USA > New Jersey > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, New Jersey, 1664-1920, Volume I > Part 13
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In the older States, two great parties were formed which pursued distinct objects with systematic arrangement, which have been described by the eminent jurist, John Marshall, in the following words :
The one struggled for the exact observance of public and private con- tracts. Those who composed it were the uniform friends of the regular administration of justice and of a vigorous course of taxation which would enable the State to comply with its engagements. By a natural association of ideas they were also in favor of enlarging the powers of the federal government, and of enabling it to protect the dignity and the character of the nation abroad and its interest at home. The other party marked out for themselves a more indulgent course. They were uni- formly in favor of relaxing the administration of justice, of affording facilities for the payment of debts, and of suspending their collection and of remitting taxes. The same course of opinion led them to resist every attempt to transfer from their own hands into those of Congress, powers which others deemed essential to the preservation of the Union. Wherever this party was predominant, the emission of paper money, the delay of legal proceedings and the suspension of taxes, were the fruits of their rule. Even where they failed to carry their measures, their strength was such as to encourage the hope of succeeding in a future attempt. Throughout the Union, the contests between these parties were annually revived, and the public mind was perpetually agitated with hopes and fears on subjects which affected essentially the fortunes of a considerable portion of society. This instability in principles which ought to be ren- dered immutable, produced a long train of ills; and is believed to have been among the operating causes of those pecuniary embarrassments which influenced the legislation of almost every State. The wise and thinking part of the community who could trace evils to their source, labored unceasingly to inculcate opinions favorable to the incorporation of some principles into the political system, which might correct its obvious vices, without endangering its free spirit.
In this deplorable state of affairs, an initiating step was taken by the Assembly of Virginia, which appointed commissioners to consider the state of the trade of the United States, and to meet with commissioners from the other States at Annapolis, Maryland, in September, 1786. This meeting was held, the convention consisting of only two commissioners from New York, three from New Jersey, one from Pennsylvania, three from Delaware, and three from Virginia. Nothing was done with ref- erence to the especial object of the meeting, but a second convention was recommended to meet at Philadelphia in the following May for the
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revision of the Constitution of the Federal Government to render it ade- quate to the exigencies of the Union.
Congress did not at first view the resolution of this convention favorably, being in doubt whether it was constitutional on account of its not originating in that body as provided by the Articles of Confeder- ation. Their views, owing to the acts of armed insurgents against the laws of some of the States, tended to produce a reaction in their decision ; accordingly, they passed a resolution recommending the States to elect delegates to the convention. Acting under the authority, the several States except Rhode Island proceeded to the appointment. of delegates to the Federal Convention.
A number of the deputies to the Federal Convention appeared on May 14, 1787, at the State House, in the city of Philadelphia. A majority of the States, however, were not represented, and an adjournment was taken until May 25th, when nine States were represented and the convention was duly organized. The New Jersey delegation was headed by William Livingston, who had succeeded the renegade governor William Franklin, and had been the able executive head of the State government during the period of the Revolution. The Middlesex county representatives in the delegation were John Neilson and William Paterson; the former, however, failed to attend the convention.
In the proceedings of the convention, William Paterson took an important part. He introduced on June 15th a set of nine resolutions which became known as the New Jersey Plan. They differed from the Virginia Plan, as they favored only one branch of the Legislature, whose powers were derived from the States; instead of one executive head, it favored several. This became known as the State Sovereignty Plan. Although this failed to meet the endorsement of a majority of the delegates, it formed the basis of a compromise.
