History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 54

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 54
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 54

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BENNET VAN SYCKEL, associate justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, was born in Hunter- lon County (Bethlehem township), April 17, 1830. Immediately after his graduation from Princeton, in 1846, he entered the law-office of Ilon. Alexander Wurts, Flemington, with whom he remained until admitted to the bar, in 1851. Ile at once commeneed his legal practice in Flemington, and soon won a high reputation at the bar. He possesses forensic abilities of the first order. In 1869 he was appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court of the State, and reap- pointed in 1876. Incumbent of the position, he ex- emplified " in the discharge of his judicial duties, as formerly in his practice, that profound learning and spotless integrity which have made the judiciary of New Jersey known and honored throughout the land." In 1853 he married Elizabeth, a daughter of W. IF. Sloan, of Flemington, by whom he had three sons and two daughters.t

ABRAM V. VAN FLEET, vice-chancellor of the State of New Jersey, was born in Hillsborongh, Somerset Co., N. J., Jan. 6, 1831. He was admitted to practice as an attorney at the November term of 1852, and as a counselor in 1858. He opened his first law-office in Flemington, where he soon acquired a large and lucrative business. IIe has devoted him- self actively to his chosen profession. He received the appointment in 1875 of vice-chancellor of the State of New Jersey from Chancellor Runyan, and was duly commissioned by Governor Bedle. His term of office will expire in May, 1882. He is a bril- liant lawyer, and in the administration of the vice- chancellorship "he has confirmed his previous repu- tation of being one of the finest Chancery lawyers in

t One of his sisters married (1)43) Johu T. Leigh, a banker, of Clinton, N. J .; she died in 1860.

* Biographical Encyclopedia of New Jersey, p. 75.

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HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

the State." The opinions, as delivered by him, will be found in the New Jersey Chancery Reports, com- mencing with 11th C. E. Green.

EARLY LAWYERS.

The name of Jeremiah Bass appears in the Hunter- don County court records as an attorney, June 6, 1721, and the last time it is seen iu that connection is March 10, 1725. He was appointed attorney-gen- eral March 28, 1719. Others were admitted to prac- tice from the dates given below :

Daniel Grandin, June 6, 1721, practiced until about 1739; William Biles, Dec. 5, 1721; Edward Rodol- phus Price,* March 5, 1722; David McBride, Jan. 29, 1823 (his name last appears March 14, 1726) ; P. Evans and James Alexander, Aug. 7, 1724 (the latter appointed attorney-general June 6, 1723) ; Finnick Lyell, March 10, 1825; J. Kinsey, July 26, 1725 (last appears August term, 1728) ; James Gould, Oct. 18, 1725; Robert Lawrence, March 14, 1726; Philip Kearney, Oct. 16, 1726; Lawrence Smith, July 25, 1726 (appointed attorney-general in 1728) ; C. Mott, July, 1727; Benjamin Price and Thomas Shird, Oct. 15, 1727 ; Henry Vernon, James Trent, and - Par- ker, August, 1728; Francis Costigan, E. Pierce, and William Smith, May term, 1729; Jeremiah Forster, August term, 1730; - Brown and J. Hooper, May, 1731; Francis Bowes, August, 1731 ; Samuel Burtill and - Jamieson, August, 1731; M. Evers and David Ogden, 1732; Joseph Warrell, May, 1733 (ap- pointed attorney-general Aug. 28, 1733) ; John Vau- ghan "produced a lycence to the court wherein His Excellency Wm. Cosby, Esq., appointed him to prac- tice as an attorney-at-law in all the courts of record within the province of New Jersey : Ordered by the Court to be read and published," Aug. 6, 1735; R. Nicholls, Aug. 7, 1735; [John] Dagworthy, October term, 1735; John Coxe, May term, 1736; Jacob An- derson, October term, 1736 ; John Clark, Lyne, White, Burnham, Hartshorn, and B. Lagrange, 1745; Abra- ham Cotman, 1747; Robert Ashfield, 1748; Wm. Pidgeon, - Scattergood, C. Skinner, 1750 (latter appointed attorney-general July 10, 1754) ; R. Wil- liams, 1753; Joseph Read ; Richard Stockton, May terni, 1755; John Smyth, Aaron Dowd, 1757; W. Thompson, 1758; Elias Boudinot, 1761; G. Ross, Jasper Smith, J. Anderson, Bard, Deare, 1763; J. Debow, J. Aller, John Leferty, B. Leferty, David Brearley, J. D. Sergeant, B. Reed, 1767; William De Hart, 1768; Abram Ogden, William Paterson,t 1769; J. Taylor, Chambers, Hassert, Dongan, Pettit, Linn, and Ebenezer Cowell, 1771 ; J. B. Scott, 1775; Bloom- field, 1779; William Wilcox and William C. Hous- ton,# 1780.

