USA > New Jersey > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, New Jersey, 1664-1920, Volume III > Part 12
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GEORGE ROBERT BUNTEN, JR .- For the past ten years the growth and development of the city of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, have been so rapid that the mere providing of the materials of construction has become an industry in itself. In this line of business activity George Robert Bunten, Jr., stands among the leaders.
Mr. Bunten is a son of George Robert Bunten, Sr., formerly of Alpine, New Jersey, and for many years in the ship chandlery business, but now retired. The elder Mr. Bunten served in the Civil War.
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George Robert Bunten, Jr., was born in Alpine, New Jersey, May 9, 1876. He received his education in the public schools of Richmond Valley, Staten Island, New York. There he laid the practical founda- tion for a business career. As he grew into manhood he became inter- ested in his father's business, learning all the details. This business he followed for twelve years; then seeing the opportunities for success in the handling of all kinds of construction materials, he entered this field, along the line of mason's materials and supplies. This line of business activity he has followed for the last ten years, and has made himself felt in the construction world. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Lodge No. 784, of Perth Amboy ; also a mem- ber of the Elks Club, of that city.
Mr. Bunten married, October 16, 1900, in Perth Amboy, Margaret Connell, daughter of Patrick and Margaret Connell.
WILLIAM RUSSELL BUNTEN .- In the business world of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, one of the noteworthy inen in the construction line is William Russell Bunten. He was born in Alpine, New Jersey, December 3, 1878, a son of George Robert and Mary Bunten.
William Russell Bunten received his education in the excellent public schools of Richmond Valley, Staten Island, New York. When a young man he was attracted to a business career, and conducted a coal business for ten years. For the past twelve years, however, he has been actively interested in the handling of mason's materials, and his present business at No. 283 Water street, Perth Amboy, has grown and developed from its early beginnings until it is one of the important factors in the con- struction work of this section. Mr. Bunten is first a business man, but he holds affiliation with the foremost social and fraternal organizations in which he takes an active interest. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, in which order he is past chancellor ; the Improved Order of Red Men ; past president of the Order of Owls; and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is an honorary member of the Washington Hose Chemical Company, of Perth Amboy ; and of the Haymakers' Association. He is a member of the Elks and Odd Fellows clubs.
Mr. Bunten married, June 12, 1898, in Tottenville, New York, Annie Morehouse, daughter of David and Eliza Morehouse. They are the parents of eight children : William Russell, Jr., born November 2, 1899; Anna, born March 30, 1902; Helen, born April 1, 1906; Grace, born July II, 1907 ; Henry, born March 18, 1910; Bessie, born June 27, 1913 ; Mary, born March 21, 1916; and Robert, born June 2, 1918. The family are Members of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Perth Amboy.
BENJAMIN T. McNALLY .- From the Atlantic ocean to the Pacific coast and from the most northern part of the United States to South America, Benjamin T. McNally has visited nearly every city of im- portance on this continent and in addition has traveled all over Europe
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and Australia. A vaudeville performer, he enjoyed, by reason of his profession, unusual opportunities of seeing the world.
Benjamin T. McNally was born in Cleveland, Ohio, his father being Benjamin McNally, also born in Cleveland. He had always been a rail- road engineer until the last few years, when he retired from so strenuous a life and is now living in New Brunswick. On August 11, 1920, the elder Mr. McNally celebrated his seventy-seventh birthday anniversary. His wife was Annie (Hynes) McNally, born in Lynn, Massachusetts. She died January 19, 1912, in San Francisco, California, at the age of sixty-two years. Mr. and Mrs. McNally were the parents of nine chil- dren, five of whom are now living, namely: John, a resident of San Francisco; Benjamin T .: Hattie, wife of John Rogers; Louis, living in San Francisco; Stephen, a vaudeville actor.
Though claiming Cleveland, Ohio, as his birthplace, Benjamin T. McNally spent his childhood and youth in California and there he acquired an education in the public schools of San Francisco. After leaving school Mr. McNally joined Sells Brothers Circus, traveling with them for one season, doing a high wire and flying trapeze act in their shows. Coming East he entered into vaudeville work and began his journeying all over the world. In 1912, Mr. McNally came to New Brunswick, New Jersey, and entered into business life here. In 1917 he took over the Easton Avenue Garage and now has a flourishing plant at Nos. 39-41 Easton avenue. He is a member of the actors' club, the White Rats.
