USA > New Jersey > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, New Jersey, 1664-1920, Volume II > Part 36
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John Augustine Coan was born in South Amboy, New Jersey, Novem- ber 29, 1877. He attended the public and parochial schools, finishing with graduation from St. Mary's Parochial School in 1894, then passed to Seton Hall, South Orange, New Jersey, whence he was graduated A. B., class of 1898, A. M., 1900. During the years 1898-1900, he was also a student at the New York Law School, and in 1900 he received his LL. B. from that institution, that degree and his A. M. from Seton Hall being conferred at about the same time. He was admitted to the New Jersey bar in June, 1900, and at once began practice in South Amboy. The two decades which have since elapsed have brought him the honors and emoluments with which his profession rewards her capable sons, and he also has the confidence and respect of his fellowmen, who have watched his career since boyhood. In addition to his private practice, he was assistant prosecutor of the pleas and is now solicitor for the Star Build- ing and Loan Association of South Amboy, one of the largest and most prosperous associations of its class in the State.
A Democrat in politics, Mr. Coan served his city on the Board of Edu- cation in 1910-1911, and from 1910 to 1914, was also county solicitor of Middlesex county. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus; the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and a trustee of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church. He has confined himself closely to professional duty, but upon the organization of the South Amboy Trust Company, in 1919, he became a member of the board of directors and first vice-presi- dent. During the World War period, 1917-1918, he was very active and helpful, serving as local chairman of the Liberty Loan Committee from the first to the final Victory Loan.
Mr. Coan married, in South Amboy, June 27, 1906, Nellie A. Sullivan, born there, August 24, 1878, daughter of Daniel and Catherine (Nagle) Sullivan, her father deceased, dying at the age of eighty-five, her mother
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yet living, aged eighty. Mr. and Mrs. Coan are the parents of five chil- dren: Mary Cecilia, born April 9, 1907; Catherine Marita, born April 14, 1909; Helen Agnes, born March 10, 1911 ; John, born May 27, 1912; James, born July 16, 1914. Every man has a hobby, but Mr. Coan has two, baseball and automobiling.
HON. JOHN FEE .- There is now and then a man who after he has passed away lives in the minds of many, not only by reason of results accomplished, but also in consequence of a singularly forceful person- ality. So survives the memory of the late Hon. John Fee, who at the time of his death was mayor of South River, New Jersey.
John Fee was born in Sayreville, New Jersey, March 27, 1861, the son of John and Alice (Ranahan) Fee. His education was obtained in the schools of his native place. For many years previous to his death he was engaged in the wholesale liquor business, which enterprise brought him substantial profit. He ever manifested that lively interest in everything relating to the public welfare, which was his dominant characteristic, and a capacity for friendship was a gift which he possessed in combination with fine business abilities. A Democrat in politics, he was always active in local public affairs and served his home town in many capacities. He was councilman a number of terms, and mayor for six term's, holding this office at the time of his death, October 24, 1917. Mr. Fee was also a member of the Board of Freeholders for many years. In religion he was a Roman Catholic, and his fraternal affiliation was with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
On October 3, 1892, the Hon. John Fee was united in marriage with Cora F. Mackey, daughter of Lewis and Mary E. (Dyckman) Mackey, and they had issue: Cora Alice, born June 23, 1893; Florence Elizabeth, born February 3, 1895; Augusta Catherine, born May 5, 1897; John Mackey, born December 11, 1899; Helen Mary, born November 13, 1901 ; Matthew James, born April 28, 1905.
From the foregoing outline, brief and imperfect as it necessarily is, it is easily understood that John Fee was a man of no ordinary ability as an executant, and also that he was endowed with breadth of view and liberality of sentiment. He had a rare capacity for friendship, and upon his death was mourned by men of every class in the community and fol- lowed by the blessings of many to whom he had been a friend in time of need. The crowning blessing of his years was his union with a woman who was his inspirer and helper and the presiding genius of his fireside.
FRANZ ROESSLER, a prominent figure among the successful citi- zens of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, where he has been engaged in busi- ness as a manufacturing chemist for many years, as head of the great Roessler and Hasslacher Chemical Company, is a native of Frankfort- on-Main, Germany, born December 6, 1856, a son of Fritz and Maria (Andreae) Roessler. His parents were well known in the city of Frank- fort, his father holding the responsible post of director of the mint for a number of years.
