USA > New Jersey > Hudson County > Jersey City > History of Jersey City, N.J. : a record of its early settlement and corporate progress, sketches of the towns and cities that were absorbed in the growth of the present municipality, its business, finance, manufactures and form of government, with some notice of the men who built the city > Part 32
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EDWARD D. GILMORE was born at Fortress Monroe, Va., November 9, 1851, graduated at Rutgers, and admitted to the bar in November, 1875. He became counselor in 1878, and prae- tised with Attorney-General Gilchrist.
LINSLY ROWE was born in New York City, January 19, 1848, and read law in the office of Muirheid & McGee. He was admitted in June, 1875, and became counselor in 1878. He prac- tised in Jersey City from 1875 until 1882, when he was appointed Clerk of the United States District Court at Trenton, a position he held for ten years. He is now practising in Jersey City.
HAMILTON WALLIS was born in New York, November 25, 1842. He graduated from Yale University and the Columbia Law School, and was admitted both in New York and New Jersey. He became an attorney in 1875, and a counselor in 1878. In New York he is a member of the firm of Marsh & Wallis, and in Jersey City of Wallis, Edwards & Bumsted. His father, A. H. Wallis, was president of the First National Bank. He was a well-known New York lawyer be- fore he moved to Jersey City fifty years ago. He served in the Jersey City board of aldermen, and was twice United States collector of internal revenue for the fifth district of New Jersey.
WILLIAM HORACE CORBIN, of the firm of Collins & Corbin, was born at McDonough, Che- nango County, N. Y., on July 12, 1851. He was educated at Oxford Academy, Cornell Univer- sity and Columbia Law School. He was admitted to the New York bar at Binghamton, Sep- tember, 1872, and to the New Jersey bar in 1874, and became counselor in 1877. His home is in Elizabeth, where he was a member of the board of education from 1876 to 1880. In 1881 he published The New Jersey Corporation Law, with notes. In 1882 he published Corbin's Forms. He was elected a member of assembly from Union in 1885 and again in 1886. In 1886 he was appointed a member of the Gettysburg Memorial Commission. During his second year in the assembly he was leader of his party on the floor. He has horne a high reputation as a citizen and a christian. His ability has made him one of the most prominent members of the bar in the State.
CHARLES L. CORBIN was born in MeDonongh, Chenango County, N. Y., January 22, 1846, educated at Hamilton College, admitted to the bar November, 1871, and became counselor in 1875. He has earned a reputation which extends beyond the State for the able and thorough manner in which his cases are prepared. lle is a member of the firm of Collins & Corbin.
CHARLES HOPKINS HARISHORNE was born in Jersey City, November 22, 1851. He was ad- mitted as attorney in November, 1872, and counselor in 1875. He formed a partnership with Peter Bentley, Jr.
J. HERBERT POTIS was born in Trenton, N. J., July 3. 1851. He received his education in the public schools of that place, after which he prepared for college. He was a member of the class of 1872, of Princeton College. After spending nearly two years at that institution he returned to Trenton and began studying law in the office of Hon. Edward T. Green, now a judge of the United States Court He was admitted to practice on February 5. 1874. During the same year he came to Jersey City and associated himself with Joseph C. Potts, a relative, for the practice of his profession. One year prior to his admission to the bar he was appointed
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assistant clerk in the assembly at Trenton. He was a member of that body in 1880 and 1881, representing the sixth assembly district of Hudson County. In the session of 1880 Mr. Potts was chairman of the committee on the revision of the laws, and in the session of 1881 was chairman of the committee on the judiciary. He was again elected to the assembly in 1889 and re-elected in 1890 and 1891. In the new reapportionment he represented the second district and was the only republican member from Hudson County in 1892. . During that year he was the minority leader on the floor of the house, and he served on the com- mittees on judiciary, revision of laws and treas- urer's accounts. In 1892, he was the republican nominee for senator in Hudson County, and re- duced the democratic majority from 8,000 to 3,000. . In 1894 he was appointed Judge of the First Dis- triet Court. Is a member of the Carteret Club and was for two years vice-president of that organiza- tion. He is also a member of the Union League. Federal and Palma clubs, and was for two years a trustee of the latter. He has for a number of years been a member of the republican committee of Hudson County.
In 1876 Mr. Potts married Miss Louise Bechtel, daughter of Charles Bechtel, Esq., who was for many years the publisher of the State Gasette at Trenton. Three children have been born to the union.
