 1864, he was elected
president of the board of trustees, which position he held uninterruptedly up to the time of his death.
He lived a quiet and unostentatious life ; was seru- pulously honest and painstaking, and leaves behind him a name fragrant with good deeds. Everybody knew " Benny" Fish, as he was familiarly called, and everybody was glad to meet and greet the cheerful old man. Up to the hour of his death he walked without the aid of a eane, and pursued his usual daily rounds of labor unassisted by a elerk. He died June 22, 1880.
At a meeting of the board of directors of the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Companies, held on the 21st of September, 1880, the president of the board, Mr. John G. Stevens, announced the death of Mr. Benjamin Fish, who had been a director of the con- pany tor fifty years, and on motion Mr. Ashbel Welel was appointed a committee to draft suitable resolu- tions relating thereto.
At a meeting of the board held December 28th, Mr. Welch presented a memorial of Mr. Fish, which eon- tained an outline of his life and services, the main facts of which are already embodied in this sketch.
Benjamin Fish married, April 7, 1812, Maria, daugh- ter of William Saekett and Elizabeth Moore, of the same township. She died July 26, 1865, in the seventy- fourth year of age. The result of this union were nine children, of whom tour died in infancy; four sons grew up, namely, Jonathan Sackett, Asa Israel, Benjamin Moore, and Augustine Hallett, and one daughter, Emma Maria, only one who survived her father. She is the wife of John S. Chambers, of Trenton, and by her marriage has three sons living, viz., John Story, Benjamin Fish, and Thomas Stryker. One other grandchild survives, viz., Mrs. Emily A. Auten, daughter of Jonathan Sackett Fish.
Mr. Fish was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Trenton, of which he was for fifty-five years an active trustee, and an attendant upon its worship for more than seventy years.
THOMAS J. STRYKER was born at Princeton, N. J., June 23, 1800, and died at Trenton, Sept. 28, 1872. He came from an old Dutch aneestry, two families of which left Holland in 1652 and settled in New Am- sterdam. His energy, self-reliance, sturdy manhood were derived from this good parentage. Rev. John Hall, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Trenton, N. J., who had been intimately acquainted with him for thirty years, made the following remarks upon the occasion of his death :
" The voice of this whole community during these last four day, has anticipated all that I could say of the facts which make the death of Mr. Stryker so generally deplored. Endeavoring to suppress any exaggera- tion to which personal attachment might unconsciously lead me, I only repeat what is heard on every side when I say that it is seldom that a career is closed by death by which so many and various interests are affected. Had he only filled one place, and filled it well, the vacancy caused by his departure would have justified our lamentation. But he was connected with so much that concerns the public, and he was so efficient in whatever employed him, so few of the associations of him name, with anything to which he gave it, were merely nominal, that it
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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
is impossible to doubt that the grounds of the general regret are real, and the sorrow sincere.
"As amerchant and banker for forty-eight years he was brought into connection with the general business of this city, and with its corre- spondents out of it for all that time. The confidence won by his judg- ment and integrity in these positions extended beyond the mercantile line, and drew to him large numbers of persons for friendly counsel in their Immiddle affairs. Many a wilow and orphan have cause to remem- ber the protection he has afforded them, and the security in which he has placed their scanty resources. Many can testify that he often added to his advice the means of substantial relief.
" And as to executor, guardian, trustee, bondsman, arbitrator, the same confidence drew to him auother large class of persons, who knew how safe was their dependence, how judicious his mediation in contro- versies, how influential among men of all classes and tempers.
" Various positions of a more public kind were from time to time oc- cupied by him. He was once on the bench of the Common Pleas. Ile served as manager and secretary of the lunatic asylum from its fonnda- tion to the latest meeting of the board. He was chosen by the Legisla- ture, with eight of the most prominent citizens of the State, to represent New Jersey in what is known as the Peace Convention, at Washington, in 1861. He was one of the commissioners appointed by the Legisla- ture to rebuild the State-House. He was president of the Trenton Academy, a director of the savings fund, first treasurer of the Historical Society of New Jersey, registrar of the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company, treasurer of the board of trade, and has constantly been called to serve in positions which called for a prompt and popular officer.