William Paterson, the introducer of the New Jersey Plan, was a native of Ireland, and in 1747, then being only two years of age, came to America with his parents. The elder Paterson located at Trenton, afterwards at Princeton, finally at Raritan (now Somerville). Young Paterson graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1763, read law under Richard Stockton, and was admitted to the bar in 1769. He first practiced in Bromley, Hunterdon county ; removing to Princeton, he was associated with his father and brother in a mercantile business. The year 1775 marked the commencement of his public career, when he was chosen delegate to the Provincial Congress; he was secretary of that body at its two sessions, also of the Congress that met at Burlington in 1776. On the organization of the State government, he became attor- ney-general, which was a hazardous position, as in performance of his duties he was obliged to attend the courts in the various counties, thus exposing himself to capture by British soldiers. On the restoration of
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peace, he took up his residence in New Brunswick and resumed his law practice On the formation of the Federal Constitution he became one of two senators from New Jersey. This seat he resigned after per- forming its duties for a single year, to become governor of New Jersey. During his leisure time for the next six years he codified the statutes of Great Britain, which prior to the Revolution were in force in New Jersey, together with those enacted by the State Legislature before and after separation from the Mother Country. While engaged in this task he was appointed by President Washington as associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. His last judicial act was to pre- side in the United States Circuit Court in New York in April, 1806; his health was now visibly declining, and he withdrew from all active con- cerns, and died September 9, 1806.
The Federal Constitution was unanimously ratified by the convention of New Jersey, December 17, 1787, this action being only preceded by the conventions of Delaware and Pennsylvania. Thus New Jersey became an integral part of a constituted federal government, and the inhabitants of Middlesex county, as one of the units of the State, became a progressive and prosperous community, and, as the future years flowed on, to increase in wealth and enterprise due to the stability of her indus- tries and the loyal, energetic efforts of her citizens.
CHAPTER XV. FIRST HALF OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
In the days of Washington, the people's adoration for the Nation's defender and a successful termination of their war troubles precluded any political division or the formation of rival political parties. The leaders of the then so-called Federalist party in many cases were well known to the citizens of Middlesex county. Washington during his Rev- olutionary career had often been seen by the people within its limits. Hamilton in his early youth was a student at an academy in Elizabeth- town, and in the military movements later in New Jersey took an active part.
The New England aristocrat Adams in his frequent official visits to the Continental Congress and while Vice-President, passed through New Brunswick on his journey to the national capital. At the expiration of Washington's second term as President, Adams became his logical suc- cessor, and it was not until towards the end of his presidential term, when he naturally was a candidate for reelection, that any decided oppo- sition to his continuance in office commenced to be demonstrated. Thomas Jefferson, who was the first to fill the office of Secretary of State in Washington's administration, resigned in 1793. The following year, on being offered an appointment, he replied, "No circumstances will ever more tempt me to engage in anything public." But notwithstanding this determination, he became a candidate in 1800 for the presidency of the country.
The administration of Adams had been turbulent and in no way har- monious for the country. Though the second President of the United States was a man of ability and purity of character, he was also quick, inflammable, sanguine, impatient of opposition, and desirous of popular applause. The attitude of affairs with respect to France on his accession to office was by no means free from difficulty and danger. Many of the members of Congress advocated open hostilities with that country. Washington was persuaded to become the commander of an army to operate against France. The Naval Department was formed, and author- ity was given to the President to borrow $5,000,000 for the public service. While these arbitrary actions were popular with the masses, the Federal party by the passage of the alien and sedition laws by Congress in 1798 received a setback that hastened and ultimately caused its downfall. The opposition party in Congress at this time was known as the Republican party, and, being in the minority, retired from active duty, waited their time for a favorable opportunity to bring their views of State power and
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influence to bear upon the people. The year 1799 opened with extensive military preparations for war: the elections held that year had resulted in favor of the Federalists, this being especially the case in the South, where considerable changes had taken place in favor of the government.
Jefferson and his colleagues were energetically placing the doctrines of the Republican party before the people, and the opposition of Hamil- ton and his followers to Adams' reelection, the latter boldly denouncing that portion of the Federal party who did not favor his measures, as a British faction, were the forerunners of an exciting presidential election in 1800. In the election in the State of New York for members of the Legislature in the early part of that year, the political parties were nearly equally balanced. Hamilton, as the leader of the Federalists, was opposed by Aaron Burr, who devoted himself to harmonizing the differences amongst the Republicans, and by his political astuteness and ability succeeded in electing the candidates of that party to the State Legisla- ture. Though this was a decided victory, this defeat of the Federal party in national politics was not lessened by the results of the New York elec- tion. There was a decided opposition to the nomination of Adams for President, but the Federal members of Congress held a caucus in May, 1800, which resulted in the selection of John Adams and Charles Cotes- worth Pickney as their candidates. The Republicans placed their depend- ence for success on Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr.
