History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 147

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 147
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 147

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

WM. D. MCKISSACK, late of Millstone, was born at Bound Brook, Somerset Co., Jan. 28, 1781, and was the son of Win. M. McKissack, long an eminent prac- titioner at Bound Brook. His education began with a careful school course at Basking Ridge, followed by collegiate graduation (Princeton, 1802), medical reading under the famous Dr. Nicholas Belleville, of

| Fatally wounded at hattlo of Germantown, and died Jan. 7, 1777.

601

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION OF SOMERSET COUNTY.

Trenton, concluding with medical lectures in New York. In 1805 he commeneed to practice the "heal- ing art" at Pittstown, Hunterdon Co., but after two years removed to Millstone, where for forty-six years he was the leading representative of the profession. He practiced at Millstone from 1807 to 1853. He was a member of the Somerset County Medical Society and of the State Medical Society, being for twelve years recording secretary of the latter organization. Dur- ing the war of 1812 he was a captain of volunteers, and after the war became a brigadier-general of the State militia. He was also a member of the State Legislature, 1835-36. Socially and professionally he was highly esteemed. He married Margaret, a daugh- ter of Peter Ditmars, of Millstone, and by this mar- riage had five children .* He deceased March 6, 1853. His'wife (born in 1795) died Jan. 30, 1864.

WILLIAM HI. MERRILL .- William, grandfather of W. H., originally settled the homestead near Flem-

ington where John C. Merrill, father of our subject, now resides. John C. Merrill, born in 1802, on the homestead, married Miss Elizabeth Dayton, who bore him children as follows,-J. Dayton, Jane, wife of Jeremiah J. Huff, Rachel, wife of John Dilts, Mary, wife of Van Derveer Higgins, William H., Jesse Simeon, and Ellen.

Dr. Merrill was born on May 24. 18-12. He spent most of his minority at home, and received his pre- liminary education in the schools in Flemington.

He prepared for college under his brother, Rev. J. Dayton Merrill, A.M., then pastor of the Baptist Church at Millburn, but now pastor of the Baptist Church at Massena, N. Y., and was subsequently a student in the University of Lewisburg, Pa. In 1866 he began the study of medicine with Dr. C. W. Lari- son of Ringos, Hunterdon County, took his first course of medical lectures at Geneva Medical College, and then entered Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York, from which he was graduated in 1869.

He began practice as a physician and surgeon at Centreville, but after a short time settled in the fall of the same year at South Branch, Somerset Co., where he has had a growing practice since. Dr. Merrill's skill in the practice of his profession, his care and attention to every interest of his patient, has given him rank among the first physicians in the county. llis ride at first only extended over that formerly enjoyed by Dr. Robins, but his devotion to his patients, his singleness of purpose, and his integ- rity in practice have largely extended the former bounds of his ride. Dr. Merrill never allows personal enjoyment to come between him and his patient ; but, dearly loving his profession, its toils become his pleasure. In 1874, Dr. Merrill built an elegant and substantial residence at South Branch, overlooking the village, river, and surrounding country. Ile married, Fch. 12, 1873, Rebecca C., daughter of Wil- liam B. and Elenah (Cole) Higgins, of Branchburg township. They have one child, Howard V. Merrill.

PETER TEN EYCK was a lineal descendant, in the seventh generation, of Coenradt Ten Eyck, the founder of the Ten Eyck family in America, who emigrated to this country in 1650. He came from Amsterdam, Hol- land, with his wife, Maria Boele, and located in New York City, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits. He is supposed to have been buried on the present site of the old post-office, in that city. The inter- vening generations in the male line were Mattys, who settled in Old Hurley, Ulster Co., N. Y., and founded the Ten Eyck family at that point; Jacob, the pro- genitor of the North Branch Ten Eyeks, of this county ; Coenradt, Frederick, and Richard.

Dr. Ten Eyek was the son of Richard and Jane (Todd) Ten Eyck, and was born at Millstone, N. J., June 24, 1817. His great-grandfather, Coenradt, was one of the first settlers at that point and a wealthy landowner, and his maternal grandfather was Col. William Todd, of Lamington, N. J., a brave ofli- cer in the Revolutionary war. The carlier years of Dr. Ten Eyck were passed at home. Upon attaining sutlieient age he began the study of medicine under Dr. Mechisie, of Millstone, and, completing his studies in the Medical Department of the University of the State of New York, he was graduated with honor from that institution in 1848. Five years previous to that date, on March 7. 1813, he was united in mar- riage to Margaret S. S. Troutman, daughter of Sir John Troutman, of the English navy. Miss Trout-

· WHHlam D., Jr., graduated at West Point, sorved in the Mexican war, and died on his way home ; another won, Poter D., was a physician, and practiced nl Millstone for thirty years, until his death, in 1872.

