History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 74

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 74
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 74

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On the other side of the monument the names of non-commissioned officers and privates :

Adam Mann, John Mann, Charles Mann, Alexander H. Naylor, John O'Daniell, Jr., Anderson Pidcock, Patrick Pursel, George W. Phillips, Patrick Rogan, Michael Reagin, Hiram Rooks, Augustus Risler, Joseph B. Snook, Richard Sibbett, Jr., George W. Taylor, Hugh S. Taylor, Palmer Thorn, Israel Tranger, William H. Tracy, Elias Van Camp, William B. Phillips, William B. Cook.

FROM DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.

William H. Keth, George F. Williams, Evin J. Green, Richard G. Everitt, Edward Naylor.

On another side of the monument the following names of non-commissioned officers and privates :

Samuel Ashbrook, Albert Black, Abram Black, Charles Brandt, George P. Brewer, James Bell, Isaac Cathrall, William Chidester, Joho Craig, Patrick Dever, John Ely, William Fisher, Lorenzo D. Gibson, James Gibson, Jacob W. Garis, John Gutchol, Wilson Ilora, Elias Kramer, John Maban, Gottlieb Mueller.

MOUNT HOPE CEMETERY.

A meeting of the citizens of Lambertville for the purpose of considering the question of forming a cemetery association was held July 25, 1847. An or- ganization was effected, and on Feb. 17, 1848, an act of incorporation was obtained, under the title of "The Mount Hope Cemetery Association of Lambertville." The corporators were Ancel St. John, Louis S. Paxson, John H. Wakefield, Jacob S. Gary, John H. Anderson, and Amasa Ely.

At a meeting held May 29, 1849, of which John H. Wakefield was chairman and Thomas Chattle secre- tary, the following were elected a board of managers : John H. Anderson, Thomas Chattle, John H, Wake- field, Samuel Lilly, M.D., and Ashbel Welch. Samuel Lilly, M.D., was made president, Thomas Chattle secretary, and John H. Wakefield treasurer.

The first interment in the cemetery was in Decem- ber, 1849.

THE HOLCOMBE RIVERVIEW CEMETERY.

This was incorporated in September, 1878. The first meeting for the purpose of effecting an organization

" Taken almost verbatim from the Third Annual Report, Oct. 10, 1864, of the Ladice' Soldiers' Aid Society.

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was held Aug. 28, 1878. The following persons were chosen managers, viz., William Dean, Stacy B. Bray, Jacob S. S. Dean, John C. Holcombe, John V. C. Barber, George W. Day, and Jonas Mertz.

The first interment made was in September, 1878. The number of lots sold to January, 1881, was three hundred and twenty-five.

INCORPORATION OF THE VILLAGE.

The village of Lambertville was incorporated as a borough March 1, 1849. The first mayor was Sam- url Lilly, M.D.

Supplements were made to the charter Feb. 19, 1851, Feb. 26, 1855, March 29, 1858, and March 15, 1859.

"An act to revise and amend the charter of the Town of Lambertville" was passed by the Legislature, and approved by the Governor April 13, 1868. In the following year, March 31st, a supplement to the revised charter was approved, and on March 26, 1872, the borough of Lambertville became a city, a legisla- tive enactment to that effeet having been approved by the Governor on that day. Joseph HI. Boozer was mayor when the city charter was obtained, Richard Me Dowell being the first elected under that charter. The city was divided into three wards by this new aet of incorporation.

The population of Lambertville, according to the census of 1880, was 4183.

The ratio of the growth of Lambertville during the decade ending with 1880 was much less than that of the two decades immediately preceding. This was owing partly to the effect of the lease of the Belvi- dere Delaware Railroad to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, which occasioned the removal of all the work in the construction of locomotives and passenger- and Freight-ears, and partly to the financial depres- sion. There are, however, brighter prospects now ; and should the Delaware be utilized for mannfactur- ing purposes, as it certainly will be in time, there is no reason why the valley of the Delaware should not be as thriving in manufacturing enterprises as the valley of the Connecticut. When that desideratum shall be attained, considering its already-assured po- sition, Lambertville must share largely in the general prosperity.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

ASHBEL WELCH.