J. HERBERT POTTS.
ASA WILLIAMS DICKINSON was born at Amherst, Mass., October 24, 1853. He prepared for college at Williston Seminary, East Hampton, Mass., and went to Amherst for his collegiate course. After leaving college he was on The New York Tribune city staff, and during the ses- sions of Congress in 1876 and 1877 was on the Associated Press staff at Washington. He was two years court reporter for The Evening Journal, and two years legislative correspondent for the same paper at Trenton. During the sessions of 1879 and 1880 he was assistant clerk of the assembly. For five years he was deputy collector of customs for Jersey City, by appointment of President Arthur. He studied law with C. E. Schofield in Jersey City, and was admitted to the bar at the June term, 1880. He was appointed a colonel and aid to Gov. Werts in 1893, and is a member of the law firm of Dickinson, Thompson and McMaster in Jersey City.
THOMAS MCEWAN, JR., was born in Paterson, N. J., February 26, 1854. Hisfather, Thomas Me- Ewan, was born in Scotland, and his mother, whose maiden name was Hannah Ledget, was born in the north of Ireland. He was formerly a eivil engi- neer, but gave up that profession for the law, graduating at Columbia Law School. He was a member of the Jersey City board of assessors in 1886 and 1887, and was chief supervisor of elec- THOMAS M'EWAN, JR. tions for New Jersey from August, 1892, until Octo- ber, 1893. He was a delegate to the national re- publican convention in 1892, and in 1893 was elected a member of assembly from the eighth Hudson district. He was secretary of the Hudson County republican committee for fifteen years
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ending in January, 1893. He was a delegate to and secretary of every republican county con- vention for fifteen years past, and has been a delegate to all the State conventions during that period. He was secretary and a member of the board of governors of the Union League Club from its organization. He is also a member of the Federal, Fremont and Palma elubs, a mason, and connected with numerous other social and political organizations. In November, 1894, he was elected to represent the seventh district of New Jersey in Congress.
CHARLES DEDERA THOMPSON was born at Newton, Sussex County, N. J., June 28, 1853. He was educated at Princeton College and the Columbia Law School. He read law in the office of his father, a prominent lawyer of Newton, and was admitted to the bar in June, 1877. He became a counselor in June, 1880, and practised in Sussex County until 1886, when he moved to Jersey City and soon took high rank at the bar. He is a member of the firm of Dickinson, Thompson & McMaster.
JACOB WEART, third son of Spencer Stout Weart and Sarah Garrison, his wife, was born at Hopewell, Mercer County, N. J., June 8, 1829. He was educated in the public schools, and at nineteen years of age became a law student in the office of John Mannen, at Clinton, N. J. He finished his studies with Mercer Beasley, now Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He was ad- mitted to the bar in 1852, and became counselor in 1855. He has been engaged as counsel in a num- ber of noted cases, and his contention has made these cases precedents. He was the successful counsel in Walkins vs. Kirkpatrick, 2 Dutcher, 84, and Durant vs. Banta, 3 Dutcher, 624, which fixed the law of commercial paper in New Jersey. His opinion on the legality of the Hudson River Police act of 1866 produced the case of Pangborn vs. Young, 3 Vroom, 29, which established a police commission in Jersey City, and formed a prec- edent for every quo warranto proceeding since that time. He was retained by the county of Hudson to defend the railroad taxation acts of 1873. On March 21, 1867, he was commissioned internal revenue collector for the fifth New Jer- sey district. He held the office four years and collected about ten millions of dollars. He was for a number of years treasurer of the Tabernacle, and for two years was Counsel to the Board of JACOB WEART. Chosen Freeholders, and prepared and procured the enactment of the laws creating the county boards of health and vital statistics, and the board to equalize taxes. In company with John Cassedy he organized the Bank of Jersey City, now the Second National, and was a director and its counsel for many years. He was instrumental in establishing the Jersey City Law Library, and has been its president since its organization. He is a member of the American Bar Association, and for a number of years represented New Jersey in its govern- ing council. In 1872, by articles published in the daily press in relation to the increase of the city debt, he caused the formation of the "Committee of Twenty-eight," and he was one of the sub-committee which prepared the charter amendments of 1873, which modified the charter of 1870. He took an active part in the movement to tax railroad property, which was the main subject of interest in Jersey City during 1873. He caused the passage of an act to mark the grave of John Hart, at Hopewell, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. In 1881 he took part in the public demonstration in Jersey City on the death of President Garfield, and was chairman of the committee that prepared the memorial volume. Ile has had an ex- tensive law practice, and has been trustee or executor in a number of large estates. He mar- ried Catharine J. Van Winkle, of Passaic, N. J., and has two children, Spencer Weart, who is now corporation attorney for Jersey City, and Ella Weart.