602

SOMERSET COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

man was a lady of culture and possessed of many vir- tues. She was a graduate of the Moravian seminary at Bethlehem, Pa., was a fine artist and musician, and possessed a voice of exquisite power and beauty.

From the time of his marriage Dr. Ten Eyck's home was in New York City, where he subsequently enjoyed a successful and extensive practice. To his skill in his profession he added achievements in the direction of mechanical discovery. Being possessed of strong inventive power, he employed his leisure moments in discovering and patenting several useful articles, among which were a rocking- and revolving- chair combined and a brake for vehicles. He was a remarkable linguist, could converse fluently in differ- ent languages, and was possessed of considerable ar- tistic ability, being a skillful draughtsman and able to give great beauty to some of his designs. He built an elegant residence in New York, ou the northeast cor- ner of Park Avenue and Thirty-fourth Street (Mur- ray Hill), two blocks distant from the palatial resi- dence of the late A. T. Stewart, and directly opposite the Church of the Redeemer, and which he occupied through life. He inaugurated, and was plaintiff in, the proceedings against the New York and Harlem Railroad which resulted in compelling that corpora- tion to make Forty-second Street the terminus of their inroad upon the municipal domains.

After a singularly active and successful life Dr. Ten Eyck passed away on Feb. 11, 1860. To his other at- tainments were added a kind and benevolent disposi- tion that endeared him to many, and made him an ever-welcome visitor to the homes of his locality. In his own home he was ever the faithful and considerate husband and father, and by his removal the hearth- stone of one of the happiest of New York homes was made forever desolate. His loving and accomplished wife followed him into the confines of the shadowy land on Feb. 28, 1867, and left her only children- Blendenia S. C. and Charles Richard-to encounter the stern realities of the world without a father's faith- ful care or the kind attentions of a warm-hearted and true mother.

But even these two children were not destined long to remain united in their sorrows. Charles Richard Ten Eyck was born in New York City on Nov. 1, 1852, and at the time of his mother's death was fifteen years of age. At that period he entered Riverview Military Academy, at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where he remained nearly two years. He then accompanied his sister on a journey to the South for the benefit of her health, and upon his return he entered Tren- ton Academy, at Trenton, N. J., and subsequently passed through a course of business training at East- man's National Business College, Poughkeepsie. At the age of eighteen his health became impaired, and he traveled South in the hope of reclaiming it. He extended his tonr to Cuba, where, owing to the exist- ing relations between that isle and the Spanish gov- ernment, he was a constant object of suspicion, and

whence he thankfully departed. After his return Mr. Ten Eyck finished his course at the business col- lege in Poughkeepsie, and subsequently engaged in mercantile business in Trenton, N. J., as a member of the firm of Bowne & Ten Eyck. The enterprise proved to be an unfortunate one, and amid the wreck of hundreds of business houses which the depressed condition of the times induced, Mr. Ten Eyck's for- tune was swept away. It had been the wish of his father that he should enter the medical profession, but, his health not permitting, he had not engaged in business from necessity, but merely as a means of oc- cupying his mind. His misfortunes preyed upon him to such an extent that five years after their occur- rence, on Feb. 5, 1879, he died of consumption, at the hotel in Graniteville, S. C., kept by Mrs. N. E. Senn, whose kindness to an unfortunate young man who seemed driven by fate to her home to die will ever be gratefully remembered by his friends. The fune- ral services of Mr. Ten Eyck were held in the Middle Reformed Church, Brooklyn, N. Y., and his remains now rest in Cypress Hill Cemetery, beside those of his parents. Thus ended, at the age of twenty-six, the short, sad life of a young man of great ability and promise, possessed of a frank and generous disposition that made all men his friends, and who was an affec- tionate and beloved brother. To his memory and to the memory of her parents this memoir is appro- priately inscribed in the history of the primal home of their ancient family by its surviving member, Miss Blendenia S. C. Ten Eyck, of Somerville, N. J.

