History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. II, Part 45

Author: Shaw, William H
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: [United States :]
Number of Pages: 830

USA > New Jersey > Hudson County > History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. II > Part 45
USA > New Jersey > Essex County > History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. II > Part 45

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The total membership is sixty-four. Merthow are hold every Monday evening. During the year ending Der. 31, Los; the ledere paid out is relief tour hun- deed and thirty - four dofars.

KNIGHTS of Pyrus .- During the summer of 1844 a few member of the order resolve in Ham- field determi ed upon organizing a Falge in the town, and having secured the necessary number of ofenders and the lodge paraphernalia, a charter was granted. and on the Both of September Eureka Idge. No. 46, was daly instituted, with the fellowne off ers and charter members: Who H. Lockwpul, Jr . ( . (., William Linder, P. C .: Lewis Johnson, V_ C .; Arthur Sprayer, Prolate, Charles M. Lockwood. M. of E. ; Charles H. Kimball, K. of R. ani S. ; William Baldwin, ML of F .; John Jenkins, M. \ ; JJames C' Crisp, I. G .; John Christophersen, O. G. ; Henry Paxton, Adam Metz, Cornelius Voorhees, Julin Mel- lor, Thomas Upton, Frederick Hall, Willup Tomp- kins : nd N B. Adams, The lodge has a meni rship of twenty-one, and meets every Tuesday evening in the Knights of Honor Hall, Glenwood Avegu .

Bloomfield Fire Department.1-The citizens of Blanfield were awakened to the necessity of doiger something for themselves in the way of protection against lire by the disastrous conflagrations in ar the centre of the town in the early part of Isst. The destruction of the old Archdeacon Hotel, Deld's livery stables and other property in the " Centre" led to a private meeting of citizens about the middle of March in that year for the purpose of taking steps for the formation of an organization for protesto n of life and property from fire. Tweety citizens attended and formed the temporary organization known as the Bloomfield Fir Protective Association. A canvas of the town was made for subscriptions to a fund for the purchase of fire apparatus, and in about three months the sum of $17 5.55 had been placed in the han la of the treasurer.

On May 7th the temporary organization was dis- solved, and a permanent organization of the Bon - field Fire Association was elected, with W. R. Week- as president ; A. R. Brewer, vice-president ; F. c.

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

Tower, secretary ; W. B. Chambers, treasurer: A. J. Marsh, fire marshal; and a board of trustees which should include two members of the township com- mittee. A contract was made with a Baltimore firm for a hook-and-ladder truck, and in the meantime an association purchased the land near the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad depot and created the building now in use, which the trustees leased for a period of ten years at the annual rental of two hundred dollars. While the truck was building the Ilook-and-Ladder Company, No. 1, was organized, its members all being connected with the Fire Associa- tion. At one of the first meetings held by them the name of Essex, No. 1, was adopted. The truck arrived Ang. ID, Iss3, and a grand celebration took place, in which the Montelair firemen participated. The occa- sion was one of great enthusiasm, and it was really the dawn of a new era for Bloomfieldl.

No son ber had the efforts for a fire department taken practical shape than a demand was made for a supply of water. The town committee responded with alac- rity, and after a thorough examination into the subject, effected a contract with the Orange Water Company for a supply from their works, at East Orange. The mains have all been laid and nearly one hundred hydrants have been erceted, so that all the populous parts of the town are well protected.

A bell-tower sixty-four feet high has been erected in the rear of the truck-house, and a bell weighing two thous ind and sixty -eight proounds, costing tive hundred dollars, has been hung for fire-signals.

The Bloomfield Fire Association has the following officers : President. G. T. Moore : Vice-President, T. R. Grillman ; Secretary, J. B. Reford ; Treasurer. W. B. Chamber -. Of the active fire department .1. T. Marsh is the chief engineer, and S. W. Sabin and W. L. Pu Ter his assistants. Th . companies are officered as follows :

Essex Hook-and-Ladder Company, No. 1 : Foreman, F. G. Tower ; Assistant Foreman, T. H. John-on; Clerk, H. B. Davis. The truck is a fine specimen of workmanship, complete in its equipments, and cost sixteen hundred dollars.

PHOENIX HOFE COMPANY. NO. 1 .- Foreman, Eg- bert Ward ; First Assistant, W. B. Corby ; Second As- sistant, J. Emm ms Freeman ; Secretary, J. R. Gill- man , Treasurer, W. T. Spencer; Executive Commit- ter. J. S. Jarvie. Joseph Carter, Theodore Cadinn . The company was organized in the summer of 1884. and used for a while a small jumper furnished by the town. In September they secured a very hand- some he e-carriage, purchased in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., at a cost of five hundred dollars, which was raised by the personal efforts of the members. On the 220 of September the hive-carriage was received, and the largest demonstration of the kind ever witnessed in Moomtield took place. All the uniformed political club joined in the parade with the firemen from Mentela r, East Orange and Bloom field.