The appendix to the " Rules of the Supreme Court,"

1868, gives the date of admission of W. C. Houston as " April term, 1781," and records " Richard Stock- ton, April term, 1784,"-evidently the "junior" of the Richard Stockton admitted in 1755, as above given, who was an associate justice in 1774, and was appointed chief justice in 1776, but declined the honor.

From this point onward special mention will be made of the more prominent of the members of the Hunterdon County bar.

LATER LAWYERS.

GEORGE C. MAXWELL, son of John Maxwell, at the close of the last and beginning of the present century was practicing law in the Hunterdon courts and resident in Flemington. He was admitted as an attorney in 1797, as a counselor in 1800, and as a ser- geant-at-law in 1816. He was a member of the Pres- byterian Church of Flemington, of which he was a deacou in 1806 and 1809. He was considered in his day as one of the ablest lawyers of the county. He died in Flemington.

WILLIAM MAXWELL practiced law in Flemington from 1808, the date of his admission to the bar, until his death. He became a counselor in 1817. He was not only a prominent lawyer, but an influential citi- zen and an active member of the Presbyterian Church of Flemington, holding the office of deacon in that body from 1817-19. He died about 1828, and was buried in the Presbyterian church-yard. Upon his tombstone (which contains no record of his birth or death) is the following mortuary legend :

" In memory of WILLIAM MAXWELL, Esq., Councillor-at-Law. Acqualege, necessitas, Sortitur insignes et imos."

He married a daughter of Henry Dusenberry, of New Hampton.

JOSEPH BONNELL was born in 1793, and died in 1823. He was a son of Alexander and Catharine Bonnell, whose ashes, as well as his own, repose in the Presbyterian burial-ground, the three graves being side by side. His father died in 1819, while his mother lived to the advanced age of eighty-four, dying in 1854. Joseph was admitted to the bar iu 1817, became a counselor in 1820, and practiced law in Flemington until his decease. His sister Mary be- came the wife of Alexander Wurts, Esq.

LUCIUS HORATIO STOCKTON-known to his as- sociates as Horace Stockton-was a younger brother of Richard, and in early life was thought to be quite equal if not superior to him in talent. He graduated at Princeton in 1787, was licensed in 1791, and died in 1835. He resided in Trenton. He early mani- . fested cecentricity, which so increased in later years as in a great measure to destroy his usefulness. He was a warm politician, under the elder Adams held the office of United States attorney for this district, and later was nominated as Secretary of War, but was not confirmed.

* Admitted to " practice in all the courts in this province" June 4, 1723. + Appointed attorney-general Sept. 4, 1776; afterward became Gov- ernor.

# Appointed clerk of the Supreme Court Sept. 28, 178I.

207

THE BENCH AND BAR OF HUNTERDON COUNTY.

