History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 145

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1170

USA > New Jersey > Somerset County > History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 145
USA > New Jersey > Hunterdon County > History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 145

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ISAIAH N. DILTS, born at Schooley's Mountain, N. J., Aug. 3, 1824; graduated at Lafayette College in 1844; read law with Jacob W. Miller and E. W. Whelpley, then law-partners at Morristown. His admission to the har dates from 1847, and his coun- selor's license from 1850. He commenced practicing in Morristown, and in 1853 removed to Somerville, where he resided until his death. He held several professional appointments, having been Supreme Court commissioner, United States commissioner, and special master in chancery. He was a fair, well- read lawyer, had a fine literary taste, and was a fre- quent contributor to various periodicals and maga- zines. In 1856 he married Ellen Van Derveer, a daughter of the late judge, and sister of Mrs. William L. Dayton. Her death occurred in 1875; he died May 21, 1878.

HUGH M. GASTON was born Nov. 29, 1818, at Bask- ing Ridge, in Bernard township, this county. His father was a merchant in Somerville, and the family, early settlers in New Jersey, are of Huguenot descent. He attended the Somerville academy, and was a law- pupil of George II. Brown, of Somerville. Admitted to practice as an attorney in 1840,; cotemporary with William S. Cassedy, John Whitehead, and Henry

MeMiller, he became a counselor in November, 1843. Upon his admission to the har he opened an office at Somerville, and entered at once upon the labors of his chosen profession. "He was soon recognized as a man of sterling ability, unyielding integrity, and consequently of high promise in the profession," which promise he has fully redeemed. "He stands to-day among the acknowledged leaders of the bar. . . . His professional standard, like his personal standard, has been high, and the verdict of his fellow- citizens, in and out of the profession, is that he has nobly lived up to both." For a number of years he was prosecutor of the pleas for Somerset County. He has refused to become a candidate for civil honors, although repeatedly solicited, and in one case (when nominated for State senator) refused to stand even after being nominated. He finds in his profession his true sphere of action, and is content-as well he may he-with its honors and emoluments, not to say its labors, which surely are multiplied and various enough. In addition to his ordinary practice, now very extended and important, he is attorney for sev- eral of the leading corporations in this section of the State. In 1870 he formed a partnership with James J. Bergen, which still coutinues. He was married, in 1849, to Frances M. Prevost. In 1880, owing to ser- vices he gratuitously rendered the tax-payers of the county, he was presented by leading citizens with a silver pitcher and salver of elegant design, valued at three hundred and fifty dollars.

JAMES J. BERGEN, a descendant of the old and honorable Bergen family, of Dutch extraction, was born at Somerville, N. J., Oct. 1, 1847. He was a pupil of Mr. Calvin Butler, of Somerville, and after- wards studied law with Hugh Gaston, Esq. After his admission to the bar, in 1868, he practiced for a year in Plainfield, and then returned to his native place, where he formed a copartnership with his former legal preceptor, thus establishing the firm of Gaston & Bergen. In 1875 he was elected a member of the State Assembly, where he served on several important committees, introduced important bills, often spoke at length and forcibly, and made his pres- ence felt in that body so much to the satisfaction of his constituents that he was re-elected to the same position in 1876. The following year he was ap- pointed prosecutor of the pleas for Somerset County.

JOHN D. BARTINE was graduated at the Lawrence- ville high school in 1858. He was engaged in teach- ing school for several years, but in 1861 commenced the study of the law with J. F. Hageman, of Prince- ton, near which place Mr. Bartine was born, in 1836. Admitted to the bar in 1865, he commenced practice at once, establishing himself in Somerville. He speedily acquired reputation, and his business has continued to increase with each passing year. He is an excellent counselor and an able advocate. He practices in all the courts and in all branches of the profession. Recently he entered into copartnership

* Seo chapter on " Books and Anthors of Somerset County," in this work.

+ Biog. Encyclop. of New Jersey (p. 297) erroneously says "1844."