Ashbel Welch was born in Madison Co., N. Y., Dec. 4, 1809. His father was originally a farmer, living near Windham, Conn., on land occupied by his ancestors of the same name since about 1680. He is the seventh in descent from each of the following original settlers of New England : Governor William Bradford, of Plymouth, and Alice Carpenter, his

second wife; Thomas Richards, of Weymouth, and Welthean his wife ; Rev. Peter Hobart, first minister of Hingham, Mass. ; William Manning, of Cambridge; and Isaac Stearns, of Watertown.

When Mr. Welch was about six or seven years of age, the family removed from Madison County to the neighborhood of Utica, where, some years later, he at- tended the school of Abraham Kasson. One of his schoolmates there was Horatio Seymour, and one of the younger scholars was Ward Hunt. He afterwards studied mathematics and natural philosophy at the Albany Academy, under Professor Henry, late of the Smithsonian Institution. In his eighteenth year he left school (though he never discontinued his studies) and commeneed his professional carver,-that of a civil engineer,-under his brother, Sylvester Welch, on the Lehigh Canal. Among his associates in that hard-working corps were W. Milnor Roberts, Solo- mon W. Roberts, and Edward Miller, all of whom afterwards became eminent civil engineers. In 1830 he entered the service of the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company, under Canvass White, one of the ablest and most original of American engineers. Since then he has been a citizen of New Jersey, and since 1832 a resident of Lambertville.

In 1836, Mr. Welch took charge of the works of the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company, and retained that charge for many years, in the mean time con- structing several other works, among which was the Belvidere Delaware Railroad, commenced in 1850 and finished in 1854. On the 20th of December, 1852, the stockholders of the canal company suddenly de- termined to double the capacity of their locks and canal. Mr. Welch organized his staff, drew his plans and specifications, procured his materials, employed and officered a force of four thousand men, and fin- ished the work in three months, and all within his estimate. One of the items of work was twenty thousand cubic yards of cement masonry, laid in the dead of winter and kept from freezing by housing and artificial heat.

From 1862 to 1867, as vice-president of the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company, he was the executive officer of the "Joint Companies," whose works ex- tended across New Jersey. At the beginning of 1867, he, with Hon. Hamilton Fish and others, effected the consolidation of the New Jersey Railroad Com- pany with the "Joint Companies," thus bringing the whole system of railroads and canals between Now York and Philadelphia into one interest and under one management. He was appointed general presi- dent of the Associated Companies, Hon. Hamilton Fish being vice-president, and Hon. Joseph P. Brad- ley secretary. This position he held until Dec. 1. 1871, when the Pennsylvania Railroad Company took possession of the works under their lease. His policy was to improve the works connecting the two great cities of the Union in such a manner as to remove all ground of complaint and all fear of competition.

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Those associated companies are now merged into " The United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Com- pany." He is still president of the Belvidere Dela- ware and some smaller railroad companies, all oper- ated by lessees.

One special object Mr. Welch had in view in try- ing to effect the consolidation of the "Joint Com- panies" and the New Jersey Railroad and Transpor- tation Company was to reach, over the New Jersey Railroad, a good terminus for the whole system on the harbor of New York. Having secured the assent of his associates in this direction, he purchased seventy acres at Harrison's Cove, on the west bank of the Hudson, opposite the business heart of the city of New York, and elaborated a plan by which the greatest amount possible of water-front should be ob- tained on it by means of short ship-canals running partly through it. The object was to bring railroads, ships, store-houses, ferries, and carts all together, so as to reduce the cost of moving and handling to the least possible amount. A recapitulation of his views is contained in his printed report to the board of directors of June 18, 1868. To get control of this terminus was one of the principal objects of the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company in leasing the works of the United Companies.

Mr. Welch conducted the negotiation for the lease with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and suc- ceeded in securing provisions, believed to be new in such leases, making the stock of the United Com- panies very much more valuable than it otherwise would have been. One item was that each stock- holder should receive his ten per cent., notwithstand- ing any new agreement the directors might make or that the majority of the stockholders might agree to.

Believing from the first that the act under which the lease was effected was insufficient (which was afterwards so decided by the court of last resort), Mr. Welch drew up, and the Legislature passed, an act validating the lease as it was.