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ALLAN LANGDON MCDERMOTT was born in South Boston, Mass., on the 30th of March, 1854. His father was Hugh Farrer McDermott, who, to use the language of the memorial resolutions adopted by the New York Press Club on his decease, in 1890, "in the wide scope of his literary labors, as journalist, dramatist, author and poet, made a conspicuous place and earned enduring fame for himself." His mother's maiden name was Annie J. Langdon, and she was of one of the oldest families in New England. In 1870 the subject of this sketch de- termined to follow journalism, and, as a preliminary step, learned to set type and run a press. A few verses published in a Boston paper, and reprinted in the New York Telegram in 1870, show that Mr. McDermott had a very narrow escape from a literary tomb. In 1876 he entered the law school of the University of the City of New York, and was graduated the following year, delivering an essay on " The Sanction of the Law," at the commencement exercises held at the Academy of Music, in June, 1877. The same year he was admitted to the bar of New Jersey, becoming a counselor in 1880. While he was a student in the office of the late Leon Abbett there was formed a friendship between preceptor and pupil which grew with the years, and on more than one occasion evidenced a steadfastness which is rarely found in the harsh lines of political association. In 1878 Mr. McDermott was defeated as a candidate for assembly from the fourth district of Hudson County, but was elected in 1879 and 1880, and in 1881 was the democratic candidate for speaker of that body. From 1878 to 1883 he was Cor- poration Attorney of Jersey City, resigning that position when appointed Judge of the Second Dis- trict Conrt by Gov. Ludlow. In 1884 Gov. Abbett appointed Mr. McDermott a member of the state board of assessors. In that position he formulated the rules which have ever since been followed in the taxation of railroad property and corporate franchises in New Jersey. In 1886 Gov. Abbett nominated him to his present position. In com- municating the fact to the legislature, the late ex- United States Senator Cattell, also a member of the State board, wrote: "The Hon. Allan L. Mc- Dermott, one of the original members of the board, was, during the last session of the legislature, ap- pointed and confirmed as Clerk in the Court of Chancery, and on the ist of April resigned as a member of this board to enter upon his new posi- tion. Much of the success of the early work of this board is due to the intelligent and faithful service of Mr. McDermott, largely supplemented by his legal knowledge, which was invaluable. The ALLAN LANGDON M'DERMOTT. board parted with him most regretfully, and we are free to say that in our judgment it will be difficult to find one who will in all respects fill his place." In 1884, 1885 and 1886 Mr. McDer- mott was president of the board of finance and taxation of Jersey City. Upon his retirement from that position the Argus said : "The withdrawal of Allan L. McDermott from the man- agement of our municipal finances is a public calamity. His clear head, his honesty of purpose and untiring energy have rendered him of inestimable value to our city. He has introduced and enforced rigid principles of economy in our local expenditures, and has, with the aid of his colleagues, established an admirable financial system, which has placed our credit above cavil or suspicion." He was renominated for Clerk in Chancery, in 1891, by Gov. Abbett. In 1892 Mr. McDermott was, because of dissatisfaction with the existing local government, defeated in a canvass for the mayoralty of Jersey City. In 1894 he was nominated by Gov. Werts as a member of the commission appointed to revise the State constitution. In 1895 he was nomi- nated by the democratic legislators for United States senator. He has been chairman of the State democratic committee since 1886, and has drawn every platform, with one exception, adopted by a State democratic convention during that time. His term of office expires March 29, 1896.
FRANK P. MCDERMOTT was born on the historic ground of the Battle of Monmouth, Oc-
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tober 23, 1854. His great-grandfather, William McDermott, was engaged in the Revolutionary War, and after that decisive battle settled in Monmouth County. For the past century the family name has been identified with that of Mon- mouth.