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Franz Roessler was the recipient of an unusually fine education dur- ing his childhood and youth. He attended as a boy the volke-schule or public schools of his native city, where he was well grounded in general education, and upon graduation from these institutions entered the Uni- versity of Zurich, Switzerland. Still later he became a student at the School of Mines at Freiberg, Saxony, where he specialized in courses bearing upon chemistry and its application to the arts and industry. In the year 1882 he came to the United States and engaged in business as a manufacturing chemist at Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The Roessler & Hasslacher Chemical Company of that city is in a large measure his work, and its great and rapid development which makes it to-day the largest concern of its kind not only in the State but probably also in the country, bears testimony to his great skill as a chemist and not less so his remarkable organizing and executive ability in the business world. Mr. Roessler has always taken a keen interest and an active part in the material growth of the city of his adoption, and is to-day associated with a number of its most important financial institutions, among which should be mentioned the First National Bank of Perth Amboy and the Perth Amboy Trust Company. He is also conspicuous in the social cir- cles and club life of New Jersey and New York, and is a member of the East Jersey Club, the New York Athletic Club, the Chemists' Club, and the Drug and Chemical Club, all of New York City. Mr. Roessler is to-day in the prime of his mental and physical powers, and as the active head of the great concern which he has built up plays an important part in the affairs of the community. His unusual abilities make him a leader among his associates, and he may claim to his credit the establishment of a concern founded upon so broad and firm a basis that it not only to- day dominates the chemical industry in this part of the world, but seems assured of a similarly important place in the future, guided, as it is surely safe to predict, for many years to come by his resourceful and conserva- tive intellect. A great past and a great present has already been achieved by him for the Roessler & Hasslacher Chemical Company, and an even greater future seems not less certain.
Franz Roessler was united in marriage, May 11, 1890, with Elizabeth Kuchler, a daughter of George and Betty (Stein) Kuchler, old and highly respected residents of that place. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Roessler, as follows: Maria, born 1892 ; Hans, born 1894; Fritz, born 1896; Anna, born 1898; Lillie, born 1900; and a child, born 1902.
JOHN LAZIER MacDOWALL, M. D., a specialist in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, and one of the leading members of the medical profession in Middlesex county, New Jersey, with offices at the corner of Market and State streets, Perth Amboy, is a member of one of the oldest American families, an ancestor of his being Mary Chilton, who came to the New World on the "Mayflower" to seek religious liberty, and the first woman to step from the vessel onto the seemingly inhospitable shore. The MacDowalls later removed to Canada and became prominent in the life of that country, a great-grandfather of Dr. MacDowall having
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been a united Empire loyalist and one of the founders of Queen's Uni- versity at Kingston, Ontario. This Robert James MacDowall was a man of strong religious convictions and played a considerable part in the affairs of Upper Canada, where he founded the Presbyterian church.
Dr. MacDowall's father, another Robert James MacDowall, was a lifelong resident of Kingston, Ontario, and was there engaged in busi- ness as an importer of musical instruments. He married Elda Lucinda Lazier, a descendant of Jacobus Lazier, a French Huguenot, who escaped from France during the Huguenot massacres, and they were the parents of five children, as follows: Ethel, who became the wife of W. L. Mc- Farland ; Etta, who became the wife of Dr. J. J. Robertson ; John Lazier, with whom we are here concerned ; Robert; and Elda.
