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 54
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WILLIAM H. HARNEY.
FERDINAND HEINTZE was born in Eisenach,
Saxony, Germany, December 15, 1836. He is the son of Carl Heintze and Catherine Niemann. He received his education in the common schools of his native place, after which he was ap-
prenticed to the butcher's trade. When he was seventeen years of age he came to America, September 16, 1854, and worked at his trade until 1870. In 1859 Mr. Heintze settled in Jersey City, and has resided here continuously ever since.
In 1884 Mr. Heintze was elected sheriff of Hudson County, and filled that office very acceptably for three years. He is at present one of the board of managers of the State Lunatic Asylum.
On December 28, 1858, he married Miss Adaline Glaser, of Saxony, Germany. They had five children ; only one is living, a daughter. He resides in a pleasant home at 553 Pavonia Avenue.
Mr. Heintze is a member of Teutonia Lodge, No. 72, F. and A. M. ; member of the Arion Singing Society; the German Pioneer Verein, and is also a member of the First Lutheran Church of Jersey City.
Mr. Heintze has been very suceessful in business, and is now living a retired life, having accumulated a comfortable fortune
EDWARD W. WOOLLEY was born at Mount Clemens, Michigan, November 21, FERDINAND HEINTZE. 1852. He is the son of Edward J. Woolley and Mary H. Williams, the former being a native of New York State, and the latter a native of Michigan. Mr. Woolley received a com- mon school education at Detroit, Mich. When he was twelve years of age he began a
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business life as a elerk in a groeery store in Detroit. In 1868 he came to Jersey City to reside, and for one year he was a pupil of Publie School No. 2. In 1869 he accepted a position as weighmaster and superintendent of the warehouse and receiving rooms of the Lillie Safe and Iron Co., at the foot of Washington Street, Jersey City. In 1870 he accepted a more luerative position with the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, as assistant superintendent of the eoal doeks at the terminus of the Morris Canal. In the fall of 1872 Mr. Wool- ley received a very flattering offer from the Hall Safe and Lock Company, of Cincinnati, O., to take charge of the extensive plant of that concern. He afterwards filled important positions in Pittsburg and Chicago, in the employ of that company, and in 1882 he was transferred to New York City, and was made general manager for all their eastern territory. He continued to aet in that eapacity until 1892, at which time three of the largest safe manufacturers in the country consolidated their interests. The concerns were : the Hall Safe and Lock Company, the Marvin Safe Company and the Herring Safe Company. After the consolida- EDWARD W. WOOLLEY. tion Mr. Woolley was made general manager of the consolidated interests, a position he still retains. On October 7, 1884, Mr. Woolley married Miss Ida A. Demarest, of Illinois. Two bright and interesting children have been the fruits of the marriage, one son and a daughter.
Mr. Woolley is a member of the Union League and Federal elubs of Jersey City. He is chairman of the republican county committee. He is also a member of the Lodge of the Tem- ple, F. and A. M .: Enterprise Chapter, No. 2, R. A. M .; Hugh de Payens Commandery, No. 1, of Jersey City, and member of the board of commissioners of appeals in eases of taxation. He is a member and a trustee of the First Universalist Church of Jersey City, and has always been a liberal contributor to all charitable and christian canses.
WILLIAM GEORGE NELSON was born in New York City, January 2, 1856. In 1865 he was a pupil in Prof. Deppenschmidt's school, and subsequently in the French-American School in Jersey City. In 1869 he began an apprenticeship to the ma- chinist trade in the United States Watch Com- pany's factory at Marion. He remained there seven years. In 1876 he became a member of the insurance firm of Callo, Nelson & Ward. In April, 1887, he was elected a member of the board of freeholders. In 1889 he was re-elected, but the frauds committed by the ballot-box stuffers forced a recount of the ballots, and he was found to have received a majority. He continued to serve the county as freeholder until 1893. He is a Past Grand Odd Fellow, a Past Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, and a member of all the Masonie orders. In 1883 he organized the Excel- sior Mutual Building Loan Association, and has been its only secretary. 1ts funds have exceeded WILLIAM GEORGE NELSON. $300,000, and it expired in ten years and eight and one-half months. In 1890 he assisted in organizing the State Building Loan League, at Trenton. He was elected vice-president, and is also treasurer of the Hudson County League of Building
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Loan Associations. In 1885 he organized Excelsior, No. 2, which now has assets of over $300,000. He was secretary of the Anti-Monopoly League, an organization favoring the taxation of rail- road property. He was secretary of the Bergen Improvement Association for several years, and is vice-president of the Old Guard, of the Heights. On January 19, 1879, he married Miss Fannie G. Young, of Jersey City, and two sons have been the issue of the union.