593

THE BENCH AND BAR OF SOMERSET COUNTY.

with James L. Griggs, the firm bearing the title Bar- tine & Griggs. During his professional experience Mr. Bartine has managed many important and intri- cate cases, among which may be mentioned the Van- arsdale murder case, the Van Derveer will case, and the long-contested water-right case of Ten Eyek vs. Runk. He is the legal adviser of the Wellsboro' Fire Insurance Company, as also of several other corpora- tions, and is one of the directors of the Somerset County Bank. In political faith he is a Democrat. In 1867 he was honored by Princeton College withi the degree of Master of Arts. He married, in 1868, Miss Van Derveer, of Rocky Hill.

A. V. D. HONEYMAN, born at New Germantown, Hunterdon Co., Nov. 12, 1849, is a son of Dr. John Honeyman, deceased .* He enjoyed but ordi- dary common-school advantages, and at the age of sixteen left school and entered his brother's store as a clerk. Not liking mercantile life, he went to Easton in April, 1867, and entered the law-office of Judge H. D. Maxwell, a brother-in-law and prominent lawyer, who was United States consul to Trieste under Presi- dent Taylor. While studying law Mr. Honeyman took a supplemental Latin course under that success- ful teacher Rev. John L. Grant, of Easton, Pa. Ile was admitted to practice in Pennsylvania in Novem- ber, 1870, but at once removed to Somerville, N. J., where the balance of the term required in New Jersey for admission to the bar was spent in the office of Hon. Alvah A. Clark. He was admitted as an at- torney-at-law by the Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey in June, 1871, and entered into partner- ship with his late preceptor under the firm-name of Clark & Honeyman, which continued until October, 1872, and again, in 1874, he formed a legal partner- ship with H. B. Herr, Esq., of White House, which was continued under the name of Honeyman & Herr until 1876; since then he has practiced alone. In August, 1875, he married Julia E., daughter of Au- gustine Reger.

Independent of his legal pursuits, Mr. Honeyman has taken an active part in the religious, educational, and journalistic enterprises of his adopted home. Sinee 1876 he has edited and published The Somerset Gazette. t He was one of the founders of the Somer- ville Young Men's Christian Association in 1873, and in 1875, while president of that association, united with four business men in erecting the beautiful block known as " Association Hall" building, costing twenty-seven thousand dollars. In politics he is a Republican, but with liberal views towards other par- ties. Hle is a member of the Second Reformed Church. He is himself a hard worker, with no knowl- edge of rest in any mental or physical sense of the term. Ile bas been a fearless advocate of the right, both in his paper and at the bar. Ilis course in 1879

in bringing about an official investigation, and more recently in acting as counsel of the tax-payers for four months without compensation, gained the praise of all honest citizens. He is the author of several important legal works, among which is "The New Treatise on the Small-Cause Court in New Jersey," and in 1879 established the New Jersey Law Journal, of which he is still editor and publisher.

GARRIT S. CANNON is a native of Somerset County. He is a son of Rev. Dr. James S. Cannon, late pro- fessor at New Brunswick Theological Seminary. He was born at Six-Mile Run, and was graduated from Rutgers College in 1833. Hle commenced the study of law with B. R. Brown, of Mount Holly, and in 1836 was licensed as attorney, and three years after as counselor. HIe settled at Bordentown. He was ap- pointed prosecuting attorney of his county in 1850, and was reappointed in 1855 and 1865. In 1853, President Pierce appointed him United States district attorney for New Jersey, and President Buchanan re- appointed him in 1857. He is almost unsurpassed as a pleader. His presentation of the fact and the law of the case, his keen analysis of evidence, his cita- tion of authorities in support of his arguments, are rapid, elear, decisive. Few men are more fluent in speech, more thorough in preparation, more brilliant in legal strategy. In 1845 he was elected a member of the Lower House of the State Legislature. He now devotes all his time to his professional duties and gives his support to all local improvements. In November, 1839, he married Hannah Kinsey, of Bur- lington.