THOMAS POTTS JOHNSON was the second son of Joseph Bonnell, then recently deceased. For some fifteen years Mr. Miller resided and practiced in Flemington, but about the year 1839 he removed to the city of Philadelphia. Residing at several differ- ent places during the intervening years, he a few years since returned to his native place, Somerville, where he is now residing, at the age of eighty-one years, retired from practice. William Johnson, an early settler of Hunterdon County, who came from Ireland, and all of whose de- scendants have been noted for their learning. Ilis mother was Ruth, a sister of Stacy Potts, of Trenton. In his youth he was apprentieed to the carpenter trade, but was forced to relinquish it on account of rupturing a blood-vessel. He also taught school in this county in his early manhood. He married a NATHANIEL SAXTON was a native of Hopewell township, then in Hunterdon County. He removed to Flemington, as a young man, about the beginning of the present century. He appears to have been an indefatigable student and worker, for he not only served for years as a deputy in the county elerk's office of Hunterdon, but at the same time studied and practiced surveying, and as a student entered upon the legal profession. Blackstone and Chitty seem, however, to have been most to his taste. He was ad- mitted to the bar as an attorney at the May term of 1804, and became a counselor in September, 1808. daughter of Robert Stockton, Esq., and studied law with the Hon. Richard Stockton. In 1794 he was admitted to the bar. Mr. Johnson was a bold, out- spoken, and fearless advocate, and one of the most learned and eloquent men that ever adorned the New Jersey bar. He was alike distinguished for his won- derful memory, his rare intellectual attainments, and his piety. After a brilliant career at the bar he re- tired on account of failing health, and spent the last years of his life in the family of his son-in-law, Dr. Richard Corson, of New Hope, Pa., at which place he ended his days on earth. His portrait may be "In 1828 he was elevated to the rank of a sergeant-at- seen in the court-room at Flemington .*

SAMUEL R. STEWART was a son of Gen. Charles Stewart, who after the Revolution moved to Fleming- ton, where he died June 24, 1800. Hle was a gradu- 1 ate of Prineeton College in 1786; was admitted to practice at the bar in 1790; became a counselor in 1794. Ife died in 1802.

CHARLES STEWART, son of the above, and grand- son of Gen. Charles, was born in Flemington, in a house his father occupied, near the present residence of John C. Hopewell. He was a classmate at Prince- ton of Alexander Wurts, Esq .; graduated in 1815; studied law, afterwards theology ; went as a mission- ary to the Sandwich Islands, and in 1828 was ap- pointed chaplain in the United States navy. Hle died at Cooperstown, N. Y., in 1870, aged seventy- fivo years. One of his sons, a graduate of West Point, served through the war of the Rebellion, and later was in command of the United States Engineers' Corps at San Francisco.

PETER D. VROOM, subsequently Governor (born 1791, died 1874), had a law-office in Flemington, and practiced his profession there for several years prior to 1820, when he removed to Somerville.

ANDREW MILLER, one of the early lawyers of Flemington, was a native of Somerset County, born in 1799, and admitted to the bar in 1822. After prac- ticing a couple of years ut Somerville he removed to the county-seat of Hunterdon, taking the place of

law. He was for one term (1834) a member of the State Senate. Ile ranked as one of the ablest lawyers of his time, and in the Chancery line, as well as in real-estate matters, was without a peer in the State.t Although not brilliant as an advocate, he was noted as a sound, reasoning counselor. He was far more successful in the legal arena than he was in his own private affairs ; continually buying and accumulating property, he seldom sold. Ile was in his later years much embarrassed thereby, and died (in 1847) com- paratively poor, aged about eighty years. He was buried in the Presbyterian churchyard, in Fleming- ton. Ile is recollected by Charles Bartles (who studied law with him) and others as a most eccentric man. He never married, and none of his father's family are known to be living at this time. lle re- sided on Main Street, where Dr. Parrish now lives.