After receiving a common school education he was prepared for college at the Freehold Institute. Being obliged to forego a college course, he en- tered the law office of Acton C. Hartshorne, with whom, and his partner, Chilion Robins, a skilful, studious and ingenious advocate, he pursued his legal studies. In November, 1875, shortly after attaining his majority, he was admitted to the bar. Mr. McDermott's abilities as an advocate, his ac- curate knowledge of the law, and his devotion to the profession soon won for him a place among the leading lawyers of Monmouth. The law and equity reports of New Jersey contain many cases of great importance argued by him, not a few of them settling important legal principles.
Although practising at the Freehold bar the sphere of his legal work has not been confined to his native county.
FRANK P. M'DERMOTT. Like so many of the able lawyers of Hudson County who hail from Monmouth, Mr. McDer- mott sought Jersey City as a more central point and a wider field for the practice of the law, and in the fall of 1894 he opened offices in the Davidson building in this city.
In March, 1879, he married Miss A. Lizzie Thompson, daughter of Dr. Joseph C. Thomp- son. The family consists of four children, three sons and a daughter.
Mr. McDermott has for several years been a member of the Lawyers' Club of New York.
JAMES PALMER was born in the City of New York, February 11, 1854. His parents re- moved to Jersey City in 1859, and he has been a resident of this city ever since. He attended school until his sixteenth year, when he entered the office of Thomas W. James as a law student. He was admitted as an attorney at the February term, 1874, and became a counselor in 1877. He has practised law for twenty-five years, and has a lucrative practice. Several large estates have been managed by him in a very successful manner. In 1889 he married Miss Elizabeth Wilson, daugh- ter of John Wilson, of Hamilton, Ontario. He has never accepted public office, having no taste for politics.
EDWIN MANNERS, A. M., LL. B., was horn in Jersey City, March 6, 1855. He is a son of the late Hon. David S. Manners (for several terms mayor of Jersey City, and estecmed as one of its 'best executives) and Deborah Phillips Johnes.
The ancestry on the paternal side in America dates back to John Manners, of Yorkshire, En- gland, who settled in New Jersey about 1700, and married Rebecca Stout, granddaughter of Penl- ope Van Princes Stout, whose tragie story is well known. Mr. Manners' great-great-grandfather. John Schenck, was a captain in the Revolutionary JAMES PALMER. War, took an active part in the principal battles of the State, and by a well-planned ambuscade prevented the British troops from overrunning Hunterdon County. His grandfather, David
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Manners, was an officer in the War of 1812, and won honorable mention in several important engagements. On the maternal side his mother is a lineal descendant of Edward Johnes and Anne Griggs, his wife, natives of Dinder, Somerset, England, and who sailed for America with John Winthrop in 1629, landing at Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1630. In the same direet line are Grace Fitz Randolph, whose brother Nathaniel gave to Princeton the land upon which Nassau Hall is erected, and David Johnes, who was a captain and major in the Revolution and rendered efficient service in establishing American independence.
Early in life Mr. Manners showed a disposition for the world of letters. He was connected with the Quill, a school paper of Hasbrouck Institute, edited the Mount Pleasant Reveille, the organ of the Mount Pleasant cadets at Sing Sing on the Hudson, and during his senior year at Princeton was one of the editors of the Nassau Literary Magasine. In preparatory school and college he won prizes for composition and speaking, select and original, and on class-day de- livered to the already distinguished class of 1877 a characteristic presentation address.
He was graduated Bachelor of Arts, and the Master's degree was conferred by Princeton in course. Studying law with Messrs. Collins & Corbin, and at the Columbia Law School, Mr. Manners received the degree of LL. B. in 1879, and was duly admitted to the bar of New Jer- sey in 1880. He has since practised in Jersey City, and has now an office in the Weldon building.
Although interested in municipal matters and politics, he has declined offers of political prefer- ment. A large portion of his time is taken up with the affairs of the estate left by his father, in- cluding a farm at Harlingen, New Jersey, grati- fying the Horatian desire instinetive in man, "I often wished I had a farm."
Mr. Manners has ably assisted those endeavor- ing to procure for Jersey City an improved water supply. It is a coincidence worth mentioning that his father, while president of the common council, and also as mayor of Jersey City, was mainly in- strumental, in conjunction with the late Hon. John D. Ward, in procuring for the municipality the introduction of the Passaic water. This still con- tinues to be the source of supply, and has hitherto proved an excellent one ; but with increased popu- lation, and consequent pollution from sewer and factory, a change is demanded. The son of Mr. Ward and the subject of this sketch are now striving for a method and supply better suited to the altered conditions.
1
EDWIN MANNERS.