ABRAHAM O. ZABRISKIE, son of the Rev. John Zabriskie, formerly pastor of the Reformed Church at Millstone, was not a native of this county, but here spent his boyhood days. He was born June 10, 1807, at Greenbush, N. Y., educated at Princeton, and ad- mitted to the bar in 1828. He settled permanently at Jersey City, and died June 27, 1873. From 1866 to 1873 he was chancellor, and at the time of his death was president of the constitutional commission. He attained a high and honorable reputation at the bar, and " was a faithful servant whom in death as in life we will delight to honor." He was one of the best- read lawyers in the State, and was distinguished pre- eminently as a common-law lawyer.

STEPHEN B. RANSOM, lawyer, of Jersey City, fin- ished his legal studies with William Thomson, of Somerville, and practiced the law there from 1848 to 1856. His second wife, married July, 1856, is Eliza W., daughter of Stephen R. Hunt, of Somerville.

OTHER LAWYERS NATIVE OF SOMERSET.

JAMES R. ENGLISH, lawyer, of Elizabeth, is a native of Bernard township, Somerset Co., being the son of Rev. James T. and Mary C. (Jobs) Eng- lish, of Liberty Corner, and born Sept. 27, 1840.

PETER L. VOORHEES, of Camden, was born near Blawenburg, July 12, 1825; he was the son of Peter

* See sketch in medical chapter of llunterlon County, in another por- tion of this work.

t Sco chapter on " Pross of Somerset County."

594

SOMERSET COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

and Jane (Schenck) Voorhees, and married, in 1855, Annie, the sister of Hon. William L. Dayton.

FREDERICK VOORHEES, a counselor - at - law of Mount Holly, N. J., was a native of Somerset, born at Blawenburg, and is a brother of Peter L., just mentioned.

ISAAC N. BLACKFORD, late of Washington, D. C., was born at Bound Brook, N. J., in 1786; died 1859. The greater portion of his life was passed at Vin- cennes, Ind., where (1819-35) he was judge of the Supreme Court of Indiana, and (1855-59) judge of the United States Court of Claims.

ENOS W. RUNYON, now law-judge of Union Co., N. J., was born in this county, Feb. 24, 1825. He was educated at the Plainfield academy, studied law with a Plainfield lawyer, and has practiced at and lived in Plainfield ever since.

THEODORE RUNYON, chancellor of New Jersey, one of the most profound lawyers of the State, al- though he never practiced in this county, is a native of Somerset, having been born at Somerville, Oct. 25, 1822, and is a son of Abraham Runyon, of that place. Licensed in 1846; now resides in Newark, N. J.

JOHN C. ELMENDORF, lawyer, and late treasurer of Rutgers College, was a native of Somerset County, boru in March, 1814. His parents, William C. and Maria (Dumont) Elmendorf, were also natives of the same State. He obtained his elementary education at Somerville, was graduated at Rutgers, and became a law-student of Judge Nevius at New Brunswick ; licensed as an attorney in 1837 ; became a counselor in 1841. For fifteen years he was prosecutor of the pleas for Middlesex County, and for twenty-three years from 1853 was treasurer of Rutgers. In 1857 he married Maria L. Frelinghuysen.

CHAPTER VII.

HISTORY OF THE MEDICAL PROFESSION OF SOMERSET COUNTY.

The County Medical Society : ita Origin, Officers, and Members-Bio- graphical Sketches of Jolin Reeve, William M. McKissack, Peter I. Stryker, Abraham Van Buren, the Van Derveers and Schencks, Wil- liam H. Merrill, Peter Ten Eyck, HI. G. Wagoner, Chauncey M. Field, etc.

THIE DISTRICT MEDICAL SOCIETY OF SOMERSET COUNTY.

THE medical society of this county was organized under the above title May 21, 1816, and was the first of the kind instituted in the State of New Jersey, although the medical societies of three other counties were established soon after,-that of Morris County, June 1, 1816; Essex County, June 4, 1816; and Monmouth County, July 16, 1816. The records of the State Medical Society show that

"On the first Tuesday of May, 1816, the New Jersey Medical Society proceeded to appoint district societies In the counties, when the following gentlemon were appointed for Somerset,-viz., Peter I. Stryker, Ferdi-

nand Schenck, William McKissack, J. L. Elmendorf, William D. Mc- Kissack, E. Smith, Angustus Taylor, Moses Scott, and Henry Schenck, to meet at the village of Somerville, on Tuesday, the 21st day of May inst., at 10 o'clock A.M."