WILLIAM E. DRAKE was born in Penn Yan, N. Y., in 1855. He received his rudimentary education in the public schools of Western New York. At the age of twelve years he was compelled to abandon his studies part of the time, working in the summer and attending schools in the winter. In 1874 he entered the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, of Lima, N. Y., and was graduated from that institution in 1877. He im- mediately accepted a position in Goliad, Texas, as a teacher of natural science and bookkeeping. He remained there two years, after which he returned to the North, locating in Newark, N. J., where he accepted a position as an instructor in the New Jersey Business College, and at the same time he had charge of the commercial department of the High School. WILLIAM E. DRAKE. A year later he purchased an interest in the New Jersey Busi- ness College, where he remained two years, after which he sold out and located in New York City, accepting a position in the commercial ageney establishment of the Bradstreet Company. In 1883 Mr. Drake came to Jersey City, having bought the Brown Business College. In 1885 he purchased Gaskell's Business College and merged the two into one. The present institution is located at 23 and 25 Newark Avenue, and is recognized to be one of the very best in the country. The various courses of instruction taught there embrace political economy, banking, commercial law, business correspondence, shorthand and typewriting. The faculty is headed by Mr. Drake.
On November 24, 1881, Mr. Drake married Mrs. Sarah T. Copeland, of Lima, N. Y. He resides in East Orange, N. J. Mr. Drake is a member of the Board of Trade, president of the Young Men's Christian Association, and a member of the State committee of that organiza- tion. He is superintendent of Calvary Methodist Sunday-school of East Orange, N. J., also a director and president of the Santa Cruz Falls Park As- sociation. In November, 1894, he was elected a member of the New Jersey assembly from Hud- son County.
JAMES CLARK LINDSAY.
JAMES CLARK LINDSAY was born in Polmont, a small village between Glasgow and Edinburgh, on the 31st of December, 1836. He was a man of handsome physique, and was six feet in height, with a piercing eye.
His father was a railroad contractor, building railroads in the vicinity of Edinburgh and Glas- gow. He died at the age of sixty, leaving a family of nine, of whom James and his twin brother were the youngest. He, with his twin brother. sup- ported his mother until her death. After the death of his father he went to Grangemouth, a small seaport town, and served his apprenticeship as a carpenter, and then went to Edinburgh and worked as a journeyman for a number of years.
In 1864 he married Miss Brown, daughter of William Brown, of Partiek, Scotland. In 1868 he came to America, leaving his wife and two children in Scotland. Having decided to
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settle in this country, he sent for his wife and family, and made this his home. He worked in New York for a short time, and then came to Jersey City. Shortly after he started in business with a partner, which proved disastrous. He then started himself, and continued until 1887, when he took his eldest son, James Clark, Jr., into business with him, which continued until his death. He left a widow, three sons and six daughters.
JOHN EDELSTEIN has been a life-long resident of Jersey City. When the Jersey City loco- motive works were first established he obtained employment, and served considerable time in learning to build locomotives. He determined, however, to learn another trade, which he thought would make better returns, securing employment with Mr. Lewis, the segar manufac- turer, to strip tobaceo, which is the first step in the art of segar-making. After working for about one year, he was advanced to the responsible position of foreman over fifty or sixty work- men, which position he filled to the entire satisfaction of his employer. He next obtained a position in New York City as foreman of a much larger establishment, where he remained until the breaking out of the Civil War in 1861. At the first call for volunteers he enlisted in the Second New Jersey Regiment, serving until the regiment was honorably discharged. He then re-enlisted, and was commissioned captain. He accompanied Gen. Sheridan through the Shen- andoah Valley. After leaving that famous valley, he was stationed in front of Petersburg, with Fort Hell on one side and the Weldon Railroad on the other side. He has been identified with the Grand Army of the Republic since its organiza- tion, and has ever displayed an active interest in its welfare. After the war, Mr. Edelstein started the manufacturing of segars, and by industry he built up one of the largest establishinents of the . kind in the State, which he still controls. Mr. Edelstein is one of the most respected residents of the State of New Jersey. In politics he has served as alderman, member of the board of educa- tion, of the board of finance commissioners, of which he held the presidency for six years, per- forming the arduous and responsible duties in the most upright manner ; he has also been a member of the State democratic committee for several years.