WILLIAM H. SLOAN, a distinguished member of the New Jersey bar, and for many years a resident of the county-seat of Hunterdon, was born in Warren Co., N. J., April 25, 1799. He was the oldest child of the Rev. William B. Sloan (and Mary Perrine, his wife), pastor for many years of the Presbyterian Church, Greenwich, N. J. None of his children are living ; a granddaughter, Mrs. Mary, wife of Henry Field, resides in Philadelphia. William HI. Sloan's grandmother was Elizabeth Kirkpatrick, a sister of the celebrated Judge Kirkpatrick, of whom a sketch may be found elsewhere in this work. William H. received his early education at the Somerville acad- emy, and later was graduated from Princeton College. He then commenced the study of the law, entering

* The following anecdote concerning Mr. Johnson Is preserved : At one of the neighboring courts a dispute aroso between Jolinton aund hals opponent respecting a point of law, during which the latter remarked, In n taunting manner, " that he was not to be inught law by a carpenter ?" " May it please Your Honors," replied Mr. Johnson, " the gentleman has boen pleased to alludo to my having been a carpenter,-I am proud of it : so was the reputed father of our Lonl and Saviour Jesus Christ, -and I could yet, give mo n block of wood, a mallet, and n chisel, hew out something that would very much resemble that gentleman's hend. True, I could not put in brains, but it would have more manners !"

t 1.uclus Q. C. Elmer's " Heminisconces of the Bench and Bar of New Jersey," speaks of " Nathaniel Saxton, the Chancery repurter, generally called Natty," as one of the leaders In the fun at the little social gather- Ings at the " Rising Sun Tavern," In Trenton, where the American Hotel now stands, where "songs were sung, old storica revived, and flashes of wit sparked, each one deeming it a duty to contribute as well as be could to the general amusement" (p. 1x1).

208

HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

the office of the late Peter I. Clark, of Flemington. He was admitted to the bar at the February term, 1821, and became a counselor in 1824. He com- menced the practice of his profession in Flemington, and occupied for some time "the office of the late William Maxwell, Esq."

He took an active part in politics, and was a warm advocate and earnest supporter of the Democratic party. He held many local positions of trust, also served as surrogate of the county for five years (1835- 40), and represented his district in the General As- sembly of the State in 1833-34. "His acquaintance was extensive, and he was respected by all who knew him for his gentlemanly bearing, frankness of man- ner, and nobleness of character. As a lawyer he was sound, discriminating, and judicions, courteous and respectful to the court, obliging and kind to his brethren of the bar, faithful and true to his clients, honorable towards all."

He married, in August, 1835, Caroline Imlay, daughter of Robert Imlay, a merchant of Philadel- phia ; she is still (1880) living. The children-six in number, three sons and three daughters-are as fol- lows : Robert I., William H., Charles W., Mary Eliz- abeth (wife of Bennett Van Syckel, a judge of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, and now residing at Trenton), Annie B. (wife of Charles Brearley, of Trenton), and Margaretta.

None of the brothers or sisters of W. H. Sloan are living. Their names were John B., La Rue, Eliza- beth, and Mary. The first named was a physician at Easton, Pa .; Elizabeth married H. Conover, son of the late Dr. Conover, of Philadelphia.

Mr. Sloan died of typhus fever at his residence, in Flemington, Jan. 21, 1850, aged fifty. His remains repose in the Presbyterian cemetery, where a monu- ment is erected to his memory. His memory, how- ever, will not soon fade from the recollections of our people, being enshrined in the hearts of very many. At a meeting of the court and bar at the court-house in Flemington, Feb. 12, 1850, of which Judge Ran- dolph was chairman, after the announcement to the conrt of his death, on motion of Mr. Hamilton, a committee, consisting of A. Wurts, Judge Thompson, and A. G. Richey, Esqs., was appointed to draft reso- lutions expressive of the loss sustained by the conrt, the bar, and the community in his death. At an ad- jonrned meeting held February 14th at the same place the committee reported resolutions-which were adopted-bearing public testimony to the worth and virtues of the deceased, and of respect to his memory.