During the time that Mr. McNally was performing in vaudeville in Buda Pesth, Hungary, he met Theresia Hess, a native of Paris, France. She was also engaged in vaudeville shows. On April 23, 1905, in New York City, Benjamin T. McNally married Theresia Hess. They have no children.
NICHOLAS AUGUSTA MORRISSY is a thorough musician, and as an arranger of high class musical programs has no superiors. He is the founder of Morrissy's Band, which has a wide reputation, for no numbers except high class selections are ever played by the organization save by request. This evidences the wide range of music with which Mr. Morrissy is familiar, and the superior musicians comprising his organization.
Nicholas Morrissy, father of Nicholas Augusta Morrissy, was born in Waterford, Ireland, and came to this country when a young man, locating in Brooklyn, New York, where he worked as a blacksmith for many years. He died in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, about 1895. He married Katherine Power and to them were born ten children, seven of whom are living, among them being Katherine, wife of Patrick Tierney. a resident of Perth Amboy : Mary Dugan, a resident of Brooklyn, New York: Nicholas Augusta, mentioned below.
Nicholas Augusta Morrissy was born in Brooklyn, New York, May 24, 1872, and was brought by his parents to Perth Amboy, New Jersey, when he was six years of age. Here he attended the public schools until
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he was sixteen years old, when upon the death of both his parents, which occurred at this time, he was obliged to leave school. He then served an apprenticeship to the machinist's trade, since which time he has followed this particular trade with the exception of the ten years that he devoted exclusively to music. At the present time he is a machinist in the Schantz & Eckert Company. He is a fine cornetist, and has devoted much of his time to perfecting himself in the playing of this instrument. His hobby, which can be readily seen, is music. He affiliates with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and in religion is a Roman Catholic, being a prominent member of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church.
Mr. Morrissy married, in 1904, Anna Toft, daughter of John H. and Mathilda (Brown) Toft. Mr. and Mrs. Morrissy are the parents of two children : Anna Katherine, and Harry Austin.
CHARLES AUGUSTUS SCHENCK, a man who has since 1890 been a resident of New Brunswick, New Jersey, and later held for many years a prominent place among the active business men of this com- munity, is secretary of the Brunswick Refrigerating Company, which is located on Jersey avenue.
Henry Vander Veer Schenck, father of Charles Augustus Schenck, was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1833, and died here Sep- teniber 10, 1918, having spent his entire life in this State, largely in Newark, and for years connected with the Singer Sewing Machine Company. He married Mary A. Marshall, of New York City, who is still living and resides at the present time, 1921, in Newark, New Jersey. Mr. and Mrs. Schenck were the parents of three children: Charles Augustus, with whom we are here concerned, being the only surviving member.
Charles Augustus Schenck was born March 16, 1861, at New Bruns- wick, but at the age of six years removed with his parents to Newark, where he attended the public schools, graduating from the Newark High School in 1878. That same year he secured a position with the Singer Manufacturing Company and remained with them until 1885, when he resigned and went to Boston, Massachusetts, where for the next two years he furnished various office buildings throughout that city with towel supplies. In 1890 he returned to New Brunswick, and became private secretary to the president of the National Water Tube Boiler Company, later being promoted to the treasurership of the organization. In 1906, when this company was merged with the Brunswick Refrigerat- ing Company, Mr. Schenck continued with the latter, and in 1912 was elected to the position of secretary of the organization in which he has since continued. He has been for the past twenty years secretary of the second Merchants' Building and Loan Company of New Brunswick.
Mr. Schenck is a member of the Royal Arcanum, life member of the Young Men's Christian Association, and also holds membership in the City Bowling Club, of which he is secretary. His hobby is bowling and in recognition of his clever playing of the game he has won many tro-
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phies. He attends the First Reformed Church of New Brunswick, and has served on its official board. An able business man, public-spirited, loyal, patriotic and progressive, he is a man whom no obstacle can daunt nor no misfortune discourage.
On December 23. 1899, Charles Augustus Schenck was united in marriage with Nellie L. Cook, a native of Newark, New Jersey.