"The principles on which Mr. Stryker acted in his sundry secular occupations were more than those of morality, or of what Scripture calls the religion ' taught by the precepts of men.' His integrity, be- nevolence, and usefulness were based on the accountability in which he ! held himself to God. We have, therefore, no broad line to draw between his business life and his religious life, as if they were distinct domains. The Bible draws no such line. It is only another branch of his associ- ations with the community-one pursued day by day with the others, and with the same sacred sanction-that is to be mentioned when we speak of his ecclesiastical connection with large muunbers of persons. The greater part of his adult life was occupied on the Lord's Day as teacher or superintendent of the Sabbath-schools of this congregation, and latterly of the Soldiers' Children's Home. He has been a trustee of the church corporation since 1833, and a ruling clder of the church since 1836, where his first profession of faith, both in baptism and communion, was made in Jnly, 1831."
On the 30th of September following his decease the board of directors and stockholders of the Trenton Banking Company held a special meeting, and uuan- imously passed resolutions bespeaking the uprightness of Thomas J. Stryker, who had been a director of the . bank since 1831 and cashier since 1842, a period of just thirty years at the time of the meeting.
Appropriate resolutions were also passed on the same day at a meeting of the board of trade, city of Trenton ; on the day previous by a meeting of the teachers of the Sabbath-schools connected with the First Presbyterian Church, and subsequently, on The first president of the board was John A. Roeb- ling, who occupied that position at the time of his discharge of his duties as engineer of the Brooklyn bridge. October 18th, a minute was adopted by the Session of the First Presbyterian Church of Trenton. Thus . death, which resulted from an accident while in the ended the earthly career of a gentleman most prom- inent in the active business and religious life of Trenton.
THE TRENTON SAVINGS-FUND SOCIETY was in- corporated by an act of the Legislature, March 7, 1844. The corporators named in the act were Peter D. Vroom, John C. Redman, John Read, Stacy G. i
Potts, George Dill, Xenophon J. Maynard, Richard J. Bond, Thomas J. Stryker, Jacob Kline, Jasper S. Scudder, Timothy Abbot, Charles Parker, and Henry W. Green, and their successors.
The society commenced business in 1847 in Chan- cery building, West State Street. It afterward re- moved to No. S South Greene Street, and in Novem- ber, 1881, to its present banking-house, which it owns, No. 123 East State Street. It is purely a mutual company, and of course has no capital stock. Its deposits amouut to more than one million one hun- dred and sixty thousand dollars. The office of presi- dent has been held by Stacy G. Potts, Peter D. Vroom, and the present incumbent, Caleb S. Green ; that of secretary and treasurer by Jonathan Fisk, John S. Chambers, and Lewis Parker, Jr.
MECHANICS' NATIONAL BANK OF TRENTON .- The Mechanics' and Manufacturers' Bank of Trenton was chartered Feb. 19, 1834, with a capital of $125,000. Feb. 16, 1843, by a legislative act, it was authorized to reduce its capital to 8100.000, which was done. March 19, 1857, it was authorized to increase it to 8500,000, which was gradually done.
The present banking-house, on the corner of State and Warren Streets, was erected in 1837. In 1865 this became a national bank under its present title, Mechanics' National Bank of Trenton, with a cap- ital of $350,000, which was afterwards increased to $500,000.
The present officers are Timothy Abbot, president ; James H. Clark, cashier; William W. Stelle, assist- aut cashier; and Joseph H. Hough, notary.
FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF TRENTON .- This was organized in 1864, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, which has been increased to five hundred thousand dollars. The first officers were Caleb Sager, president, and Anthony Thorn, Jr., cashier. The present officers are Philip P. Dunn, president; William T. Vannest, vice-president ; and Charles Whitehead, cashier. The banking-house, which is owned by the bank, is in East State Street, near Greene. This bank is a United States deposi- tory. It has uniformly paid dividends on its capital stock, and it has now a surplus.
Trenton Board of Trade .- The board of trade of the city of Trenton was organized in February, 1868, with the main object of promoting the commerce, manufactures, and general business interests of the eity.
The list of presidents includes the names of some of the most energetic and prominent business men in the community, as follows: John A. Roebling,1 Charles Hewitt,1 A. S. Livingston,' Daniel T. Frost, O. W. Blackfan,' William Dolton, J. R. Freesc, A. Exton, John Moses, George S. Greene, Dr. W. W. L. Phillips, and Bennington Gill.