ALEXANDER WURTS, the youngest of eight sons of Jolın Wurts, an extensive iron-manufacturer of Mor- ris Co., N. J., was born in Flanders, N. J., in the year 1799. A member of the class of 1815 of Prince- ton College, he began the study of law in Philadel- phia, Pa. In the winter of 1819-20 he located in Flemington, and was licensed as an attorney in May, 1820. In 1823 he was admitted as a counselor-at-

law. In 1824 he was elected a member of the Assem- bly, which honorable station he again filled in the years 1828-32, and during the last three years was Speaker of the House. He served in the Legislative Council in 1833. In 1838 he was the Democratic candidate for Congress, but, with the entire ticket, was defeated. He was in 1844 the member from Hunterdon County of the convention to revise the State constitution, of which body he was chosen vice- president, and, before its close, its president. In the fall of 1844 he was elected the first State senator from Hunterdon County, and served in that body for two years. Soon after (in 1848), he was appointed by the Legislature one of the three commissioners to investigate the charges preferred against the Camden and Amboy Railroad and the Delaware and Raritan Canal Companies. This laborious duty occupied nearly a year, but resulted in fully exonerating the companies and in allaying the excitement then ex- isting in the public mind against them.

Governor Fort, in 1853, nominated Mr. Wurts as chief justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey, which nomination was promptly con- firmed by the State Senate; but he respectfully de- clined the proffered honor. He was induced, how- ever, in 1865, to become the candidate of the Demo- cratic party for the State Senate, upon the assurance that the party to which he was attached could thereby be harmonized. He was elected and served for three years. He has been for over twenty years one of the managers of the State Lunatic Asylum, and since 1859 president of the board. Although now, in a great measure, retired from public and professional life, he is often consulted on important legal questions. His unflinching integrity and thorough legal acquirements give weight to his opinions. There is no man now living in the State who has been in public life so long as he, and yet retains the confidence of all parties in so great a degree. He was often importuned to be- come a candidate for Governor, but never would take any steps himself to secure the nomination. He mar- ried, May 26, 1831, Mary, daughter of Alexander and Catharine Bonnell, of Flemington .*

GARRET D. WALL, for many years a resident of Hunterdon and a legal practitioner in its courts, was born in Monmouth Co., N. J., in 1783. He was the son of James Wall, an officer of the Continental army, who at the battle of Monmouth captured an English officer. On his father's death, Garret, then nine years old, went to reside with his uncle, Dr. John G. Wall, of Woodbridge. In 1798 he removed to Trenton and became a student in the law-office of Gen. Jonathan Rhea, then clerk of the Supreme Court of the State. On attaining his majority (in 1804) he was licensed as an attorney ; in 1807 he was advanced to the grade of counselor, and in 1820 to

* Since the compilation of this chapter Judge Wurts has deceased. Ho died Fch. 16, 1881.

THIE BENCH AND BAR OF HUNTERDON COUNTY.

that of sergeant-at-law. He was clerk of the Su- preme Court for five years (1812-17); member for Hunterdon County of the lower branch of the State Legislature,-in 1822 as a Federalist and in 1827 as a Jackson Democrat ; in 1829 was elected by the Legis- lature to the high position of Governor, which, how- ever, he declined; was appointed in 1829 United States district attorney for New Jersey, and for sev- eral years ably discharged the duties of that office. In 1834 he was elected to the United States Senate, serving until the close of Van Buren's administration, -1840. He was pronounced in his opposition to the United States Bank, and one of the most effective speeches he ever delivered was adverse to its continu- ance. After 1828, Burlington was his place of abode ; he returned to that place from Washington in 1840, and resumed his professional duties. In 1848 he was made a member of the Court of Errors and Appeals, and held the position until his death, in November, 1850.

