USA > New Jersey > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, New Jersey, 1664-1920, Volume III > Part 2
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Charles A. Bloomfield was born in New York City, February 25, 1849. the son of William and Catherine Van M. (Croes) Bloomfield (q. v.), grandson of Smith Bloomfield, a well known builder of New York City, and great-grandson of Dr. Samuel Bloomfield of the seventh American generation. He began his education under private teaching, and when about ten years of age became a pupil at Summit Academy. Summit, New Jersey, remaining there until 1863. He was next a pupil at Dr. Hunter's old No. 35 Public School, Thirteenth street and Sixth avenue. said to have been the best school in New York City in its time. From that school he passed to the Free Academy, afterward known as the College of the City of New York, there remaining until 1867. He began the study of law under his father, formerly a member of the firm of McElrath, Bloomfield & Daly, and one of the distinguished lawyers of New York City, but after five years, which to him were exceedingly distasteful, he left the law and entered business life, and so continues. although more than forty years have since elapsed.
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Mr. Bloomfield entered the clay business, near the family home at Metuchen, and organized The Bloomfield Clay Company to work the clay beds or mines that the company owned on Raritan Ridge. He has been connected with clay manufacturing until the present time, and is one of the most prominent men in the State. He was president of the National Brick Manufacturers' Association in 1912 and 1913, and has held a similar position with the New Jersey Clay Workers' Association. He has taken a deep interest in ceramics, and was the founder of the Department of Ceramics in the State Agricultural College at New Bruns- wick, which is part of Rutgers College. He is a veteran of the old New York Seventh Regiment, National Guard, and was once president of the Masonic Veterans' Association of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey.
There is no better known man in the clay and ceramic industry, and the Bloomfield name is equally well known in the Masonic order. On May 12, 1921, Charles A. Bloomfield celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his Masonic birthday, having been made a Mason on that date, in 1871, in Belleville Lodge, No. 108, Free and Accepted Masons, Belle- ville, New Jersey, later taking a demit to help form Mount Zion Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, when Metuchen became his home. The members of Mount Zion Lodge, together with a number of distinguished guests from the Grand Lodge of New Jersey, gave him a banquet in celebration of his fiftieth anniversary as a Mason on this occasion. At a previous session of the Grand Lodge of the State of New Jersey Free and Accepted Masons, Mr. Bloomfield presented to that lodge a com- mission borne by his distinguished relative, General Joseph Bloomfield, a former grand master of the State (1799-1800), and governor of the State of New Jersey for eleven years, his the longest term any governor of New Jersey ever served, excepting that of Governor Livingston's.
Charles A. Bloomfield is a member of the Grand Lodge, being past master of Mount Zion Lodge, No. 135, Free and Accepted Masons, of Metuchen, New Jersey ; is a member of Jerusalem Chapter, No. 8, Royal Arch Masons, New York City ; Temple Commandery, No. 18, Knights Templar, of New Brunswick, New Jersey; is a thirty-second degree Mason, being a member of the Scottish Rite, Valley of New Jersey, Jersey City ; and a member of Salaam Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Newark, New Jersey. He was one of the originators of the St. John Guild of New York, and for many years its financial secretary.
Charles A. Bloomfield married, January 20, 1874, in old St. John's Episcopal Church, New York City, Mary Andrews, daughter of George F. and Mary (Holbert) Andrews, of Orange county, New York, where these two families were among the best known people. To Mr. and Mrs. Bloomfield two children were born : I. Eleanor Andrews, who resides unmarried at the homestead at Metuchen. 2. Howard Weston, a gradu- ate of the City College of New York, and a post-graduate of the Depart- ment of Ceramics of Rutgers College: he married Anita I. Lundy, of Metuchen, and they have three children : Eleanor V. M., Howard L., and Harold R.