Mr. Welch is not merely an administrator, but es- pecially an originator. In 1863 he originated and put in operation a system of safety signals on the line between New Brunswick and Philadelphia,-extended in 1867 from New Brunswick to Jersey City, and in 1872 over the Pennsylvania Railroad from Philadel- phia to Pittsburgh,-which has entirely prevented the most dangerous class of accidents, previously so fre- quent and so fatal. It is sometimes confounded with the English "block system," from which, however, it differs essentially, and from which Mr. Welch re- ceived no hint, not knowing of its existence at the time he invented his system, which he called "the American safety system." The system was described in a report made by him to the National Railroad Convention held in New York in 1866. In 1866 he adopted a plan of a steel rail more economical and forming better connections than those previously in nse, the principles of which are stated at length in

his " Report on Rails" made to the American Society of Civil Engineers at its annual convention in 1874. These principles have since been extensively recog- nized and adopted.

Mr. Welch's efforts have not been confined excln- sively to his profession. From 1840 to 1845 he was associated with Capt. Robert F. Stockton in the oper- ations which resulted in building the war-steamer " Princeton," the first propeller-ship ever constructed in America, and in the introduction of cannon of extraordinary size, since followed by Rodman and others.

In 1843 the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, conferred upon him the honorary degree of A.M. He has been a member of the Presbyterian Church since 1832, and an elder since 1844, and has several times been a member of the General Assembly of that church. He was an occasional contributor to the Princeton Review while it was an organ of the Pres- byterian Church in America, his chief articles being "The Anointment of Jesus by Mary of Bethany," "The Perpetuity of the Sabbath," and "God's Sev- enth Day of Rest." In the article on "The Perpe- tuity of the Sabbath" he takes the position-probably never suggested before-that many Hebrew local laws were declaratory of the moral law, just as many English statute laws are declaratory of the common law. For more than a quarter of a century he was superintendent of the Sabbath-school, and he now conducts the Congregational Bible-class in the Rev. Dr. Studdiford's church. For many years he has been a most diligent student of the sacred Scriptures. Thoroughly orthodox in his belief, he is also inde- pendent and original in his Bible investigations, taking nothing at second hand, but seeking to find for himself the meaning of the inspired text. Few laymen have given as much attention as he to the study of the Bible, and not many of the clergy are better versed in the principles of its interpretation.

In politics Mr. Welch is not tied to either party organization, but has decided opinions, one of which has long been in favor of civil service reform, which he considers essential to the salvation of the republic. He was married in 1834 to Mary H. Seabrook, who died in 1874, leaving five children, the eldest of whom is the widow of Mr. William Cowin, of Lambertville, and the youngest daughter was the wife of Rev. R. Randall Hoes, of Mount Holly, and now of New Ro- chelle, N. Y. She died April 7, 1879. His eldest son, Ashbel Welch, Jr., operates the Lambertville Iron-Works.

Mr. Welch is loved and honored by a large circle of friends, among whom, as well as in the world at large, his influence has ever been potent for good. Cautious and conservative, yet kind and conciliatory, he eminently "follows after the things which make for peace." Earnest and independent in his search for truth, wise in counsel, public-spirited as a citizen, liberal as a benefactor, firm and conscientious in the

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maintenance of right, true and faithful in all the re- lations of life, he combines in himself qualities which make him one of the most valuable members of society.

DR. P. O. STUDDIFORD.

Peter Ogilvie Studdiford, D.D., was born in Bridge- water township, Somerset Co., N. J., near the present village of Branchville, on the South Branch of the Raritan, on the 11th of January, 1799. His father, the Rev. Peter Studdiford, was for forty years the venerated and beloved pastor of the Reformed Prot- estant Dutch Church of Readington, N. J. His mother, whose maiden name was Phoebe Vanderveer, was a daughter of James Vanderveer, an extensive landhøkter of Bedminster, Somerset Co.

Dr. Studdiford carly manifested an unquenchable thirst for learning. When only nine years old he was placed under the care of the celebrated teacher the Rev. Robert Finley, D.D., at the Classical Acad- «my in Basking Ridge. There he studied with great assiduity and laid the foundation of his fine classical attainments. He subsequently went to the academy at Somerville, then under the care of Cullen Morris, Esq.

" Having completed his preparation, he entered Queen's (now Rutgers) College, at New Brunswick, and in the summer of 1816 graduated at that institu- tion with the highest honors of his class.

"After leaving college he was occupied for about three years in teaching-first in Bedminster, and afterwards in Somerville-with great acceptance, al- though many of his pupils in both places were older than himself.