In fraternal organizations he now holds the JOHN EDELSTEIN. position of Worshipful Master of Hiram Lodge, No. 17, F. and A. M .; was exalted to the Most Sublime Degree of Royal Arch Mason in Enterprise Chapter, No. 2; he was the first Com- mander of Scottish Rite Masons; he has been a member of Mechanics Lodge, I. O. of D .; he is a Knight of Pythias in Jersey City Lodge, No. 15, and a member of Pavonia Council, Royal Arcanum. He held the position of Commander of Ever Faithful Council of American Legion of Honor for four years,
Prosperous in business, he remembers his early struggles, and always has words of encour- agement, and renders more substantial assistance to those in need.
John William Edelstein, his father, was the first segar manufacturer in the State of New Jersey.
EDWARD RICHARD STANTON was born in Hoboken, N. J., August 13, 1852. His father settled in that city in 1830, and resided there continuously up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1863.
When a boy, he attended the public schools of his native place, but, on account of the death of his father, was forced to limit his education, and begin a battle with the world. In 1864 he presented himself at the oldl barracks on Jersey City Heights for enlistment as a drummer boy, but was refused on account of his youth. A few months later he applied at the Pine Street headquarters in New York City, and was enlisted in the navy as a cabin boy, and served until
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the close of the war. For a few years thereafter he followed the sea on vessels engaged in the merchant marine, plying between New York and South American ports. During his spare moments, while thus engaged, he spent his time in study. In 1867 he decided to abandon the ·sea, and in that year he returned to Hoboken and engaged in mercantile pursuits. At the age of 21 years he held his first political office, that of constable, and was re-elected to that posi- tion five successive terms. He afterwards became an attachee of the Hudson County prose- cutor's office, and served under ex-Judge Garretson, Chancellor McGill and Prosecutor Win- field. In 1885 he was elected a member of the common council of the City of Hoboken, from the fourth ward. He was re-elected in 1887, and again in 1889. Altogether, he was for five years on the floor of the council, and during that time was chairman of the board for one year. When he was first elected to that body, the fourth ward was one of the most neglected quarters in Hoboken, but through his efforts it soon became one of the most progressive por- tions of that city. In 1885 the tax valuation of the ward he represented was $1,439,Soo. At the last valuation it was $2,331,300. It was through Mr. Stanton that the Hoboken Free Pub- lic . Library was established. He also started the agitation which resulted in the acceptance of the "Martin Act " and the payment of thousands of dollars into the treasury of Hoboken. There are many other measures Mr. Stanton agitated which bore fruit whereby the people were benefited.
The democratic constituency of the fourth ward of Hoboken, which was known as the "Meadow District," concluded, in 1891, when candidates for mayor were men- tioned, that some one from their section of the city would be a proper man as chief executive. They accordingly demanded and secured the nomination of Mr. Stan- ton. He was elected by the largest majority ever accorded a democrat in Hoboken. He has the further distinction of being the only native-born citizen of Hoboken who ever filled the position of mayor of that city. His wide acquaint- ance with municipal affairs enabled him to fulfil his election promise to give the people low and equal taxation. Accord- ing to a legislative enactment, that portion of Hoboken known as the "annexed dis- trict" was exempt from certain city indebt- EDWARD RICHARD STANTON. edness. It was a discrimination in favor of some of the most valuable land, and was a hard- ship to the small property-owners in other parts of that city. Mayor Stanton claimed that only by wiping ont these privileged obligations, could equality of taxation be secured. He undertook the task, and solicited the tax commissioners of 1892 to redeem these bonds as they became due. The consequence of his effort was the precipitation of the greatest contest on the question of finance the citizens of Hoboken ever witnessed. Although defeated in his efforts to convince the tax commissioners of the advisability of retiring these bonds, he was not dismayed. He appealed to the common council in a communication, in which he clearly presented the ad- vantages to be gained hy the adoption of the financial scheme he proposed. That body, after mature consideration, amended the report of the tax commissioners, and ordered the tax levy made in line with Mr. Stanton's policy, although there were inany who were opposed to his policy, and predicted that the following year would show the fallacy of his financiering in an in- crease of the tax rate. Since then Mr. Stanton has had the satisfaction of seeing complete suc- cess crown his efforts in behalf of the people. The tax commissioners of 1893, who were with
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few exceptions members of the commission of 1892, have acknowledged the soundness of his financial policy by having adopted in the main the views to which one year previous he gave expression. To the pleasure of Mr. Stanton, the announcement of the tax rate of Hoboken for 1893 has been made, and is $2.08 on Sioo valuation, and is an equal rate in all parts of the city. The following comparison is worthy of study : Tax rate for Hoboken in 1891 was $2.64 ; Wee- hawken addition, $2.32. In 1892 it was $2.19 in Hoboken, and in the Weehawken addition $2.15 ; the rate for 1893 heing $2.08, makes a reduction of 56 per cent. in two years.