Dr. John L. MacDowall was born August 29, 1878, in Kingston, On- tario, Canada, and as a lad attended the public schools of that city. After completing his studies at these institutions, he became a student in the Kingston Collegiate Institute and graduated from there in 1896 after completing his preparation for a college cotirse. He then matriculated in Queen's University, Kingston', of which. his great-grandfather had been one of the founders, and there took the classical course, graduating with the degree of A. B. in 1900. He had determined to follow medicine as a profession in the meantime, and at once entered the Medical School of the same university and received his. medical degree in 1903. He then came to New York City and took a post-graduate course in the Man- hattan Eye and Ear Hospital in 1904 and 1905. After his graduation from the last named institution, Dr. MacDowall came directly to Perth Amboy, where he has since practiced. He has been attended with a high degree of success from the outset and is now recognized as an authority in his chosen branch of medicine. Besides his private practice he holds the post of assistant surgeon of the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital and is opthalmologist in the Perth Amboy City Hospital. Dr. MacDowall has always interested himself in the general life of his adopted commu- nity, and is affiliated with a number of clubs and other organizations in Perth Amboy and elsewhere. He is a member of the Middlesex County Medical Society, the New Jersey State Medical Society, the American Medical Association, the New York Medico Surgical Society, the Friars Club of New York City, the Canadian Club of New York City, the Colo- nial Country Club, the East Jersey Club, the Raritan Yacht Club and the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity. He is, like his forbears, a Presbyterian in religious belief, and attends the church of that denomination in Perth Amboy. He is particularly fond of outdoor pastimes and spends his somewhat rare vacations fishing and hunting. He is also a member of the local lodges of the Woodmen of the World and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
RAYMOND DeWITT HOWELL fills a responsible executive posi- tion in the business world of Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
The family is one long resident in the State, and William Nayler Howell, Mr. Howell's father, was born in Kinkora, Mercer county, New
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Jersey, April 28, 1849. He is still actively engaged as a calker with the Perth Amboy Dry Dock Company. He has lived in this city for thirty- two years. He married Mary E. Fowler, who was born in Leipsic, Dela- ware, and is still living. They are the parents of three children: Mrs. H. Rankin, of Perth Amboy ; Captain Charles F. Howell, of the United States navy ; and Raymond De Witt Howell. This is the sixth generation in America, the family coming originally from Wales.
Raymond DeWitt Howell was born in Perth Amboy, September 26, 1892. He received his education in the public and high schools of the city ; then at the age of fifteen years he entered an insurance office in New York City. He remained for only a short time, however, then re- turned to Perth Amboy and secured a position with the Perth Amboy Hardware Company as office boy. He quickly gained the confidence of his employers and rose steadily. He was first promoted to clerk, and in 1917 made manager of the retail department. He is now manager of the business and assistant secretary of the company. Mr. Howell is a mem- ber of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; of the Junior Order of Mechanics ; of the Royal Arcanum ; and is also a member of the Junior Club; the Metropolitan Club of New York City, of which he is secretary and treasurer; and the Twentieth Century Club. He is well known in military circles, having held a commission in the Home Guards, New Jersey Militia Reserve. He is fond of all outdoor sports, being particu- larly interested in baseball.
Mr. Howell married, March 15, 1914, Petrea J. Stoier, who was born in Perth Amboy. Her parents, Hans and Elsie Stoier, both lived and died in this city. Mr. and Mrs. Howell have two children: Ruth, born May 15. 1915 ; and Janet Petrea, born May 28, 1920. The family are members of the Simpson Methodist Episcopal Church, and active in all its work.
SCHUYLER C. VAN CLEEF .- Following in the footsteps of his father, James H. Van Cleef, lawyer, Assemblyman and State Senator, Schuyler C. Van Cleef prepared for the profession of law, and since 1898 has practiced at the Middlesex county bar, as did his father. He has also served in the State Legislature, and has advanced far along the road to success. He is of excellent and honorable Dutch ancestry, a man thoroughly liked and respected.
The Van Cleefs of Middlesex county descend from Holland ancestors, the first to come to this country being Jans Van Cleef, who came over in 1659, settling at New Utrecht, Long Island. He was born in Holland, in 1628, and prior to 1661 married Enjelye Lowerins, the line of descent being through the youngest of their eight children, Cornelius Van Cleef, and his wife, Frementje Van De Water; their son, Laurens, who settled in New Jersey, married and had a son, Isaac, born in 1742. Isaac Van Cleef married, in 1769, Dorcas Prunyea, born April 13, 1749, died March 28, 1812. Isaac Van Cleef died June 30, 1804. They were the parents of eleven children, including a son, Abraham, great-grandfather of Schuy- ler C. Van Cleef, of New Brunswick, of whom further.
Abraham Van Cleef was born July 3, 1785, died March 7, 1870. His
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son, Peter A. Van Cleef, married Eliza Hutchings, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, and died in 1884, his wife dying the same year. They were the parents of an only child, James H. Van Cleef, of whom further.