The political parties were known as the Anglo-Federal, the Simple Federalists, and Republican parties. In Middlesex county, Jefferson was denounced as an atheist and an enemy to all revealed religion. By his election to the office of President, the claims were made that he would become a hereditary president with unlimited power and a permanent autocracy. The Republican candidate for the council was James Morgan, who was opposed on the Federal ticket by Ephraim Martin. The nomi- nees of the Republicans for the Assembly were: John Heard, Phineas Manning, John Morgan, and Joseph Randolph. Those named for that office on the Federal ticket were John Neilson, Gershom Dunn, William Edgar and Benjamin Manning. The Federalists were triumphant in New Jersey, and their candidates for the Council and Assembly were elected in Middlesex county.
The counting of the electoral votes by the United States Senate resulted in Jackson and Burr receiving each a total of seventy-three votes, which was a clear majority of the whole number. This resulted in carrying the choice for President to the House, each State to be entitled to one vote, which on the thirty-sixth ballot resulted in favor of Thomas Jefferson for President and Aaron Burr for Vice-President. In this election, Hamilton and the Federalist leaders were actively engaged, as they considered Jefferson a far less dangerous man than Burr. Hamilton
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claimed that Jefferson had some pretensions to character, while Burr was devoid of any principles whatsoever only for his own aggrandizement, comparing and naming him as the "Cataline of America." Hamilton was thus able by his severe denunciations of Burr to overcome the bitter repugnance of the Federalists to Jefferson, which resulted in his choice for President. The Republican press was jubilant over the final election of Jefferson and Burr, and their encomiums were of an extravagant nature, as follows: "Resplendently Glorious, a complete victory obtained by virtue over vice, republicanism over autocracy, and the consequent downfall of Hamiltonians, Pickeronians, British agents and old Tories."
In the election for Governor following the inauguration of Jefferson as President, the Republicans succeeded in electing a native of Middlesex county to that office. Joseph Bloomfield was esteemed as a sound legis- lator and a judicious leader. As a presidential elector in 1792, he voted for Washington and Adams, but soon afterwards became an avowed opponent of Adams and, becoming friendly with Jefferson, he became a leader of the Republicans in New Jersey. In 1801 he was elected Gov- ernor, and was reëlected each succeeding election until 1812, excepting in 1802, when there was a tie for the office between himself and Richard Stockton, and for a year the duties of that office was performed by the vice-president of the council. Governor Bloomfield was born in Wood- bridge, in 1755, attended a classical school, studied law, and was admit- ted to the bar. He resigned from the Continental army in 1778, having been commissioned a major. His political and official life commenced with his discharge from the army, continuing until near the time of his death at Burlington, New Jersey, October 3, 1825.
In the fifth presidential election, while the Republicans carried New Jersey for Jefferson and Clinton, the Federalists in Middlesex county were successful in electing their candidates to the Assembly by an aver- age majority of one hundred and fifty votes. The Assembly was, how- ever, controlled by the Republicans, the only other counties in the State represented by Federalists being Bergen, Burlington and Cape May counties, the Assembly standing thirty-eight Republicans to fifteen Fed- eralists.
Toward the close of Jefferson's second administration, the embargo question with all its perplexing ramifications not only occupied the atten- tion of Congress, but was a vital factor in the political life of the country. The mooted question whether Jefferson would be a candidate for a third term was finally settled by his fixed determination to retire to private life. He allowed his mantle to fall upon his favorite, James Madison, who with George Clinton became the Republican candidates. The Federalists, divided as a party, with hardly any chance of success, selected General C. C. Pinckney and Rufus King as their candidates. Middlesex county
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still remained true to her Federalist attachments, the electors of that party receiving 1551 votes to 1216 cast for the Republican candidates. James Voorhees, James Parker, and George Boice were elected on the Federalist ticket to the Assembly, with majorities averaging 331.