The carriage is housed in convenient quarters on Bloomfield Avenue, opposite Liberty Street, where an office for the chief engineer is also locat . 1. The hose-house and the truek -house are connected with a fre-alarm telegraph. The township is divided into five fire districts.

The company have one thousand feet of new hose. besides which, there are two hundred and fifty feet located in Watsessing, in which village it is intended to locate the jumper.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

DAVID OAKES.

Mr. Dakes was descended from English stock. his grandfather, John Oakes, having been a resident of Ellastone Mills, Staffordshire, England. The latter had two sons. David and Thomas, of whom Thomas emigrated to America in 1802, and pursued his vocation, that of a consulting engineer and mill- wright, having acted in the former capacity for the Phila lelphia Board of Water-Works and later been made superintendent of the Schuylkill Naviga- tion Company. He married Rachel Kingsland, whose children were David, Joseph, Sarah, John, and Mary. Mr. Oakes, in connection with his duties as an official of the Schuylkill Canal, removed to Reading, where his death occurred in 1823. Ilis son David was born Jan. 13, 1809. in that portion of Bloomfield now known as Franklin township, where he lived until nearly two years of age, when his parents removed to the present site of Bloomfield, and he, until the age of seventeen, pursued hisstudiesat the school adjacent to his home. In 1826 he removed to Orange, N. J., for the purpose of acquiring the trade of a finisher of woolen goods. Soon after completing his apprentice- ship he located in the village of Bloomfield, and at once erected a frame building, which, having equipped with the necessary machinery and stock, he began the manufacture of woolen goods. After a successful business had been established the structure was, in 1836, destroyed by fire. The enterprise of Mr. Oakes was manifested in the immediate creetion of a new building, which was devoted to the exclusive manufac- ture of flannels and yarn. Again, in 1842, the products of the mill were varied, tweede becoming the staple article, which, by their superior quality, gained a wide. reputation. The mills were enlarged in 1819, and in 1860 the first brick building erected, which was fol- lowed by various additions in 1873 and again ia 1879, 1880 and 1882 respectively, Mr. Oakes son Thomas having succeeded him as general manager.

Mr. Oakes was married to Abigail II., daughter of Simeon Baldwin, of Bloomfield. Their children are Sarah (Mrs, Cornelius Van Lion), deceased ; George A., deceased ; and Thomas. Mr. Oikes continued in active

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BIOGRAPHICAL

bus new during his life-time, having established a rep- automatic weighing machine for weighing coal in vis- utation not less as a master in his special department Sols, and later obtainci patents on many shopler ap- pliances. Mr. Morris was married in the fall of 1-12, to Mine Martha Vatolel, daughter of Daniel Vandel, to whowe were born children, Mary (Mrs. Webster Cool- ling), Augustus T. John. Stephen S. and Charles, of whom Augustus T. is theo ly urvivor. Mr. MiTri-' extensive business interests so absorbed his time as to preclude active participation in athurs of a political nature, though he was early un ardent Whig arol later a Republican. Il was reared in the faith of the Pres- baterian & horet, of which he was a firmy support .r. The death of Mr. Morris occurred on the Th of June, 1865, in his sixty fifth year. of industry than for integrity and uprightness in all commercial transactions. He was in politics early n Whig, later a Republican, and always strongly Anti- Slavery in his proclivites. In Isto and IGI he was a member of the State Legislature, and tilel at various tifies the import unit offices connected with his county and township. He was a director of the National Newark Banking Company and a member of the board of managers of the Howard Savings Institution. Ile was for years one of the board of trustees of the Bloomfield Presbyterian Church and a member of this church at the time of his death, which occurred July 26. 1878.

EPHPAIM MORRIS.