James H. Van Cleef was born at Branchville, Sussex county, New Jersey, July 12, 1841. He was an attorney and counsellor-at-law, prac- ticing in New Brunswick. He was prominent in public life, serving his county and State as both Assemblyman and State Senator. He mar- ried Ellis S. Clark, and they were the parents of Schuyler C. Van Cleef, of whom further.
Schuyler C. Van Cleef was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, No- vember 13, 1878. He was educated in the public schools, Rutgers Pre- paratory School, and Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. He studied law under his eminent father, and on February 21, 1898, was admitted to the New Jersey bar as an attorney, and on February 21, 1907, as a coun- sellor. He has practiced law in New Brunswick very successfully during the years which have since intervened, and ranks high at the Middlesex bar. In 1908 he was elected a member of the New Jersey Legislature.
Mr. Van Cleef married Annie Keeler, and they are the parents of three children, as follows: Helena Schuyler, James H., and Ann.
FORREST LEIGH SMITH, B. S., C. E .-- A peculiar interest at- taches to the men behind any achievement. The workmen are in evi- dence during the constructive period, and the completed work adds to the convenience or safety of the public, but who, looking beyond the obvious, would not delight in touching hands with the man in whose brain the achievement first had birth, and who planned to the smallest detail the successive steps by which the work was accomplished? Forrest Leigh Smith, of Mason & Smith, civil engineers, is a man whose career is being watched with the keenest interest by his friends, because he is the man behind much of the important construction work in this section.
Mr. Smith's father, James Augustus Smith, was born in Flemington, New Jersey, and has been a resident of Perth Amboy since 1874. He is a prominent merchant in that city. He married Elizabeth Noe, who was born in Perth Amboy, and still lives there, at the age of sixty-six. They were the parents of six children : Marion, who died in infancy; Forrest Leigh, of this review; Mabel Noe, the wife of William Gicking, of Hazleton, Pennsylvania; Ethel, who lives at home; James Earl, who also lives at home; and Pearl, twin of the last named, who died at birth.
Forrest Leigh Smith was born in Perth Amboy, January 20, 1880. He attended the schools of that city, and was graduated from the Perth Amboy High School in 1897. He then took a course at Wood's Business College, then a year at Rutgers College, 1898-1899, being made an asso- ciate member in 1907, and from 1911 to 1915 took a course at Cooper Union, New York, attending night classes and graduating with degrees of B. S. and C. E., receiving the former in 1911 and the latter in 1915. All this time he was carrying on his business in Perth Amboy, having in 1904 formed a partnership with S. J. Mason, of Perth Amboy, under the name of Mason & Smith, civil engineers. For the past seventeen years
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they have continued this association of interests, and have handled some of the most interesting work in this region.
Mr. Smith was city engineer in 1905, 1906 and 1907; and township engineer for Woodbridge township for eight years. He is an associate member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and is a member of the alumni societies of Rutgers and Cooper Union, and was at one time president of the Perth Amboy High School Alumni Association. His favorite relaxation is in outdoor sports; he ran on the 'Varsity team at Rutgers, and has often played on the local football team. He is a mem- ber of the Raritan Yacht Club. He is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and was at one time esteemed loyal knight.
Mr. Smith married Jeannette Schade, daughter of Nickolas and Anna (George) Schade. Mr. Schade, who is now deceased, was a veteran of the Civil War, but Mrs. Schade is now living with her daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the parents of three children: Marvin Schade, born in 1905; Leonore, born in 1907; and Arnold, born in 1916. The family are members of the Presbyterian church.
JAMES LOGAN CLEVENGER, numbered among the residents of Perth Amboy, is vice-president of the Perth Amboy Evening News Company, and editor of the Perth Amboy "Evening News."
John Anthony Clevenger, father of James Logan Clevenger, is a direct descendant of the family by this name who came over from England and were members of the William Penn Colony in West Jer- sey. He was born in Beverly, New Jersey, September 10, 1841, and now resides in Hightstown, New Jersey. He was a farmer and later entered the railroad mail service, where he served for forty years, having been appointed by President Chester A. Arthur. He married Julia Gaskill, a native of Mount Holly, and by this marriage became the father of two children: Mrs. Grace C. Ashton, of Hightstown, New Jersey ; James Logan, of further mention.