" On the 8th of July, 1819, he entered the theolog- ical seminary of the Presbyterian Church at Prince- ton, where he remained prosecuting his studies for the ministry until the 29th of September, 1821. On the 27th day of April in the same year, at a meeting of tho Presbytery of New Brunswick, in Trenton, he was licensed to preach the gospel, together with nine of his fellow-students."

He preached during the spring vacation in the em- ploy of the General Assembly's Board of Missions at Bristol and Tullytown, in Pennsylvania.

On Wednesday, the 28th of November, 1821, in the Presbyterian church at Trenton, he was ordained as an evangelist by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, at the same time with the Rev. Charles Hodge, D.D., and the Rev. William J. Armstrong, D.D., and on the following Sabbath, the 2d day of December, 1821, he commenced his labors at Lambertville, having agreed to preach at that place and at the church in Solebury, Pa., alternately for n year.

In the month of September, 1822, on the applica- tion of seven persons, the "Church of Georgetown and Lambertville" was organized.

and that of Solebury until the month of June, 1825, when he was formally installed pastor of these churches. Early in 1848 his pastoral relation with the Solebury Church was dissolved, and from that time until his death he remained pastor exclusively of the church in Lambertville.

HIe married Eleanor W. Simpson, daughter of Judge John N. Simpson, of New Brunswick, N. J.

Eight children were the fruit of this marriage,- seven sons and one daughter. The daughter and two sons died in early childhood.

Flis sixth son, Josiah Simpson Studdiford, after graduating with honor from the College of New Jersey and almost finishing his preparation for the profession of law, entered the service of his country when the war of the Rebellion broke out, as adjutant of the Fourth New Jersey Regiment, and was killed in a gallant bayonet-charge at Crampton Pass, South Mountain, MId., Sept. 14, 1862.

In the year 1821 the College of New Jersey con- ferred on the subject of this biographical sketch the honorary degree of Master of Arts, and in 1844 the honorary degree of Doctor in Divinity.

In the year 1826, on the death of his father, he was called to the pastorate of the Reformed Dutch Church of Readington, to which his father had so long min- istered. But this call, as well as very eligible calls to several other churches during his ministry, he was constrained by a sense of duty to decline.

On the 5th of June, 1866, he departed this life while on a visit to his brother-in-law in the city of Balti- more.

Dr. Studdiford was an able theologian, a finished classical scholar, a ripe Hebraist, a master of varied learning, a most instructive preacher. One of the most modest and unselfish of men, he labored with untiring zeal in the work of the ministry, looking for no other reward than the approbation of his Divine Master.

At his funeral Dr. Charles Hodge, who had been a schoolmate of his at Somerville, bore this decided testimony : " What he was as a boy he was as a man. The impression he made on his schoolfellows was the impression he has left on this community after his forty-five years of pastoral service among them. In- tellectual superiority, distinguished scholarship, and goodness in the most comprehensive sense of that word were his characteristics in school, and have been his characteristics through life. He was a good stu- dent, a good and obedient pupil, good in his moral character, good to all around him. Although I knew him longer, perhaps, than any one in this large audi- ence, you knew him better, for he lived among you and lived for you. It is, however, a satisfaction to his old friends to bear their testimony to his varied excellence. We all esteemed him as an eminently wise, judicious, learned, and able theologian. In the course of fifty-five years I never heard him speak evil

Dr. Studdiford continued to supply this church ! of any man, and I never heard any man speak evil of

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him. In the discharge of his pastoral duties he was, as you well know, instructive, faithful, and laborious. In the judicatories and boards of our church he was uniformly kind and courteous, and his opinions were always received with the greatest deference. Very few men have lived a more honorable and useful life, and very few have been more lamented in death."

In the autobiography of the Rev. Dr. Hodge, pub- lished in his "Memoirs," is the following passage : "The only one of my schoolmates at Somerville with whom I was associated in after-life was the Rev. Peter O. Studdiford. During his whole ministerial life he was pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Lambert- ville, N. J. That church rose under his carc from a mere handful to being one of the largest in the Synod. Dr. Studdiford was distinguished for learning, wis- dom, and goodness in the most comprehensive sense of that word."

MARTIN CORYELL.

Martin Coryell was born July 20, 1815, at New Hope, Bucks Co., Pa. His father, Lewis S. Coryell, was the great-grandson of Immanuel Coryell, who was an early settler in the section which has become famous as the place of Washington's crossing of the Delaware in the time of the Revolution. Coryell's Ferry, embracing both sides of the river, was settled by branches of the Coryell family, many of whose descendants are still living, and among whom the subject of this sketch is prominent.