FRANK BURRELL OVERTON .- A love of engineering in all its branches prompted Mr. Overton, while in the employ of a corporation as stationary engineer, to begin the study of welding and he became so interested in the subject that he fitted up a shop in the rear of his home in Keyport, New Jersey, finally making electrical and acetylene welding of metals his sole business. He is master of his art, and in his shop at No. 261 King street, Perth Amboy, he follows his business suc- cessfully. He is the son of William Willard and Julia Ann (Hutz) Over- ton. his father a mariner all his life.
Frank Burrell Overton was born in Port Monmouth, Monmouth county, New Jersey, on Sandy Hook bay, February 27, 1884. He attended the village public school, and when school years were over was variously employed until finally becoming a stationary engineer with the Jersey Central Traction Company of Keyport, New Jersey. He was in that employ in 1911, when he took up the study of welding metals and finally built a shop in the rear of his home and made welding his specialty. He began in a small way, but met with such encouraging success that in 1918 he moved to Perth Amboy, where he opened a snop at No. 261 King street. He specializes in both electric and acetylene welding, and is well established in business. Mr. Overton is a member of Corliss Lodge. No. 13, National Association of Stationary Engineers ; Raritan Lodge, No. 61, Free and Accepted Masons ; Perth Amboy Lodge, No. 784. Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Lawrence Lodge, No. 62. Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and Middlesex Lodge, Junior Order of United American Mechanics. He is also a member of Simpson Methodist Episcopal Church, and in politics is a Republican.
Mr. Overton married, in New York City, February 27, 1911. Henrietta Mears Tooker, daughter of Frank Elias and Mary Elizabeth (Farrell) Tooker. Mr. and Mrs. Overton are the parents of two daughters: Har- rietta Elizabeth, born October 3. 1914; Kathryn Willard, born August 20, 1918.
IRA RUTLEDGE CROUSE-A good example of the successful business man and man-of-affairs, who has risen through his own efforts to a position of prominence in the community, is Ira Rutledge Crouse, a citizen of whom Perth Amboy. New Jersey, may well be proud. Mr. Crouse's descent from one of the fine old families which came to this country many years ago is warranty of his sterling and vigorous traits of character. The stock from which he sprang is typical of the best traditions of American life.
William Henry Crouse, father of the subject of this review, was
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born on the old homestead in Hunterdon county, in 1841, and died in 1912, at the age of seventy-one. Like many of the young men of his time he served during the Civil War; he was a volunteer attached t) the Pennsylvania regiment, and was wounded at the battle of Bull Run. He married Catherine Londenbery, born in Warren county, New Jersey, May 6, 1842, and who died in Perth Amboy, in February, 1918. Eight children were born of this union : Annie, now the wife of Harvey Trau- ger ; Harry, a gold miner of Idiarod, Alaska; John, a farmer in Hunter- don county ; Edith, deceased ; Walter, a farmer in Warren county ; Ira Rutledge, mentioned below; Katherine, died in infancy; Frank, died in infancy.
Ira Rutledge Crouse, son of William Henry and Catherine (Louden- bery) Crouse, was born on the old homestead in Hunterdon county, January 6, 1873. He attended the district school here until he was nine years old, when he was brought by his parents to Mount Joy, New Jersey, pursuing his studies there for two years and finishing at Millers- ville, when he had reached the age of sixteen. In 1893 he came to Perth Amboy and began an apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade, and at the end of four years, after having finished his training, he established himself in the contracting and building business together with a lumber yard which he owns. He has built many of the schools of Perth Amboy and also the Polish church here, which is considered the finest structure of its kind in the State. The success which has attended his efforts is due to no happy succession of advantageous circumstances, but to his own sturdy will, steady application, and tireless energy.
Mr. Cronse's thorough business qualifications and his well-known executive ability have always been in demand on director's boards, and in consequence, he is president of the Union Garage Company, and was formerly vice-president of the Stouck-Reaser Lumber Company of Har- risburg, Pennsylvania. He is also a director of the Perth Amboy Trust Company and of the Citizens Building and Loan Association. In politics he is a Republican and takes a lively interest in that phase of public administration which makes for the highest good of the community. For two years he was a member of the Common Council, and later became the president, which office he held for four years; he has also served a five-year term on the Water Board.
Mr. Crouse affiliates with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Woodmen of the World, and with the Free and Accepted Masons Realizing that a busy man must of necessity have recreation, he holds membership in the Raritan Yacht Club, and the East Jersey Club ; his hobby is hunting.