1 Deceased.
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CITY OF TRENTON.
The present officers are Bennington Gill, president ; F. C. Lowthorp, first vice-president ; Dr. John Wool- verton, second vice-president ; John C. Owens, treas- urer; and William W. Stelle, secretary.
The organization has been successful since it was established, and through its influence many public matters have been projected and successfully com- pleted. Its present membership is about one hundred of the most active business men of the community, representing nearly every branch of manufacturing and commercial interest of the city.
Standard Fire Insurance Company .- This was chartered Feb. 27, 1868. The corporators were John C. Cook, William Boswell, Charles Bechtel, Albert C. Bellville, John O. Raum, Benjamin O. Tyler, Dan- iel Peters, Henry Denison, and W. D. Oliphant. The capital stock was fifty thousand dollars, with power to increase it to double that amount. This increase has since been made.
This company does not insure property outside of the State of New Jersey. It is in a prosperous con- dition. The officers are William Dalton, president ; John H. Stewart, vice-president ; and William M. Lindsay, secretary.
Trenton Water-Works .- On the 3d of December, 1801, the Legislature passed " An. Act to authorize Stephen Scales to convey the water from his spring through the several streets of the city of Trenton." This charter conferred the usual right of passage through private grounds, under certain restrictions.
In September, 1803, Mr. Scales sold this franchise and his right to his spring to Thomas M. Potter, Gershom Craft, and Alexander Cummings, who, by an act of the Legislature, Feb. 29, 1808, were incor- porated as the " President and Directors of the Tren- ton Water-Works."
The capital stock of this company was fixed at twelve hundred dollars, with power to increase if necessary. James Ewing was chosen president, and Peter Gordon and Thomas M. Potter directors of this company.
The stock was on the 10th of June, 1839, increased to twenty thousand dollars, and this increase was eon- firmed by an act of the Legislature in 1852. At the same time the privilege was, by a supplement to the charter of 1803, granted to take water from the Dela- ware River.
In 1864 the Legislature authorized the city to pur- chase the works, with the sanction of the people at a special election. Accordingly, the works were pur- chased at a cost of eighty-eight thousand dollars, and they have since been held and managed by the city.
The first pipes were of wood. They were sufficient when laid, but they were afterwards replaced by others of iron, and these in their turn by others that were larger, and so on as the demands of the city have required. Of these water-mains there are now thirty-five miles. A reservoir has been constructed,
and into this the water is forced from the river by machinery, and from it distributed to all parts of the city.
The abundant supply of water which these works afford adds greatly to the convenience and healthful- ness of the people, and to the cleanliness of the streets, at the same time that it affords ample means of protection in case of fire.
For the purchase of and the various improvements . on these works the bonds of the city have been issued, and the funded debt thus created amounts to two hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars. To meet this a sinking fund has been created. The annual receipts from these works have steadily increased till they are sufficient to defray all current expenses, meet the interest on the funded debt, and pay into the sinking fund a sum about ten thousand dollars in excess of the requirements for liquidating the bonds as they become due.
The present commissioners are John C. Miller, William Hancock, George Brearley, Joseph Rice, Robert Aitken, and Edward Stokes. The officers are John C. Miller, president; John F. Sager, secretary and treasurer; John B. Quigley, superintendent ; George Larrison, office assistant; and Andrew Groves, engineer.
Trenton Gas-Light Company .- This company was incorporated by a legislative act Feb. 19, 1847, with a capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars. The corporators were Xenophon J. Maynard, Gregory A. Perdicaris, Johu A. Weart, Jesper Harding, and Joseph C. Potts. Under this charter the company commenced the erection of their works on Fair Street, near the water-power, in 1848; and in 1849 the first gas was manufactured from rosin. In 1854 coal was first used instead of rosin.
As the demand for gas has increased the capacity of the works has been augmented, and additions have been made to its buildings and grounds. The works now include lots on both sides of Warren Street. The limitation of the charter was repealed Feb. 18, 1873.