Mr. Stanton was appointed port warden by Gov. Green. He performed the duties of that office in a highly creditable manner, and was aided largely by the knowledge he acquired while at sea. On December 21, 1892, he was appointed by Gov. Abbett to the office of sheriff, made vacant by the death of the late incumbent, John J. McPhillips. When he severed his connection with the mayoralty of Hoboken, the consensus of opinion was that he would conduct the office of sheriff as successfully as he had the office he was then vacating. The sheriff's office was never more systematically conducted than it was under Mr. Stanton's administration. His entire time was devoted to the affairs connected with that important office ; and the prompt ser- vice rendered, and the courtesy attending his transaction of all business placed in his hands, earned for him the approval of the entire legal fraternity, and the good will and esteem of all with whom he came in contact.
Sheriff Stanton married Miss Mary O'Connel, of New York City, September 8, 1878. He has four children, William, Walker, Francis and James. He resides in.Hoboken.
The late GILLIAM VAN HOUTEN was born at Bloomingdale, N. J., August 30, 1819. When he was thirteen years old his parents removed to Paterson, N. J., where he was apprenticed to the cooper's trade. In early life he associated himself with the late D. D. Acker, of the grocery house of Acker, Merrall & Condit, of New York City, in the grocery business. After several years they dissolved, and he established a large cooperage manufactory at 196 West Street, New York, where he manufactured tubs, pails and churns on an extensive scale, and which was continued until the breaking out of the war. He recruited the first regiment that left the State of New Jersey. He was tendered the colonelship of the regiment, but at the urgent request of Gov. Olden, who was the war governor of New Jersey, he returned to Hudson County, where he recruited another regiment, which was afterwards known as the Twenty-first N. J. Volunteers, and of which he was made colonel. He immediately proceeded to the front, and was engaged in a number of the battles of the Peninsula and the Potomac. He was severely wounded in several engagements, and, during the Battle of Chancellorsville, in May of 1863, while at the head of his command, he was mortally wounded and taken prisoner. After thirty-six hours of suffering he died, and was buried where he fell. Three days after the war department ordered his body removed, under a flag of truce, to be forwarded to his home in Jersey City, where his funeral occurred, and his remains were followed to their last resting- place under the escort of a large military guard of honor. Previous to the breaking out of the war, Col. Van Houten had served in the Governor's Guard, Sixth Regiment of New York, and was afterwards captain of Company A, First N. J. Militia of Hoboken, and afterwards colonel of this regiment, Hudson Brigade. He was a brave, courageous soldier, whose name in Jersey City and the State of New Jersey will be immortal. His remains were interred at Wyckoff, Bergen County.
During the lifetime of Col. Van Houten he filled many positions of honor and public trust. He served on the board of frecholders, the board of aldermen, and was president of the board of education. Van Houten Post, G. A. R., of Jersey City, was so named in remembrance of him.
Col. Van Houten died as he had lived. He was possessed of many noble qualities ; was beloved by soldier and civilian alike. When he fell, at the Battle of Chancellorsville, he was affectionately cared for until the end by his aid-de-camp, the Hon. George B. Fielder.