In 1894 Mr. Crouse married Laura L. Leonard, a daughter of the late John and Jennie (Sinclair) Leonard, of Hunterdon county, New Jersey. To Mr. and Mrs. Crouse have been born three children : Law- rence, born November 18, 1895, now associated with his father in busi- ness ; he is married and has one child, Grace ; Ira, born March 28, 1901, a student in the Perth Amboy High School; Katherine, born in Novem- ber, 19II.
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Ira Rutledge Crouse is a man of quiet force, the force that accom- plishes large results with little friction, the force that counts in the upbuilding, maintenance and prosperity of cities. Throughout his career he has been animated by the spirit of progress, ever pressing for- ward to make the good better and the better best, and his career may be summed up in one word-success -- the result of his own unaided efforts furnishing a true picture of the upright business man.
EMIL EWALD BRASS, numbered among the younger generation of business men in New Brunswick, is the proprietor of the Brass Auto Supply Company, which is located at Nos. 53-55 Albany street, New Brunswick, New Jersey. He was born April 16, 1898, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Ewald and Margaret (Hoff) Brass. Ewald Brass was born in Germany and came to this country at the age of twenty years, locating in Brooklyn, New York, where he became an importer in crockery. He now resides with his wife in Metuchen, New Jersey, but spends part of his time at his son's business in New Brunswick. To Mr. and Mrs. Brass were born two children : Ewald, deceased ; Emil Ewald, of further mention.
The elementary education of Emil Ewald Brass was obtained in the public schools of Brooklyn, after which he entered the Dwight School of New York City, from which he was graduated in 1916. The following year he came to New Brunswick and established himself in the auto supply business, first at No. 33 Albany street, where he remained until December, 1919, when he removed to his present location and organized the concern known as the Brass Auto Supply Company. Bringing into his business up-to-date methods, his success, already assured, has been founded upon untiring industry and conspicuous ability in his line together with a farseeing business judgment and an unchanging uprightness.
During the World War, Mr. Brass was a member of the Officers' Training Corps in New York City from September, 1918, until he received his honorable discharge, December 24, 1918. He is ardently devoted to all out-door sports, but takes a particularly keen interest in hunting and baseball. He affiliates with Mt. Zion Lodge, No. 135. Free and Accepted Masons; the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks ; and the Improved Order of Red Men. He also holds membership in the Young Men's Christian Association, in the New Brunswick Boat Club, and is secretary of the New Brunswick Motor Trade Association. In religion he is a Presbyterian and attends the Second Church of that denomination at New Brunswick. Mr. Brass is unmarried.
MATTHEW FRANCIS URBANSKI, M. D .- The history of a State as well as that of a Nation consists chiefly of the chronicles of the lives and deeds of those who have conferred honor and dignity upon it, whether in the broad sphere of professional work, or of public labors, or in the narrower, but not less worthy, one of individual activity. If the general good has been promoted, the man who has brought about this
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state of affairs is most decidedly worthy of mention. Dr. Matthew F. Urbanski, while he has not yet been identified with the medical pro- fession a great number of years, has already accomplished results which rebound greatly to his credit.
Francis Xavier Urbanski, father of Dr. Matthew F. Urbanski, was born in Poland, in 1865, and came to this country when he was but twenty-one years of age. He has made his home in Perth Amboy ever since coming to the United States, and for a number of years carried on a successful painting and decorating business here, but is now retired from active pursuits and reviews a life well spent in the interests of the community which has been his home for so many years. He married Agnes Duschock, a native of Poland, and they are the parents of three children : Matthew Francis; Adrian X., a student in the medical de- partment of the University of Pennsylvania ; Xavier, deceased.
Matthew Francis Urbanski, son of Francis Xavier and Agnes ( Dus- chock) Urbanski, was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, August 8, 1892. He attended the public schools of his native city, and after gradu- ating from the local high school he commenced the study of medicine in the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, from which he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1914. During the following three years he served an interneship of a year and a half in the Newark City Hospital and Essex County Isolation Hospital, and then for the remainder of the time was assistant medical director for the Stonywold Sanitarium. In 1917 he established himself in the active practice of his chosen profession in Perth Amboy, where he is at present located and where he devotes himself almost exclusively to one particular dis- ease, tuberculosis. He is president of the Board of Health, and vice- president of the Perth Amboy Medical Society. Professionally he also holds membership in the National Tuberculosis Association, the Amer- ican Medical Association, and the Middlesex County Medical Society.