The Morris family were originally residents of the north of England, from whence four brothers emigrated to America. Ephraim, the grandfather of the subject of this biographical sketch, a de acendant of one of these brothers, resided in Bloom field upon land acquired by his father, and a portion of which is still in possession of the family. Among his sous was Stephen, hru on the ancestral estate, who married Katherine Smith, and had children, --- Ephraim, Jacob, James, Joseph, Mary. Emel'in, (Mrs. George Hulin) and Albert, of whom Albert and Eme- hne are the only survivors. Ephraim was born Ang. 27, 1.00, in Bloomfield, where he received such edu- rational advantages as were obtamable In the country "cho ds, after which he became associated with his father in the management of a saw mill. While this engaged his genius was first manifested in the inven- tion of a logwood cutter for the cutting of dye-wood on which a pate t was obtained and the machine successfully used for many years During the con- struction of the Morris t'anal a premium was offered for the best ideas with reference to an inclined plane for transferring boats. The plan of Mr. Morris way accepted as the most practical one offered, and in use for many years after its introduction. He soon after became the general manager of this canal, and filled the position from 1532 until about 1543. He then became associated with theerge Law in the construc- lion of the foundations for the coffer dam in connec- tion with the Croton Aquedet at High Bridge, and also engaged in a similar undertaking on the occasion of the buil ling of the Stevens Battery at Hoboken. After this Mr Morris established the firm of Morris & Cumings, and turned his attention almost exclusively to dredging, meanwhile securing patents on many valuable inventions in connection with the business. The clam-shell bucket, for digging and dredging chan- nel and removing submarine obstructions, is the prod- net of his inventive genins, as is also a machine for vard- ing coal, which has for many years been in use by the enal yards of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Dela- ware and Hudson Canal Company. He invented an

WARPEN -. BALDWIN.

The Baldwin family is one of the old families of the Newark colony. As early as lift the town-meeting "agreed that the weavers, Thomas Pier-on and Benja- min Baldwin, shall be considered by the surveyors to make their out -lots on the hill shorter " From this Ben- jamon Baklwin sprang the Baldwin family, which for many years has extended along the main street of Bloomfield from the Presbyterian Church to the More's Neighborhood. Hewas one of those " eleven to collect the money that is gatherplay the subscription in New- ark for the maintenance of the ministry in the year 1692," a readiness for which kindly work was mani- fest in his descendant a century and three-quarter- later in connection with his church in Bloomfield. Benjamin Baldwin made his will in 1726. and died probably soon after in the Newark settlement. Ben- jan in Baldwin, Ir , the son, died before any division of his father's property had taken place, and his brother Joseph, in 1732, became owner of " the plan- tation at Watsesson, where he now lives," on the south side of the Second River, as far as the old real and Harrison Street. David, the son of Benjamin, Jr., married Eunice, the daughter of Daniel Dodd, settled on the one hundred seres of land on the west side of Third River, and became the founder of a nu- merous family. Shortly after the Revolution the Bald- win family became the mot numerous of the early families in this part of the Newark colony. Jesse, the son of David, and grandfather of Warren S. Ba I- win, was a well-known soldier and . ffeer in the army. He was first ensign, then lieutenant, then quarter- master, and they transferred as quartermaster to the regular army. Samuel Baldwin, the son of Fesse, w 4 the father of Warren S. Baldwin. Mr. Ballwin was horn on the 7th of June, 1512. His father died at the early age of thirty-live. His only brother died a year later, in 1818, and Warren, at the early age of six, was the only child of his mother Læett with in- adequate means of livelihood, she found in him a du- tiful son and a growing support. At the age of twenty he began business as a merchant, and continued it throughout his life. llis early berenvement and the

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

good conn els of his home disciplined him in habits of prudence, sagacity and diligence. His business habits were soon recognized, and a steady and growing succes followed. Ilis integrity and good judgment soon led him to posts of trust and of honor in and be- vond his native community. Asa member ofthe Presby- terian Church, he was made a member of its Session, for thirty-five years was a member of it board of trustees, and discharged his service for a long period as secre- tary or treasurer or president of that body.

In thoughtful attention to public education he be- came also a valuable citizen. He aided in procuring the school law of 1849. He was also treasurer of the school district for the long period of twenty-four years, and had the satisfaction of seeing the school system and the school buildings make a decided ad- vance. So also as a citizen he rendered valuable ser- vice as a town officer. lle was repeatedly a member of the township committee, and during the twenty years from 1851 to 1871 was nine times one of the commissioners of appeals. He was a member of the Board of t'hosen Frecholders of the county, and was rho-en in 1856 to represent the people in the house of the Assembly of the State. On his death, on Aug. 30, 1873, he left a bequest of one thousand dollars to the church which he had served with such affection and fidelity.

Ilis life was full of mode t usefulness, active, in- dustrious, efficient. His character was without dis- guise, his action was direct, his habit prompt and kindly, his ambition to be useful and to be honorably esteemed. The purity of his motives, the constancy of his principles, the inviolability of his trusts were observed and relied upon by the entire community. In the best and highest sense, in his early home. in his domestic attachments, m his commercial a Ivance, in his moral and in his religions character, his carcer was an inspiration to the young and a satisfaction to his wide cirele of friends and acquaintances.