NICHOLAS G. VREELAND was born in Bergen, June 21, 1849. He is a descendant of the first judge of the province of New Jersey, who was appointed in 1636. The family record is preserved in the Bergen Church, and is complete from 1636 to the present. He was educated in Franklin School, Bergen, and Hasbrouck Institute. In 1867 he became a civil engineer, and was city surveyor and city accountant for a number of years. He had charge of the pre-
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liminary surveys and of laying out the line for the Cape Cod Ship Canal. The company failed, and he was induced to change his business. He was an amateur editor in 1867, and subse- quently worked on The Evening Journal staff, and edited a daily and weekly paper in Passaic, N. J. He organized the Bergen Tanners in 1872, and later the Halsey Guards and Frelinghuysen Guards. He was head of the executive committee in Passaic during the political campaign of 1888 ; was president of the Young Men's Republican Club in 1892, and is now a member of the Wanser Club. In 1890 he became associated with H. N. Van Wagenen in the coal business. He is secretary of the Hudson County Coal Dealers' Association. He has organized and built up three councils of the Royal Arcanum, and is now Regent and Secre- tary of one, and is the founder and Past Councillor of a Junior O. U. A. M. Council ; is a member of the State Council in that order, and is presiding officer of Home Circle, secretary of a building and loan association, and is founder and secretary of Good Government Association, No. 1. He married a daughter of Mr. H. N. Van Wagenen, of Jersey City, and has two children. NICHOLAS G. VREELAND.
WILLIAM LEVERETT DICKINSON was born at Windsor, \'t., on July 4, 1819. On July 4, 1833, an accidental explosion destroyed his right arm and lacerated the left hand so badly that some of the fingers had to be sacrificed. When he recovered he continued his preparation for college, and two years later, when about six- teen years of age, he entered the sophomore class in the University of Vermont. He graduated in 1838, and immediately accepted a position as tutor in the family of J. D. Ward, of Jersey City. After preparing the sons for college he left the family and re- turned to Vermont, where he married Miss Celia Goss. He returned to Jersey City and opened a classical school in the Lyceum build- ing, on Grand Street. While he taught this school he studied law, and was admitted to the bar. About the beginning of the war he was appointed principal of Public School No. 3, and he served acceptably several years. He left the position to accept the - position of assistant city superintendent of schools. His appointment took effect May 1, 1867. From that time the real public school system of the city dates. In 1872 he became city superintendent. He was the first prac- tical educator who held the position. The city system contained three schools when he was first appointed. Five years later it had WILLIAM LEVERETT DICKINSON. twenty-two. He was one of the originators of the city High School in 1872. When the building was burned down on December 23, 1872, by the carelessness of tinsmiths engaged in repairing the roof, he promptly engaged Kepler Hall, now the Academy of Music, and carried
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on the school in it until the High School building was reconstructed. He was peculiarly suc- cessful in school management, and was an able educator. He was for many years county superintendent, as well as city superintend- ent. He died November 3, 1883.
JOHN BETZ was born at Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1832. He came to this country in 1853, and entered the employment of John F. Betz, his uncle, who owned a large brewery in New York. He remained in this establishment fifteen years, during most of which he filled the position of brewmaster. In 1869 he located in Jersey City, where soon after he entered into partnership with Henry Lembeck, under the firm-name of Lembeck & Betz, proprietors of the Eagle Brewery. The plant has been largely increased during later years, and the copartnership still continues.
CHARLES W. LAWS was born in New York City, August 3, 1847. He is the son of Jas. M. Laws and Mary A. Rogers, who were natives of Long Island. In 1854 Mr. Laws' father removed to Jersey City. He was educated in the public schools of the city, and he subsequently completed his studies at the Free Academy in New York City. He began his business career as a cash boy with JOHN BETZ. Tiffany & Co., of New York. After being in the employ of that firm for some years, he accepted a position in the great dry goods house of the late A. T. Stewart. In 1871 he became a traveling salesman for Deutsch & Lewis, a mercantile firm of New York City. In 1877 he engaged in business for himself. He opened a restaurant on Newark Avenue,
Jersey City. Mr. Laws is secretary of the Star Building and Loan Association. lle is a mem- ber of Farnsworth Lodge, I. O. O. F .; Highland Lodge, F. and A. M .; Triune Chapter, R. A. M .: Excelsior Council, Royal Arcanum ; the Lincoln Association and the Old Guard of Jersey City. He is a member of the Carteret and Federal clubs of Jersey City, and is president of the latter. He was one of the organizers-of the Fourth Regiment, N. G., N. J., of which he was a member for about seventeen years. He began as a private in the company, and was promoted until he reached the rank of captain of Company A of the regiment. In 1880 Mr. Laws organized the Toffey Light Guard, which organization is well known through- out this and adjoining States for its proficiency in fancy drill. In 1874 he was appointed assistant assessor for the old fourth aldermame district. In 1885 he was elected frecholder from the fifth aldermanic district. In 1888 and isSo he was as- sessor for the fifth aldermanic district.
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