He was twice married, his first wife being a daugh- ter of his preceptor, Gen. Jonathan Rhea ; his second marriage occurred in 1828.

" He was a counselor of the highest ability and learning, while, as a pleader, he entered into the case as if he were the client, not the attorney ; and some of his arguments before the jury or court were of the highest eloquence." " His distinguishing character- istics as an advocate were his quick sensibility, an in- tuitive insight into character and motives, and that ready tact which enabled him readily to recover from his own mistakes and promptly to take advantage of those of his adversary."

He was greatly interested in the canse of education, and was a trustee of Burlington College. He was eminently hospitable and remarkably proud of his native State, particularly of its Revolutionary record. He inherited quite a martial taste, and was early con- nected with a volunteer company. During the war of 1812, as captain of the " Phoenix Infantry Company," he was detailed, with other troops, to aid in the pro- tection of the city of New York.

RICHARD HOWELL, the lawyer, soldier, and Gov- ernor, resided in Trenton from 1788 until his death, at the early age of forty-nine, May 5, 1803. His mili- tary career and honors were brilliant, but will be found noticed elsewhere. He was admitted to prac- tice as an attorney in 1779; appointed clerk of the Supreme Court Sept. 4, 1788; was Governor from 1792 until 1801, and then resumed his legal practice at Trenton. He was a member of the bar in the courts of Hunterdon County for over fifteen years. None of his opinions as a chancellor have been published. Hle was a man of free-and-easy address, very popular, although somewhat affected by his army habits .*

JAMES N. READING was born at the homestead of his maternal grandfather, Dr. John F. Grandin, at

Hamden, where his son, John Grandin, now resides. He was named after his grandmother Grandin's father, Dr. James Newell, whose wife was a Law- renee and sister of the father of Commodore Law- rence. James N. Reading is the son and oldest child of Joseph, who was the youngest child and only son of John (3), he being the oldest son of John (2), who was the oldest son of Governor John Reading. IIe commenced his academic course at Flemington, nnder Charles Bartles, Esq., who then had charge of the academy. Ile was prepared for college at the Prince- ton Academy, then entered Nassau Hall in 1827, and was graduated in 1829, taking the fifth honor in a class of twenty-six ; studied law with Samuel L. Southard in Trenton, and was admitted to the bar in 1832; became a counselor-at-law in 1836. He mar- ried (Feb. 10, 1835) Sarah C. A. Southard, a niece of the Governor. From 1832 to 1850 he practiced law in Flemington, fifteen of which years he was prose- cuting attorney for Hunterdon County. During his residence in Hunterdon County he took considerable interest and quite an active part in its military affairs. His first appointment was to the office of brigade in- spector ; resigning that after two years' service, he was appointed colonel of the Third Regiment of the Hun- terdon brigade, which, with the office of State's attor- ney, he held until he moved to the West.

In 1850 he removed to Jefferson Co., Mo., and for two years was president of a lead-mining company. He then returned to New Jersey, settled up his pri- vate business, and in the fall of 1853 moved to Morris, Grundy Co., Ill., which has since been his place of residence, with exception of the years 1859-61, when he resided in Chicago and practiced law in copart- nership with Mr. (afterward Judge) Wallace. He was elected a member of the State Legislature of Illi- nois in the fall of 1856, and filled the position until the fall of 1858, when he officiated as clerk of the Cir- cuit Court, filling a vacancy. In June, 1861, his partner having joined the Union army as a major of the cavalry branch of the service, Mr. Reading closed his law-office in Chicago and returned to Morris. During the war he was deputy United States marshal for Grundy County, and also United States commis- sioner, at the same time continuing his legal busi- ness. In 1865 he was elected county judge, which position he held for three successive terms, -twelve years,-and then declined a re-election. He is an in- defatigable worker, having, in addition to his legal practice and official duties, been largely engaged in the real-estate business ever since his removal to Illi- nois. He is an able lawyer and jurist.

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History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 54

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