James Logan (J. Logan) Clevenger, son of John Anthony and Julia (Gaskill) Clevenger, was born on a farm near Mount Holly, Burlington county, New Jersey, February 13, 1879. He was brought by his parents to the town of South Amboy when he was but five years of age, and lived there for nine years and there attended school. In 1891 the family moved to Hightstown, where his parents have ever since resided, and here he attended the Peddie Institute, from which he was graduated in 1896, supplementing this with one year at Drexel Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in the private secretarial course, in 1897. He then entered the law office of his uncle, Joseph H. Gaskill, at Camden, New Jersey, and at the end of one year was employed as a reporter on the Asbury Park "Journal" for the summer season, becoming a reporter on the Perth Amboy "Chronicle" in the fall of 1899, and in 1901 with the Newark "Evening News." In 1903, with two others, he bought the Perth Amboy "Republican," which name was changed to the Perth Amboy "Evening News." Mr. Clevenger is director of the Perth Amboy Trust Company. In all matters relative to the welfare
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of the community in which he lives he has ever manifested a deep interest, aiding always to the utmost of his power any movement which tends to further public progress or good government. He affiliates with St. Peter's Episcopal Church and is a member of the vestry. His clubs are the East Jersey, Raritan Yacht, and Colonia Country, and his hobby is golf.
Mr. Clevenger married, October 6, 1902, Jane Liddell Farroat, daugh- ter of the late Isaac and Martha Adelia Farroat, of Perth Amboy. Mr. and Mrs. Clevenger have three children : James Logan, Jr., born June 22, 1904; Ruth, born July 1, 1907 ; John Burr, born October 1, 1917.
JOHN FRANCIS WEBER, M. D .- Dr. Weber was one of the patriotic physicians of the county who forsook a private professional career to serve his country in her need, and in camp and hospital, on transport and battlefield, risked contagion and death for the sick and dying. The story of what the medical corps of the American army did at home and abroad for their own, their allies, and even their enemies, may never be told in full, but should it be told even in part, it will form the brightest page in all medical history. Nor should the non-pro- fessional men of the medical and hospital corps, nor the nurses be over- looked when self-sacrifice and devotion are the themes under discussion, for they worked, suffered, and went down into every depth of human woe that the professionals did. To men like Dr. Weber, America owes a huge debt of gratitude, the only payment they ask for their sacrifice.
John Francis Weber, son of William A. and Emma H. Weber, was born at Florence, Burlington county, New Jersey, January 21, 1889, his father a merchant. He attended Florence public schools until graduated from grammar school in 1903, then was a student in Asbury Park High School during the school year 1904-05. He then entered Blight Prepara- tory School, finishing with the graduating class of 1908. Choosing the profession of medicine, he entered the medical department of the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania, whence he was graduated M. D., class of 1913. The following year was spent as interne at Howard and Chestnut Hill hos- pitals, his private practice beginning at South Amboy, New Jersey, in 1914, and continuing until January 31, 1918. He then entered the military service of the United States in the medical corps, continuing until honorably discharged with the rank of captain, July 3, 1919. On August 1, 1919, he resumed private practice in South Amboy and there, where so well known, he is most highly appreciated both as physician and citizen.
Dr. Weber's military career began with his enlistment in the medical corps and his appointment to the rank of first lieutenant at the Army Medical School at Washington, D. C., which he attended from February I to March 15, 1918. From March 16 to May 10, 1918, he was on duty at Field No. 1, Aviation General Supply Department, Garden City, Long Island, going to Camp Dix, New Jersey, where his service covered the period from May 11 to May 19, 1918. He was assigned to the 311th Regiment of Infantry, 78th Division, and with that organization sailed from the Bush Terminal in Brooklyn, May 19, 1918. They landed in
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Liverpool, England, May 31st, following, and on June Ist sailed for Folkstone, England, landing in Calais, France, the same day. He served with the American Expeditionary Force in France until May 10, 1919, when he sailed from Bordeaux, France, arriving in Hoboken, New Jersey, May 26, 1919. The command was taken at once to Camp Merritt, leaving there June 3rd for Camp Dix, where Dr. Weber received honorable discharge, July 3, 1919, having left that camp just one year, one month and fourteen days earlier.
The nature and value of the service Dr. Weber rendered may be surmised from the military records. He was promoted to the rank of captain, February 14, 1919, and received from his own country the Dis- tinguished Service Cross, and from France the Croix de Guerre.
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