Greater Jersey City has also claimed Mr. Manners' attention, and received his favorable comment. Many advantages are to be gained in bringing the various municipalities of Hudson County under one name and government. Their unity of developinent in particular is much to be desired. With the extension of rapid transit facilities the last of apparent excuses for de- laying consolidation has disappeared, and it would seem a needless expense to keep up separate charters in contiguous towns. Undoubtedly this and other great advances are in store for the city's betterment.
As a landlord Mr. Manners is liked by his tenants, and their praise is in evidence of his liberality and forbearance. He is unmarried, resides with his three sisters at 287 Barrow Street, and is a member of the Hudson Democratic Society, the Board of Trade, the Palma Club, the Princeton Club and the Sons of the American Revolution.
JOHN W. HECK was born at Trenton, N. J., July 17, 1855. In 1859 his parents removed to Jersey City, where his father took charge of the oil works of I. & C. Moore, at the foot of Mor- ris Street. His father died in 1865. On April 1, 1867, he entered the office of the late S. B. Ransoni, and later began the study of law there. On September 28, 1874, he entered the office
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of L. & A. Zabriskie as clerk and student. He was admitted at the November term, 1876. When the firm was dissolved he remained with Lansing Zabriskie, the senior member. In 1884 Mr. Zabriskie retired from practice and left his business in the hands of Mr. Heck as his attorney. Mr. Zabriskie was the execu- tor of several large estates, and Mr. Heck's practice has been incident to the manage- ment of estates. In 1884 he was elected a member of assembly from the sixth Hud- son district. During his term he intro- duced the citizens' charter, which was de- feated by his republican colleagues from Jersey City. He also introduced and passed the firemen's tenure of office act, by which the fire department was removed from politics. He introduced a bill provid- ing for a bridge over the "Gap" on Wash- ington Street, but the influences against it were too powerful. He was renominated in 1885, but was defeated by Robert S. Hudspeth. In 1887 a committee of the Hudson County Bar Association was ap- pointed to prepare a bill to provide proper indices in the office of the register of deeds. Mr. Heck was a member of that commit- tee, and in connection with Spencer Weart secured the passage of a law providing for -5 the " Block System." The work under the JOHN W. HECK. act was performed by a commission ap- pointed by Judge Knapp, and Mr. Heck was appointed its clerk. Their labors were completed in fourteen months, and Hudson County now has the best set of indices to its land record that there are in the State. He was married in October, 1884, to Miss Lillian Benson, of Haverstraw, New York,
and two children have been born to them. He is a member of Amity Lodge, F. and A. M., of this city. In 1884 he was elected president of the Jer- sey City Athletic Club, but only served a short term. He was one of the charter members of that popular club, and held official positions in it for the first six years of its existence. He is a member of the Union League Club, also of several fraternal insurance orders, a director of the North- ern R. R. Co. of N. J., and attorney for the latter company. He is a trustee and secretary and treas- urer of The Bay View Cemetery Association.
MERVYN ARMSTRONG was born in Jersey City in 1858. He studied law with the late Capt. Albert 1. Cloke, and was admitted to the bar at the No- vember term, 1879. A week after admission he went to Europe, where, through the influence of Judah P. Benjamin, Secretary of War of the Con- federacy, he was afforded unusual facilities at the inns of court and the great libraries and lectures. MERVYN ARMSTRONG. He was made a counselor in February, 1892. He is first-lieutenant of Company C, Fourth Regiment, National Guard, N. J.
MI
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EZRA K. SEGUINE was born at Delaware Water Gap, Pa., November 18, 1858. He comes of a Huguenot family that settled Seguine's Point, Staten Island, on their arrival from France. He was educated in the local school, and entered mercantile life in New York at an early age. Subsequently he read law in the office of Charles E. Scofield in Jersey City, and was ad- mitted to the bar at the November term in 1879. After the death of Mr. Scofield in 1878 Mr. Se- guine closed out his extensive bankruptcy practice. In addition to an extensive law practice, lie is in- terested in iron and coal properties in East Ten- nessee. In 1884 he was married to Emma, daughter of John Small, who for many years was prominently connected with the management of the Morris Canal.
JUDGE HENRY PUSTER is a fine example of the German-American citizen, one of that large class whose industry, economy, intelligence and sturdy integrity have done so much toward the develop- ment of our country, and whose solid qualities and valuable services in all departments of private and public life have been recognized in every por- tion of the republic.
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