Lewis C. Coryell, father of Martin, was born in Round Valley, Hunterdon Co., and spent most of his life on the west side of tlic Delaware River, in Bucks Co., Pa., opposite Lambertville, where he died, Jan. 28, 1865, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. He was an active business man, taking a prominent part in the improvements of his day, and promoting by his energy and means their accomplishment. He was intrusted with many important offices : was commis- sioner for the improvement of the Delaware River above tide-water, superintendent of the mechanical work on the Delaware Division Canal, and director in several railroad, coal, and other companies.

Martin Coryell was educated in the schools of his native town and at the select school of Dr. Peter O. Studdiford, at Lambertville. For two years he was a pupil (in his fourteenthi and fifteenth years) of the then eminent mathematician and astronomer, John Gummere, in Burlington; but failing health com- pelled him to relinquish his studies and to learn the carpenter's trade, which he followed for a year with results beneficial to his health, but his ener- gies were directed into other channels. While at work upon the "State dam" in the Delaware River at Wells' Falls, Canvass White, an engineer of emi- uence selected to construct the Delaware and Raritan Canal, came upon the work to examine and consult with those in charge of the dam upon the feasibility

of extending that work across the river and making it a feeder for the Delaware and Raritan Canal. In making a close examination of the river, Mr. Coryell was selected to manage the boat in the somewhat dangerous rapids. Mr. White was so well pleased with this service that he requested Col. Simpson Tor- bert to employ him to establish and determine high- and low-water marks along the river; and, later, he was given a position as rod-man on the Delaware and Raritan Canal.

While at home on a visit in the winter of 1839-40, a freshet occurred which scriously damaged the Dela- ware Divisiou Canal. He was called upon to exam- ine into the extent of the damage and to estimate the cost and time necessary to restore navigation. This service was satisfactorily performed, and Mr. Coryell was retained in the State employ as a principal as- sistant on the Delaware Division Canal until the year 1842, when he took charge of the Morris Canal as engineer, under John Cryder, representing the Eng- lish bondholders. This proved a troublesome and, pecuniarily, a disastrous affair, and, with the mone- tary derangements which followed and the cessation of work on public improvements, Mr. Coryell turned his energies into other channels. He soon after, at the suggestion of Judge Fox, turned his attention to the law, especially land and water cases, and his name was enrolled as a law-student in the office of B. H. Brewster, of Philadelphia, a fellow-student of Sena- tor Don Cameron ; but, on account of injury to his cyes, the result of night-reading, he sought other employment.

In 1844 he was employed by the canal commission- ers of Pennsylvania on the Columbia Railroad. His duties were to inaugurate and popularize the use of steam as a motive-power on the West Chester Rail- road (then operated as a horse-power railroad), which he successfully achieved in spite of much local oppo- sition. He was then made superintendent of the Schuylkill level of the Columbia road, extending from Philadelphia to the Plane,-an important and difficult position in those days of combined railroad and canal transportation.

During the next few years he officiated as engineer in various parts of the country : he surveyed the un- derground workings of the Hazleton Coal Company's mines; was engineer and manager of the Lake Supe- rior Copper Company, and was one of the early pioneers in that mining region. In 1847 he returned to New Jersey, and was employed to construct a coal-wharf at Bergen Point, and soon after entered the employ of the Raritan Canal Company, under Ashbel Welch, Esq., under whose superintendence Mr. Coryell lo- cated the greater part of the Belvidere Railroad, and prepared and put down the superstructure from Tren- ton to Lambertville. In 1853 he was engineer-in- chief of the Brunswick Canal, and during the next six or seven years he was engaged in like capacity upon the railroads and canals of Pennsylvania and

Martin Cervello

WM. MCCREADY.

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New Jersey, particularly developing the coal region of Hazleton and what is now the Lehigh Valley Railroad.

In 1862 he removed to the Wyoming Valley, set- tling at Wilkesbarre, where he pursued his profession of civil and mining engineer. He was, in 1864, upon the organization of the Warrior Run Mining Com- pany, made director, secretary, treasurer, and mana- ger. The colliery was placed on a business basis and then leased, when Mr. Coryell's connection as manager ceased.

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History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 74

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