The names of the officers in full cannot be here given, as the secretary of the organization has refused the writer access to the books and records of the society. The information concerning the Medical Society of Somerset County here given has been kindly communicated by Dr. William Pierson, Jr., of Orange, N. J., secretary of the Medical Society of New Jersey, by Dr. H. G. Wagoner, of Somerville, and by others.

The first censors for Somerset County were P. I. Stryker, Augustus Taylor, E. Smith, J. S. Elmen- dorf, and William McKissack, May 12, 1818. Fer- diuand Schenck, Henry Van Derveer, Peter Vre- denberg, and William D. McKissack appeared as delegates from the Somerset County Society to the State Medical Society.

The act of incorporation of the State society pro- vides that " all persons who shall have been, or may hereafter be, president of the society, shall rank as Fellows, and be entitled to all the privileges of dele- gated members." The list of fellows of the State society embraces, prior to the organization of the county society, Lawrence Van Derveer, president in 1784,* and Peter I. Stryker, in 1808," and after the organization of the Somerset County Medical society, the following :

1817, Peter I. Stryker;# 1822, Augustus R. Taylor ;** 1824, Peter I. Stry- ker;# 1826, William D. McKissack ;* 1829, John W. Craig ;* 1830, Augustus R. Taylor ;* 1835, Abr. P. ITageman ;# 1836, Henry Van Derveer ;# 1841, Ferdinand S. Schenck ;# 1843, Abraham Skillman; 1845, Robert S. Smith ;* 1854, Alfred B. Dayton ;* 1876, John V. Schenck.

One of the most active members of this society during his lifetime, and really a leader, was Dr. Wil- liam D. McKissack, who died at Millstone in 1853. He filled at various times the several offices of the society. (See sketch of his life, farther ou.)

From the reports of the District Medical Society of Somerset County to the State Medical Society since 1864,7 it appears that the following physicians have been members of the former organization since that date :

Robert S. Smith," Bound Brook ; Henry II. Van Derveer," Somerville; Henry F. Van Derveer, Somerville; C. B. Jaques," Somerville; Henry G. Wagoner, Somerville; Samuel K. Martin," Martinville; Peter D. McKissack," Millstone; L. II. Mosher, Millstone (Griggs- town) ; William B. Ribble, Millstone; James B. Van Derveer," North Branch; Jesse S. B. Ribble,t Harlingen ; Robert M. Morey,; Bound Brook ; J. Fred. Berg, North Branch ; William E. Mattison, Mill- stone; John V. Robbins, { Branchville ; James G. Maynard, Six-Mile Run ; John C. Sutphen," Peapack ; Joseph S. Sutphen, Pluckamin ; John W. Craig,# Plainfield ; Peter T. Sntphen, Peapack ; James S. Knox, Somerville; A. P. Hunt, Raritan; W. II. Merrill, South Branch; D. C. Van Deusen, Millstone; W. S. Swinton, Somerville; B. B. Matthewe, Bound Brook; Byron Thornton, Peapack ; J. B.

* Decensed.

f The annual transactions of the State socioty were first printed in 1859; from that date until 1864 no report was received from the Somerset Connty society, nor was it represented in the State body.

Removed from county.

595

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION OF SOMERSET COUNTY.

Cornell, Somerville; C. MI. Field, Bound Brook ; I. L. Compton, Bound Brook ; C. R. P. Fisher, Neshanie ; J. D. Van Derveer, Liberty Corner.

In 1868 the number of members reported was eighteen, and the delegates to the State society were HI. G. Wagoner, R. S. Smith, J. F. Berg, John Sut- phen, and William E. Mattison.