James Parker, mentioned above, was a leader in public affairs. He was a descendant of Elisha Parker, a pioneer of Woodbridge, from Mas- sachusetts, and a son of James Parker, a leading citizen of Perth Amboy, a captain in the French and Indian War, who afterwards was engaged as a merchant in New York and was for many years mayor of his native city. A man of large landed property and vigorous intellect, he was one of the founders of the American Episcopal church in New Jersey.
James the younger was a man of great ability and public note. He graduated from Columbia College, New York, in 1793, but on account of · the death of his father when he was only twenty-one years of age he became the virtual head of his family. He managed the large landed interests left by his father, which his intimately practical knowledge of law and sagacious mind fitted him to perform. His entrance into public life was in 1806. A thorough Federalist, he was, nevertheless, not a par- tisan, and this with his independence, integrity and remarkable capacity made him exceedingly influential. He was a statesman as well as a speaker, one of the originators of the fund for free schools, a leader in the prohibition of the domestic slave trade. In 1790 one-twelfth of the popu- lation of the United States were slaves. The gradual emancipation act in the early part of the nineteenth century was adopted in the Northern States. In New Jersey there was an organized movement to abolish slavery as early as 1786, when the New Jersey Abolition Society, com- posed mostly of Quakers, received a charter from the Legislature.
Mr. Parker, both as a member of the Legislature and as foreman of the Middlesex grand jury, protected the negro and did much to save his State from the disgrace of slavery. Like his father, he was for many years mayor of Perth Amboy, also an originator and director of the Delaware and Raritan canal and a commissioner to settle the boundary line between New Jersey and New York. He served with distinction in the National House of Representatives, winning from his colleagues the cognomen of "Honest James Parker," and distinguishing himself as a champion of the right of petition and as a guardian of the finances of the Union. After leaving Congress and until his death, April 1, 1868, he was first a Whig and then a Republican, a staunch supporter of the Union and of emancipation.
The presidential contest in 1812 was enlivened by the war with Great Britain. Madison had acceded to the views of the war party, which caused a split in the Republican party. The regular party nominees were Madison and Gerry, while those in opposition named Clinton and Inger-
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soll. The Federalists, hoping to profit by the division in the ranks of their opponents, mostly voted for Clinton and Ingersoll. The voters of Middlesex county, therefore, deprived of a regular Federalist nomination, cast their ballots for electors for President and Vice-President for Clinton and Ingersoll, though they elected to the Assembly a solid delegation consisting of James Parker, James Voorhees and Ercucries Beatty, the first mentioned receiving 1,780 votes to 1,427 cast for the highest can- didate on the opposition ticket. James Schureman, a Federalist, was elected over John James, a Republican, to the council by a majority of 343.
The War of 1812 played no important part in the history of Middlesex county. Her soil was not invaded by a foreign foe, and her seacoast was ably defended by the United States navy from any inroads or attacks of the enemy's battleships. President Madison commissioned Governor Bloomfield a brigadier-general in the army, and early in 1813 his brigade reached Sacketts Harbor, New York, but soon after their commander was transferred to take command of a military district with headquarters at Philadelphia, where he remained until peace was restored. Middlesex county furnished sailors and soldiers for the navy and army, but there were no detailed companies from the county in active service.
In the autumn of 1816, the war having closed, the popular agitation was as to candidates for the presidential nomination, Madison, following the example of his predecessor, decided to retire to private life. The pre- dominance of Virginia was still in evidence when James Monroe became an avowed candidate. There was some opposition to his nomination from those who disliked the rule of the "Old Dominion." but on balloting in senatorial caucus on the respective claims of the candidates, James Monroe and Daniel D. Tompkins were selected by the Republicans. The Federalists, with no hope of success, selected as their candidate Rufus King, leaving to the electors the choice for Vice-President. Though the Republicans carried New Jersey for their candidates, electing their Rep- resentatives to Congress, Middlesex county still stood faithful to the Federalists, choosing Ercucries Beatty to the council and James Parker, Allison Ely, Jr., and Hezekiah Smith to the Assembly.