Mr. Baldwin married, on Dec. 16, 1841, Elizabeth Wilde, daughter of James Wilde, of Bloomfield. Ilis children were four sons and three daughters. Five of his children survive him, the three sons perpetuating his varied pursuits in the store, the school, the town and the church.

FRANCIS DE GRESS.

Franeis De Gress was born on the 4th day of February, Is-f1, at Cologne, Prussia, and when nine years old entered the Royal Military Academy at Bensberg, Prussia, where he remained until 184. During that year he left the academy for the I'nited States, and joined his father in New York. In 1:56 he removed to Cape Girardeau, Mo., and learned watch-making in all its branches. At the break. ing out of the civil war he responded to the first call for three months' meh, at the close of which time he joined, in January, 1862, as senior second lieutenant, Battery II, First Illinois Light ArtiHery, at Camp

Douglas. On the 24th of February the battery ar- rived at Benton Barracks, St. Louis, to be equipped, and left for Pittsburg Landing April 3, 1862, having been attached to Gen. W. T. Sherman's division. With his battery he took part in the battles of Pitts- burg Landing and Shiloh, from thene in the siege of Corinth, the capture of Holly Springs, the battles of Chickasaw Bayou and Arkansas Post, participating in the siege of Vicksburg and all its battles. AAfter the capture of Vicksburg he, on the 14th of July, 1863, took part in the siege and eapture of Jackson, Miss. Capt. Hart, meanwhile, resigned and left the battery in command of Second Lieut. F. De Gress, the only ofliver with it, who commanded it ever afterwards. With his battery he participated in the campaign from Memphis to Chattanooga, and in the battles of Tuscumbia, Ala., and Mission Ridge or Lookout Mountain. Lieut. F. De Gress, whose term of enlist- ment had expired, was mustered into the service again as captain of his battery, every man re-enlisting as a veteran. On their arrival in Chicago a complinan- tary supper was given to the captain and his battery, at which Adjt. Gen. Faller, in highly complimentary terms, presented t'apt. F. De Gress with a very hand- some sword as a token of esteem from the members of his battery, alluding to their various engagements and to the youthful commander. After predicting to Capt. De Gress a proud future, he presented the sword, as a token of esteem and confidence from the brave boys he had the honor and pleasure of com- manding. Upon gold plates on the scabbard of the sword was an appropriate inscription, with the names of the battles and sieges in which he and the battery had been engaged. Capt. De Gress, in a soldier-like speech, brief and pertinent, acknowledged the unex- pected present. At the expiration of their Furlough Capt. De Gress and his battery returned to the seat of

war, and were. May 1, 1864, assigned to the Second Division of Gen. Morgan L. Smith's Fifteenth Army Corps, commanded by Maj. Gen. John A. Logan. They participated in the battles of Resaca, Dallas, Kenesaw Mountain, Nikajack Creek, Chatahoochee and all the battles of Atlanta, the battery being finally captured, the ensuing account of which appeared in Harper's Weekly, Sept. 3, 1864: "Capt. De Gress, whore portrait is given on page 564, command- Battery H, First Illinois Artillery. The following gallant action is thus recorded by our correspondent: 'On the 22d of July the battery of Capt. De Gress was placed, by order of Gen. Sherman, in such a position as to throw shells from his twenty-pounders into Atlanta. The rebels came charging through the railroad ent to the left of the battery. The supports gave way. De firess ww at once that his guns were gone. He directly or- dered his guns pointed left-oblique, and gave the charging rebels double canister, at the rate of four rounds per minute. Soon he had two of his guns spiked, and ordered bis men to get away, remaining himself with one sergeant ( Peter Wyman), using one

Namen

francis De Greg

BELLEVILLE TOWNSHIP

gta as rapidly as possible. Still the en my came on, through Mexico. In 150 he goved with his family and when within less than twenty steps an officer called to him to surren ler. De Gress, who stood with the lanyard of either gun is his hands, shouted, ' C'ertainly come on !" a the same m noent dis harg-