Dr. Urbanski is a member of St. Stephen's Roman Catholic Church, and affiliates with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Perth Amboy Lodge, No. 784. He is a member of the Phi Alpha Sigma. medical fraternity, and supreme physician of the Greek Catholic Benevo- lent Society.
The few years that Dr. Urbanski has spent in Perth Amboy have been years of arduous devotion to the advancement of the medical profession and tireless endeavor for the relief of suffering, and have placed him in the front rank of the city's physicians. It is sometimes said of a man the early part of whose career is indicative of more than usual promise "he will be heard from later." Dr. Urbanski has already been heard from and Perth Amboy thinks that he will be heard from again and again and for many more years to come.
GEORGE ANTON, JR., local manager of Armour & Company, was born June 28, 1880, the son of George and Rose (Smith) Anton. George Anton, Sr., is a native of Germany, but came to this country at the age of fourteen vears. locating in Somerville, New Jersey, where he
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has since continued to reside. To Mr. and Mrs. Anton have been born four children: George, mentioned below; William, deceased; Charles L., a resident of Cambridge, New York; J. Edward, who resides in Somerville, New Jersey.
The education of George Anton, Jr., was secured in the public schools of his native place, and during his spare hours he assisted his father in the latter's market in Somerville. At the age of twenty-two years he went to Jersey City and there secured employment in the same line of business, remaining for two years or until he resigned to identify himself with the Childs' Restaurant Company of New York City. In Angust, 1919, Mr. Anton came to New Brunswick from Yon- kers to accept the managership of the local branch of Armour & Com- pany, in which he has since continued most successfully, his ability as a business man having been fully tested and proven, for under his man- agement the business of the concern has been greatly increased.
During the Spanish-American War, George Anton, Jr., enlisted in the 3rd Regiment of New Jersey, Company H. He is well known in social and fraternal life in New York and New Jersey, and is a member of T. D. Landon Post, Spanish War Veterans, at Somerville, New Jersey, and the Masonic order, belonging to Poughkeepsie Lodge, No. 266, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Poughkeepsie : Royal Arch Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, Mount Vernon ; Bethlehem Commandery. Knights Templar, of Mount Vernon, New York; and Mecca Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of New York City. He is also affiliated with the Tall Cedars of Lebanon, New Brunswick. In his religious views Mr. Anton is a Presbyterian and attends the First Presbyterian Church in New Brunswick.
On November 8. 1906, George Anton, Jr., was united in marriage with Florence Wright, daughter of the late John W. and Henrietta (Barton) Wright, the latter a resident of Poughkeepsie. Mr. and Mrs. Anton are the parents of two children : George W., born August 2, 1907; Beatrice, born November 13, 1910. George Anton, Jr., is a young man, but his career has been one of good work and satisfactory results. There can be no reasonable doubt that the years which lie before him will be filled with greater effort and more signal achievement.
PATRICK NAGLE KENNEDY, one of the substantial citizens of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and known throughout the community for his public spirit and interest in the welfare of the place, traces his parental ancestry from the Dalcassian race, being descended in a direct line from the second son of King Brean Born, the name Kennidi being its anglicized form, and the cradle of the race being in that part of the present county of Tipperary, Ireland, which is washed by the Shannon river.
His maternal ancestors were French. Two brothers, Gilbert and Jocelyn de Angula, went to Ireland as knights in the army of Strong- bow, and they, like other Norman knights, married into the families of the native nobles and chieftains. In time the name "de Angula" became
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transformed into Nagle and Nangle, and both forms of the naine as well as the original are extant in Ireland and other countries today. Sir Richard Nagle, the founder of the southern Nagles, was a brilliant lawyer and statesman, being speaker of the House of Commons and attorney-general for Ireland in the goverminent of James II. Edmund Burke, the great statesman, orator and political philosopher, was a member of this branch of the family, his mother, Ellen Nagle, being a niece of Sir Richard's mother, and also the mother of the great Irish apostle of temperance. A son of the poet, Spencer, was married to one of the Nagle family, and still another member of this illustrious family was Sir Edmund Nagle, an English admiral, who later became governor of Newfoundland.
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