There was no opposition to the reelection of Monroe and Tompkins in 1820. This period in American history became known as "The era of good feeling," when the Republican, afterwards known as the Demo- cratic party, was the only political organization. Monroe received all the electoral votes of the States excepting one that was cast in Massachu- setts for John Quincy Adams. Internal improvements and tariff legisla- tion was the cause of the breaking up of the harmony in the political affairs of the nation. These harmonious times were, however, to cause a break in the political aspect of Middlesex county ; while the Republicans elected Andrew Kirkpatrick to the council, James Cook, also a Republi-
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can, defeated David E. Paten for the Assembly by a vote of 925 to 793. Ercucries Beatty and John T. McDowell, Federalist candidates, defeated their opponents by a vote 866 to 859. The Republicans had a majority in the Assembly of thirty-four.
The contest for the presidency in 1824 presented new names for can- didates. The success of Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812 and Indian wars in the South made him a popular candidate, while John Quincy Adams, William H. Crawford and Henry Clay had an army of admirers. This was the first appearance of the Whig party in a presidential election, and it had selected for its candidate the "Great Commoner" from Ken- tucky, Henry Clay. The political excitement was intensified by the visit of the illustrious Lafayette, "the hero of two worlds." New Jersey showed her preference in the presidential campaign by choosing electors favorable to Andrew Jackson. Middlesex county, however, gave John Quincy Adams a plurality of eighty votes; Robert M. Chesney was elected to the council; and J. T. McDowell, David Schenck, and J. F. Randolph to the Assembly. The electoral college failed to cast a major- ity for a presidential candidate, and the matter, in accordance with laws governing such cases, came before the House of Representatives, which elected John Quincy Adams as President.
The presidential campaign of 1828 was one of shameless abuse of private character, and slanderous imputations of everything unworthy and disgraceful. On the wave of this sea of scandal the Democratic party was successful in electing "Old Hickory," otherwise known as Andrew Jackson; Middlesex county still stood true to her Federalist instincts, though that name as a political party had been dropped, but in the embers of its dying fires had arisen an organization known as the Peo- ple's party, which was dubbed by the press as the Administration party. New Jersey as a State gave its vote to John Quincy Adams, the counties carried by Jackson being Sussex, Warren, Morris and Hunterdon. The majority for the Administration party in Middlesex county was 598; while its candidates for the council and Assembly received majorities from 132 to 355, James Fitz Randolph was elected to Congress to fill a vacancy caused by death. This gentleman was a native of Middlesex county, who after receiving a common school education served an appren- ticeship in the printing business. He became editor in 1812 of a weekly paper published in New Brunswick called "Fredonia," in which capacity he continued thirty years. He was a collector of internal revenue, clerk of the Common Pleas Court, and was representative in Congress from 1828 to 1833, and after his retirement was president of a bank in New Brunswick for ten years. He was the father of Theodore Frelinghuysen Randolph, the twenty-fourth Governor of New Jersey.
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Middlesex county was visited in the summer of 1832 by the Asiatic cholera; it commenced its ravages about the close of June, continuing until about October first, leaving in its path desolation and death. With a battle-cry of protection to the school fund and no monopolies, the National Republican party was launched in 1832 against the Jackson Administration party. Middlesex county swung into line underneath its banners and elected their candidates on that ticket to the Assembly. This body was composed of forty-two members of the National Republi- can party to twenty-two Jacksonians, thus was the New Jersey Assembly added to the hotbed of Federalism. The State, however, cast its electoral votes for Jackson and Van Buren; the Middlesex county electoral vote was for Henry Clay, he having a majority of eighty votes. The changing of the complexion of the New Jersey Assembly was a great reaction. In the House of 1830 there were eighteen National Republicans to forty-six Jacksonians. The following year this had been changed to thirty-one Jacksonians to thirty-three National Republicans, and in two years from 1830 the Jacksonians' majority of twenty-eight had been changed to twenty for the National Republicans.
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