EDWARD A. DARCY, son of Dr. John Darcy (of Hanover, Morris Co.), studied medicine with his father, and practiced with much success at Long Ilill and Basking Ridge. He married Mary, daugh- ter of Dr. Hugh McEowen, and had two daughters,- Ann C. and Catharine McEowen. In 1833 he as- sisted in organizing a company of emigrants to Illi- nois from Somerset and adjacent counties; Jersey- ville, Ill., owes its origin to that movement. The doctor was fond of surgery, and attended to all such cases as came in his way, but was not in general medical practice .*

JOHN V. SCHENCK was born at Six-Mile Run (Franklin Park), Somerset Co., Nov. 17, 1824. He was the son of Ferdinand S. and Leah (Voorhees) Schenck, both natives of New Jersey. Following a common-school education and the usual preparatory study, he entered Rutgers College in 1841, and was graduated in 1844. He at once began to prepare him- self for the medical profession ; entered the office of his father, then a leading practitioner at Six-Mile Run, and studied with him until 1845, when he en- tered the University of Pennsylvania. He was grad- uated in the spring of 1847, and at onee commenced the practice of medicine, in partnership with his father, in his native place. In December, 1848, he

#: Wickes' Hist. of N. J. Med., p. 227.

Peter Fond tycks

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THE MEDICAL PROFESSION OF SOMERSET COUNTY.

removed to Camden, N. J., which has since been his residence. He was elected president of the State Medieal Society in 1876. He married, July 6, 1857, Martha MeKeen, of Philadelphia.

HENRY R. CANNON, born at Six-Mile Run, Som- erset Co., May 20, 1821, son of Rev. Dr. James S. and Catharine (Brevoort) Cannon, graduated from Rutgers in 1840, studied medicine with Dr. Van Deur- sen, of New Brunswick, received the degree of M.D. in 18-13 from the University of New York, and the same year commenced the practice of medicine in his na- tive county, and was actively engaged therein for nine years. In 1852 he removed to Union County, this State, where for over twenty years he officiated as county clerk.

SAMUEL K. MARTIN was for more than thirty years an active and esteemed member of the District Medical Society of Somerset County. He was the son of Judge Absalom Martin, and was born at Mar- tinsville, this county, in 1808, and died at the place of his nativity, July 24, 1868, aged sixty. After a pre- liminary education he entered the office of Robert S. Smith, of Bound Brook. In 1828-30 he attended two full courses of lectures in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the University of New York, and June 16, 1830, received his medieal license. He im- mediately commenced practice at Martinsville, which was interrupted only by his death. He was happily married to Miss Sutton, of New York City, by whom he had two children, who died in early life.

Well educated and possessed of fine literary tastes, his society was courted by the refined, intelligent, and polite. For six years he was a member of the State Legislature,-three in the Lower House, three in the Senate,-where his abilities as a debater and elo- quence as a speaker were recognized. As a physician he was reliable and possessed decided ability and sound judgment, and when tested proved himself an eminently capable adviser. "Solicitous for the wel- fare of his patients, eagerly embracing every op- portunity or means to promote their comfort or safety, compromising his own health often-which was gen- erally feeble-for their good, he deservedly won the confidence and affection of a large circle of friends. Unpretending in manners, simple and plain in ap- pearance, his face bore evidence of kindness of heart and of quiet deep-thinking; and throughout the years of his practice he manifested an unselfishness, a high sense of the dignity and responsibility of, and degree of devotion to, his profession and the good of suffering humanity sellom equaled." In his native place ho caused to be built a chapel, which he liber- ally supported, and where he worshiped.

ALFRED B. DAYTON was born at Basking Ridge, N. J., Dec. 25, 1812, and was a brother of the Hon. William L. Dayton. He enjoyed superior educational advantages, ending with Princeton College ; gradu- ated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, in 1835. He became an eminent practi-

tioner, was a member of the district, State, and na- tional medical societies, and was a polished writer. He died July 19, 1870. He did not practice in Som- erset County, but resided after 1835 at Chester and at Mattawan, N. J. He married Elizabeth R. Van Der- veer, a native of Somerville. His son, R. W. Day- ton, is a lawyer at Mattawan, N. J.

FORREST A. GILLEN, of Bound Brook, was born at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., March 23, 1852. From the high school of his native place he entered the oflice of Dr. Kissam, police surgeon of Brooklyn ; was enrolled as a matriculant in the New York Uni- versity in 1872, graduating in 1875. He then located at Bound Brook and commenced practice, associated for a time with Dr. Fields. Although a young man, he has already acquired reputation as a careful and skillful practitioner.