to New York, leaving his partner in charge of the Mixi ant branches where an office was pen. l. While in New York he osbysjed branches als,in Central and South America. These he finally with- ing his two guns, and called to Wyman who stood frew, wishing to emeentrate all his capital in the Mexi an trade In 1972 he created a house for h & family on Chestnut Hill, between Bloomfield and Montelair, an I reside ] there. In 1877 he ex ha pod places with Mr. Wevel, Maj. DE Gress going to Mexico and Mr. Wevel to New York. On MIy. De Gress' arrival business improved in Mexic he taking advantage of every opportunity to extend the scope of his enterprise, confining himself not alone to aris and ammunition, but alo to all kinds of machin- ery. He contracted to build docks for the govern- ment, as also arsenals, electric I ghts, telegraph Ines, etr. In January, 18X2, he effectel a contract with the Mexican government to supply it with four billion d'Mars in nickel coin. The business of this contract took him to Europe, accompanied by his wife and two of his children, the latter f whom he left at school in Bonn Germany. After su cessfully arranging his af- fairs he returned to New York, and la er to M xico.

with pincer- and spikes, to spike under cover of the smoke and get away. De fires saw the spike driven into the last gun, and as he started a st rid of shit was sent after him. The sergeant was k Hed, but De Grens escaped uninjured. Gen. Logan, who was coming up at the head of Col. Martin's brigade, was met by De Gress, who told the general that his guns were lost. "Oh, no, Captain," said the general, "Wood's guns have been turned upon the horses of your battery, and I think these chaps will hardly get them away before I have this brigade charging clear over them." In less than a quarter of an hour De tires, who had gur up with the charging column, was busy drawing the spike of one of his guns, which was very soon send- ing canister into the retreating rebels, the infantry offers near acting as canoowers under the direction of Capt. De firess, who has met with the sincere a p.an-c of the general officers who witnessed his gal- luntry.'

Cit. De Gress participated in the battle at Ezra Church, affer which h was strongly recommended by Gens. Logan, Howard, Barry and others to the Gov- ernor of IIEnois as colonel of the First Ilinois Artil. lery, rie E. Taylor, who had resigned which recom- mendations are now in the office of the A ljutant- General of Illinois. He also took part in battles of I mesboro and the capture of Atlanta.

At thislesville the army prepared for the grand march to the sea, Battery II, First Minor Fight Ar. tillery being the only twenty pounder Parrott battery allowed to participate, secor ing to a special or Jer of tien Sherman. Capt. De Gress was at the capture of l'ort MAH ster and Savann th, the battle and cap- ture of Columbia, Bentonville, and arrived at Golds- boro, N. C. March 25, 1865. He was present at the surrender of Johnson's army ut Raleigh, Aprit 15, 1864, and from thence to Richmond, passed in review in Washington, and was mustered out in Springfield 11., July 1, 1865, with the rank of major.

Immediately after his retirement from the service Maj. De fires formed a enpartnership with several othe s and organvel the firm of Wesel, Da diresy & Co. They established themselves in Texas, with Jimses in Galveston, Brazos Santiago, Brownsville. and agencies in several other towns on the frontier. and also in Monterey, Movies. Maj. De firesy re- mained in Brownsville until the spring of Isis, and while there married Miss Isabella tireene, on the 20th of September, 1866. In the spring of Istis be re- moved to the city of Mexico, whither his partner, Mr. Wexel, had preceded him, and established the first American urm-store, under the name of " Armeria Americana," by which name the firm was known all

L'outil this date he had been in good health, though soon after his return t , Me xico he complaine l of india- position, and finally departeI for Vera Cruz, seeking there a change of air, from thenee he repaired to Rimona la where he peacefully passed away. Il s deathwas deplored by many ; at the funeral, the Goy. ernor of the federal listrict of Mexico, the Minis- ter of Finance, the Assistant Secretary of War anl the Secretary of the Navy of Mexico being among his pall-bearers.

Maj. De Gress joined the Max nie fraternity early in life, and at h's death was a member of Bi omf_ Id Lodge, No. 40, F. and A. M., Union Chapter, Ne. ;. Newark, and Damascus Commandery, No. 5. also of \ wark, N. J. He was a member of Olive Branch Lodge, No. 51, I. O. O. F, at Bloomfield, N. J., and of the Grand Army of the Republic. Ilis name is also mentioned a number of times in Gen. Sherman's " Memoirs." He was one of the first vice-presidente of the ('reedmoor Rifle Association. At the time of his death he was vice-president of the Mexican Oriental Railroad Company, known as the Goull-De tires road. The remains of Maj. De Gress were buried in the American Cemetery, near the city of Mexico.

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History of Essex and Hudson counties, New Jersey, Vol. II, Part 45

Author: Shaw, William H Publication date: 1884 Publisher: [United States :] Number of Pages: 830

Author: Shaw, William H
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: [United States :]
Number of Pages: 830