The officers and members for 1880, as reported to the State society, are as follows :

President, Byron Thornton, Peapack ; Vice-President, J. B. Cornell, Som- erville; Corresponding Secretary, H. G. Wagoner, Somerville ; Ro- cording Secretary, 11. F. Van Derveer, Somerville : Treasurer, W. II. Merrill, South Branch ; W. J. Swinton, A. P. Hunt, Somerville ; W. B. Ribble, Millstone ; J. F. Borg, North Branch; B. B. Mathews, C. M. Fjeld, I. L. Compton, Bound Brook ; C. R. P. Fisher, Neshanic; J. D. Van Derveer, Liberty Corner.

The delegates to the State society, at its one hun- dred and fourteenth annual meeting, May 25, 1880, were C. R. Fisher, W. HI. Merrill, W. B. Ribble, and H. F. Van Derveer. Number of members reported, fourteen.

By a recently enacted law of the State (1880), all physicians are required to file their diplomas in the county clerk's office, and those who do not are liable to indictment for misdemeanor .* At the date of this compilation, all, or nearly all, of the practitioners in the county had complied with the law.

The following memoirs of some of the physicians of the county have been compiled, and are here given as illustrative of the profession in the past as well as the present in Somerset County :

JOIN REEVE, having prepared himself for the practice of medicine in Canada, settled in Rocky Hill about 1787 (possibly earlier), and practiced there for nearly a half-century. He acquired a reputation and secured a large practice. In visiting his patients he frequently rode on horseback, and traversed the coun- try without regard to roads, leaping fences and riding through fields. He was often accompanied by one of his daughters, who was fearless enough to follow his lead wherever he might ride. When he first came to Rocky Hill he purchased a farm, which he worked with profit. When the cholera raged, in 1832, among the laborers employed on the canal near Princeton, he was very successful in his treatment by calomel in large doses. " Ile was hospitable to his equals, but severe to his inferiors." In his latter years he had slight attacks of paralysis, although he died of dropsy, June 23, 1834, aged sixty-nine. He was twice mar- ried,-first, in 1792, to Ann Clark, of Trenton, who died in 1827; second, to Margaret Blackwell, who survived him and subsequently married a Mr. Skill- man. Of his three children (all daughters, and all by his first wife), one became the wife of Abraham Van Derveer, another the wife of Rev. Henry Per- kins, and the third, living in Pennsylvania, is un- married. Dr. Reeve was the. son of Capt. Simon R. Reeve, of New York, and was born there Dee, 26,

1765. He was a member of the State Medieal So- ciety, joining it in 1788.

WILLIAM M. MCKISSACK was a resident of Bound Brook, and during his life practiced medicine in that place. It is said he was born in Ireland. He became a member of the State Medical Society in 1795, having then been in practice many years; he was the last medical man received into the society during the last century, as its meetings were suspended, after 1795, until 1807. He was widely known and esteemed, use- ful in his profession, and was regarded as a physician of good judgment and skill. His son, William D., practiced at Millstone, this county, also a grandson, Peter Ditmars, recently deceased.

Dr. MeKissack died in Bound Brook, where his re- mains rest in the old Presbyterian churchyard. His monumental inscription is meagre and imperfect :

" William M. MeKissack, M.D., Diedl Feb. 1831, In the 7th year of his uge. Ilis wife died Mar. 5, 1809, In the bist year of her age."+

His wife was a daughter of Col. William MeDonald, who emigrated to this country before the Revolution, in which he took a prominent part as an opposer of British oppression.

PETER I. STRYKER was the son of Capt. John, who was the son of Pieter, the son of John, the son of Pieter, son of Jan, who emigrated from Holland soon after 1653 to Flatbush, L. I., and whose grand- son John bought lands for his sons in Somerset County, on the Raritan, near Millstone, about a mile north of Millstone church. Dr. Stryker was born June 22, 1766. He studied with Dr. MeKissack. practiced six years at Millstone, and then removed to Somerville, where he died Oct. 19, 1859. He became noted not only in the medieal profession, but in civil life# and in the military service of the State. He was buried with marked military honors; forty officers of the State troops, led by the Governor (Newell), fol- lowed his remains to their final resting-place. He was a member for a half-century of the First Reformed Dutch Church, and a member of the New Jersey Medical Society. (See further sketch under head of " Prominent Personages of Somerset County," in this work.)