RICHARD G. LUDLOW, born in 1830, was the third son of the late Rev. Gabriel Ludlow, D. D., of Reading- ton. Dr. Ludlow was for a short time a student at Rut- gers, but left that institution and studied medicine. He was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1863. He practiced medicine at Neshanie for seven- teen years. He was killed Dee. 5, 1879, at Neshanie, Hillsborough township, this county, by a fall from his carriage. His brother, Jacob R., once practiced at Neshanic, but is now at Easton, Pa .*

PETER VREDENBERG commenced the practice of medicine between 1800 and 1804, in Readington, Hun- terdon Co., residing on the lot lying between the roads leading to Centreville and Stanton ; but a year later he removed to Millstone, Somerset Co., thence, in 1807, to Parsippany. In 1810) he removed to Somer- ville, where he had a long and successful practice, and where he died at an advanced age, leaving three sons and several daughters. His oldest son, Peter, was one of the associate justices of the Supreme Court of New Jersey.t Another son, Van Doren, was sheriff of this county, but is now deceased. Still another son, La Rue, is living, and is cashier of the Somerset County Bank.

C. C. HOAGLAND, born near Griggstown, this county, was graduated at Rutgers, studied medicine, and lo- cated at Catskill, N. Y .; in 1836 he removed to Read- ington, Hunterdon Co., occupying the farm and resi- dence formerly of Dr. Jacob Jennings. In 1840 he removed to Harlingen, this county, but soon after went West, to Henry, EHl., where he gave up his pro- fession and engaged in milling. He died there in 1870.1

HENRY F. SALTER practiced in Raritan for some time prior to 1856. "Ile was well educated to his profession, but did not succeed in gaining the affec- tions of the people. His plan of treatment was prin- cipally expectant, rest and time being the principal remedies." He practiced in Hunterdon County be-

· Trans. Med. Soc. N. J., 1580, p. 121.

t Ur. Hane's Med. Ifst.

604

SOMERSET COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

fore coming to Somerset. He was a surgeon in the army during the Rebellion. In 1856 he went West, and was lately residing at Montezuma, Iowa .*

CYRUS ARNDT, son of John and Aun Arndt, was born in 1821, was a pupil of Dr. McLenahan, was graduated in New York, and practiced in Somerset County. He died Oct. 20, 1845.

EBENEZER SHERWOOD moved to Peapack in 1844, where for the nine following years he practiced med- icine; he died and was buried there. He studied with Drs. Smith and Scott of New Brunswick, and was licensed in 1807. (See also a sketch in “Medical Profession of Hunterdon Co.")

ISAAC OGDEN, born in 1764, graduated in 1784, settled at Six-Mile Run, this county, where he en- tered upon his profession, and married a daughter of Peter Stoothof. He was a successful physician and a most estimable and useful citizen. During the later years of his life he gave up his medical practice al- most entirely, residing at New Brunswick, N. J., where he died in 1829. (See a further account in the chapter on the medical profession of Hunterdon County, in another portion of this work.)

WILLIAM P. WOODRUFF resided in the village of Millstone, and practiced medicine for a short time about 1830.+ If this Dr. Woodruff was William Pat- erson Woodruff, he practiced in Hunterdon County from 1830 to 1837, then moved to Ohio, where he died in 1851.±

PETER DITMARS MCKISSACK was the son of Wm. D. McKissack, and was born at Millstone in 1824. He graduated from the Medical Department of the New York University in 1842, and practiced his pro- fession in Millstone and vicinity from that time until his death, March 18, 1872.

HENRY G. WAGONER, of Somerville, is a son of William Wagoner, of Stanton, Hunterdon Co., where he was born Aug. 16, 1829. He read with Dr. John Manners, of Clinton, and was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in the class of 1853. He then went to Stanton, N. J., practicing there until 1859, when he removed to Somerville, where he has since resided. Here his patronage grew rapidly and extended largely, but the strain produced by his large practice was too severe for his physical strength, and in 1869 he associated with himself Dr. J. S. Knox. The partnership existed until 1873, since which time Dr. Wagoner has assumed the entire labor of his large ride. He is a member of the County? and State Med- ical Societies, and ranks among the foremost of his profession in this part of the State. He was married in September, 1854, to Rachel L., daughter of Dr. Philip R. Dakin. She died in 1876, and in August, 1878, he again married, his wife being Achsah Mott, of Chicago.

* Dr. Blane's Med. Ifist.

¡ Rev. Dr. E. T. Corwin.

Į Dr. John Blane.

¿ Hle was a member of the District Medical Society of Ilunterdon County, 1854-59.