The works have a daily capacity of two hundred and fifty thousand feet, and the gas-holder will con- tain two hundred thousand feet, which is the average daily production in winter. There are twenty-one miles of mains. Twenty-three men are employed by the company, and the annual consumption of coal is four thousand five hundred tons.
Union Industrial Home Association for Desti- tute Children of Trenton .- Through the efforts of Mrs. Henry James a meeting was held for the forma- tion of this association on the 3d of January, 1859. On the 10th of the ensuing February the home was opened for the reception of children, and one little girl, Maggie Stoner, was received that day. Within a year from that date forty-nine more were received, and the annual average since has been fifty.
The board of managers consists of eighteen ladies,
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HISTORY OF MERCER COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
who are empowered to choose their own officers. The following is a list of the officers from the found- ing of the institution : Presidents, Mrs. George Roney, Mrs. Eliza Hunt, Miss Rebecca S. Potts, Miss Ann Eliza Bennet; Viec-Presidents, Mrs. David Clarke, [ well-known instructors.
Mrs. B. O. Tyler, Miss Rebecca S. Potts, Mrs. Jos. : Hall, Miss Sarah Sherman, Mrs. James Darrah ; Sec- retaries, Mrs. Henry James, Mrs. Wesley Wilson, Mrs. Edward Appleton, Mrs. James Buchanan, Mrs. Joshua Jones, Miss Anna T. Bailey, Mrs. Thomas Bell ; Treasurers, Mrs. John R. Dill, Miss Anna T. Baily ; first Board of Counselors, John R. Dill, James T. Sherman, Jolm A. Roebling, Daniel P. Forst, Isaac Stevens. Present Board of Managers: President, Miss Ann Eliza Bennett ; Vice-President. Mrs. James Darrah ; Treasurer, Miss Anna T. Bailey : Secretary, Mrs. Thomas Bell; present Board of Coun- selors, Daniel P. Forst, Isaac Stevens, John K. Smith, Jonathan Steward, Edward Stokes, Samuel L. Baily.
The History of School Education in Trenton.1- The private institutions of learning have always been the predecessors of the public schools. The famous Trenton Academy was established on the 10th of February, 1781. The original capital was £270, divided into thirty-six shares, held by the following citizens: Chief Justice Brearley, Joseph Higbee, Joseph Milnor, Renssalaer Williams, James Paxton, Stacy Potts, Isaac Smith, Isaac Collins, William Tucker, James Ewing, Conrad Kotts, Stephen Lowry, Abraham Hunt, Moore Furman, R Neil, Micaiah How, Jacob Benjamin, W. Churchill Houston, John Neilson, Francis Witt. The school was opened Feb. 14, 1782, with forty pupils of both sexes. It was then an elementary institution, but in August following it was raised to the grade of an academy. On the 10th of November, 1785, the Legislature granted a charter to the proprietors and trustees respectively, and the school company were raised to the dignity of "The Proprietors of the Trenton Academy." In 1794 the Legislature authorized a lottery for the benefit of the institution, and twelve hundred and sixty-three dol- lars and thirty-six cents was raised by that means.
The Trenton Academy, with an existence extend- ing over a hundred years, has a varied and interesting . history. Many of the most distinguished citizens of the State have sat under the instruction of its efficient teachers, and its long muster-roll of students numbers more than one name that has achieved a national reputation. The institution during the last few years has declined to a great extent, and is but a feeble re- flection of what it was during its palmy days.
As Trenton increased in population the demand for educational facilities was met by the establishment of other private schools. Mr. Coles conducted one towards the close of the century, and was succeeded by Joshua Slack in 1815. Miss Dubois taught a pop-
ular young ladies' academy near the site of the First Presbyterian Church. Miss Burrowes had charge of a select and fashionable school, and Hannah and Ann Newbold, members of the Society of Friends, were
The first Sunday-school was established in 1809. The most noted school, next to the academy, a half- century ago was that of Jared D. Tyler, which was located near the residence of the late ex-Governor Vroom. Mr. Tyler was from the South, and pos- sessed great learning and ability. When Lafayette visited Trenton in 1824, he attended service in the First Presbyterian Church. Mr. Tyler offered a prayer so touching and impressive that an eye-witness (the late Dr. J. B. Coleman) saw from the gallery the tears trickling down the cheeks of Lafayette.
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