SAMUEL SWAN, who practiced at Bound Brook from about 1800 to 18OG, was born in 1771, near Scotch Plains, N. J. He was clerk of Somerset, 1809-20, and later a member of Congress. He died at Bound Brook in August, 1844, and was buried in the vault of Jacob De Groot, whose daughter he married.

GARRET W. Tesisox, born in Bridgewater town- ship, in what is now Somerville, Nov. 12, 1751, Was surgeon of Col. Lamb's regiment (Second Artillery)

+ list, N. J. Med., pp. 330, 331, and MES notes of Dr. A. Memler

Į He was sheriff, senator, presided several years na vice-president of the U'pper House, and In the State militia rose to the rank of senior major- general.

· Session Laws of 1880, p. 290.

596

SOMERSET COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

of the Continental army ; was at hattle of Montgomery and at Yorktown, and served until the disbandment of the army in 1783. He was later a member of the Legislature. He married Sarah Ten Eyck, of the same locality, May 5, 1783, and resided on her farm during the rest of his life, there practicing his profes- sion. He died at the age of eighty-six, July 18, 1837, and was interred in the Somerville cemetery. He had children,-Cornelius T., Matthias Ten Eyck, Garret, Maria Magdalen, and Jane, the last named being deceased .*

ABRAHAM VAN BUREN-one of a race of physi- cians, being descended from John,t who emigrated to New York (about 1700) from Beuren, Holland-was a pupil of Boerhave and a graduate of Leyden, whose son Beekman, born in New York (1727), practiced medicine and died there in 1812. Abraham was born in 1737, settled in Millstone, attained to nearly seventy- seven years (obit. March 15, 1813), and was, with his wife (obit. in 1816, aged eighty-eight), buried in the Millstone churchyard .; He was probably the first physician at Millstone, and his professional labors extended from 1760 to 1813, more than half a century. He had a large practice, and was famous for his "red drop," which he was in the habit of prescribing, and which became a popular preparation after his day. He was a member, a deacon, and an elder of the Millstone Reformed Dutch Church. Three of his sons-William, William H., and James- were physi- cians, while another-Abraham-became a merchant in Philadelphia.

Eva, a daughter of Dr. Abraham, became the wife of Abr. Schenck. William Van Buren practiced in Millstone till 1816, when he removed to New Bruns- wick and kept a drug-store.

William H. Van Buren, of New York, was his eld- est son by a second marriage. James Van Buren was practicing in Bergen County during the Revolution, and was arraigned before the Committee of Safety in 1777 as of doubtful loyalty to the Whig cause. He took the oath of allegiance, and was released .?

LAWRENCE VAN DERVEER lived from early life in Somerset. County. He commenced practicing before the Revolution, and in 1776 was one of the original members of the State Medical Society. He after- wards removed to Shepardstown, Va., but soon re- turned to Somerset, and practiced until his death, in 1815, in that part of Hillsborough township known as Roycefield. Here he became eminent, and had a lucrative practice during a long lifetime. He was the first to bring into notice the alleged virtues of the Scutellaria lateriflora in the prevention and cure of hydrophobia. He administered it to about four hun- dred persons said to have been exposed to the disease,

in none of whom did it appear. Yet he made no converts to its use as a cure for rabies among the more intelligent medical men of his day.| He was very benevolent, visiting the poor alike with the rich, and with the former class seldom making any charge. He always rode a fleet horse, and, with utter disre- gard of roads and fences, took an air-line from one house to another. He was a member of the Re- formed Dutch Church at the time of his death. He died possessed of a large fortune and universally re- gretted. His name even now has a savor of gratitude and honor in the memory of many aged people in Somerset County. His remains were interred on his own estate, and a monument marks their resting- place. A son of the doctor lives about a mile east of Somerville.

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History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 145

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1170

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1170