CHAUNCEY M. FIELD is the third son of Richard R. Field, of Bound Brook, a prominent and represent- ative citizen, and favorably known in the business circles of the country in connection with the woolen trade. The family annals in this country reach back to 1638, when the original ancestor came from Eng- land with Roger Williams and settled at Newport, R. I. From that place he removed to Flushing, L. I., whence John Field passed into New Jersey at an early day and located on a tract of one thousand and fifty-five acres lying between Bound Brook and New Brunswick, along the Raritan River, in Piscataway township, Middlesex Co. From that time the family has been prominently identified with the growth and development of that section of country. In 1774, Michael Field was one of the delegates to the con- vention at New Brunswick to consult regarding the points of difference between Great Britain and the colonies. Seven of the direct ancestors of Dr. Field performed active service in the Revolutionary war, one being a lieutenant in the First Regiment of Mid- dlesex County, and another losing his life at the bat- tle of Monmouth. Capt. Ten Eyck, his great-grand- father, was connected with the First Battalion of Somerset County during Revolutionary times, and Maj. Miller, his maternal grandfather, served in that second war of the Revolution, the war of 1812.

The representatives of the family have always been plain, solid, substantial people, connected religiously with the Presbyterian Church, and liberal supporters of the various evangelical and philanthropic enter- prises of the day. Michael Field left a legacy to the Bound Brook Presbyterian Church for establishing a free school in that place over eighty years ago. The Massachusetts branch of the family has contributed many able men to the country, and their influence is felt in the counsels of the nation to-day.

Dr. Field was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., March 27, 1850, and was brought to New Jersey when six years of age. Upon attaining sufficient age he attended the academy at Clinton, N. J., and subsequently passed to the excellent institution at Lawrenceville, N. J., taught by Rev. S. M. Hamill, whence he was grad- uated with the first honor of his class in 1867. In the fall of that year he entered the College of New Jer- sey, at Princeton, and graduated in June, 1871, re- ceiving the "Potts Bible prize." He at once com- menced the study of medicine with T. M. Markoe, professor of surgery in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, which institution he entered, and in which he spent four years and a half, serving at the same time as a substitute in the different hos- pitals of New York City, and as a student of Dr. T. Sabine in operative surgery. He located in practice at Bound Brook, N. J., in 1875, where he remains in active and successful practice. As a physician he enjoys a large and lucrative practice, and is called upon to treat a large number of patients from abroad, besides monopolizing the private practice of the vil-

605

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION OF SOMERSET COUNTY.

Jage. For a young man he has already attained a prominent place in his profession as a surgeon, and has performed with success all the important opera- tions in that branch of medical science, notable among which is that upon the ligature of the subclavian artery, one of the rarest and most difficult of surgical operations. He is a regular contributor to the cur- rent medical literature of the day, is a close student of his profession, and while at Bermuda recently was enabled, through the courtesy of the British officers present, to carefully study the system of military hy- giene and camp-life of the English army.

ROBERT S. SMITH was born at Flaggtown, Feb. 19, 1800, and was the son of Rev. William R. Smith, pas- tor of the churches of Neshanic and Harlingen. He studied medicine with Dr. Henry Van Derveer, of Roycefield, and Dr. Hasack, of New York, and re- ceived his medical diploma from the New Jersey State Medical Society, Dec. 13, 1820. He commenced the practice of medicine at Bound Brook in 1820, and there continued a practitioner for over fifty-three years, until his death. He was president of the State Medical Society in 1845. Ile died, after a brief illness of four days and a half, Aug. 20, 1874. "No man was ever more devoted to his profession or to the in- terests of his patients than he."

HENRY F. VAN DERVEER is a native of Hyde Park, Dutchess Co., N. Y., where he was born in 1828. He is the son of Rev. Ferdinand H. Van Der- veer, D.D., who from 1842 to 1876 was pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church of Warwick, N. Y., and whose ministerial labors extended through the long period of fifty-three years. Dr. Van Derveer studied medicine with Dr. Henry H. Van Derveer, of Somier- ville, and began the practice of medicine at Royce- field, in this county, about 1850. He subsequently located at Somerville, where he still resides and fol- lows his profession. During the late Rebellion he was assistant surgeon of the Fifth New Jersey Regi- ment Infantry Volunteers from Feb. 6, 1862, and regi- mental surgeon from May 6, 1862, in the same com- mand, serving until Sept. 7, 1864. His wife was a Miss Mary Squier, daughter of Job Squier, a merchant of Somerville. The doctor is an able and successful physician, and ranks high in the profession. Ile is a member of the District Medical Society of Somerset County, and has for years (ever since the death of his unele, Dr. Henry II.) been its recording secretary ; he has also served as its president, and is a member of and a frequent delegate to the State Medical So- ciety.

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History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 147

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