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DANIEL COY CHASE .- Prior to 1785, Joseph Chase came from England to New England, locating at Fall River, Massachusetts, where his son, Stephen Chase, was born in 1785. Stephen Chase served in the American army during the War of 1812, and settled at Broadalbin, Ful- ton county, New York. There a son, Holden T. Chase, was born, in 1812, and he married Phoebe Coy, they the parents of Daniel Coy Chase, the principal character in this review.
Daniel Coy Chase was born in Broadalbin, Fulton county, New York, May 4, 1850, and was educated in the public schools there. Later he came to New York City, where he was a student at Paine's Business College. He began his long successful career in marine affairs October 16. 1864, as night watchman of steamboats at the Delaware & Raritan Canal terminal at the foot of Morton street, New York City. He quickly rose in rank with this company, which was then the Camden & Amboy railroad, but soon afterward became a part of the Pennsylvania railroad system. On October 1, 1866, he was made assistant towing agent at New York City during the open months of navigation, and in the winter months served as freight clerk at New York City and assistant train despatcher at Jersey City. He was again promoted October 1, 1874, to the post of towing agent at New York City, where he also acted as chief master and pilot of steamboats. In 1875 he was made general agent of the Pennsylvania railroad's New York-Albany and New Brunswick tow- ing lines. Again on September 1, 1880, he was promoted to the posi- tion of superintendent of steam towing for the Pennsylvania railroad, a position he held for a number of years. From March I, 1902, to De- cember 1, 1905, he also held the position of terminal and shipping agent at South Amboy, and in 1906 he was made superintendent of the lighter- age department of the company's business. After the railroads passed under Federal control in 1917, Mr. Chase was advanced to a higher position, his title being consulting superintendent, and he acted in an advisory capacity on many of the most important maritime and railroad affairs in this section of the country.
On all matters pertaining to lighterage business of the harbor and its relation to admiralty law, he is an authority, his long connection with such work having compelled him to study the subject from every angle. Harbor, pilot and tow boat laws and duties are all familiar subjects. He has been called on many times by the National and State governments, as well as by other large bodies, to render decisions in such matters. It was partially through his efforts that Congress appropriated large sums of money for much needed improvement of the navigable channels in New Jersey and New York harbors. Mr. Chase has invented and patented many devices and attachments used in tugs and barges, and originated the duplex system used by the towing department. Besides these he was the first to designate the system of painting steamboat stacks with designs to describe their ownership. The keystone on the Pennsylvania Railroad boats is a design originated by Mr. Chase, and many other companies have followed this custom.
In April, 1889. Captain Chase was appointed by Governor Robert S.
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Dechase
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Green a member of the Board of Commissioners of Pilotage for the State of New Jersey, a post he ably filled until his retirement in 1906. In 1894 he was chosen president of the board. For upwards of fifty years Captain Chase was an active pilot master and engineer on local and coast- wise waters, having a license for such duties should occasion arise.
Other interests have claimed him outside his railroad duties; for years he was president of the South Amboy Lumber and Builders' Supply Company ; for a long time he was a director of the Maple Realty Com- pany ; and vice-president of the First National Bank of South Amboy. He was one of the organizers and the first president of the Raritan River Railroad Company, and for years was a member of its board of directors. He organized the Perth Amboy Dry Dock of Perth Amboy, and was its first president. Later he organized the Raritan Dry Dock Company, and likewise was its first president, being president of both these companies at the same time.
A Democrat in politics, Captain Chase has held many offices of public trust. He was at one time chosen freeholder of Middlesex county, and in 1884 he was elected State Senator from this county. While Senator he drafted, introduced and pressed to passage the bill creating the bor- ough of South Amboy in 1887; that borough, in appreciation of his work, elected him for five successive terms as mayor. In 1894 he was the choice of his party in the New Jersey Third Congressional District, but declined the nomination for Congressman. Mr. Chase is a member of the Railroad Club : the Traffic Club ; the Maritime Exchange of New York; the National Board of Steam Navigation, and a member of the legislative and executive committees. He has been for years chairman of the legislative committee of the New Jersey-New York State Chamber of Commerce, and has performed notable service in securing legislation of benefit to those interested in anchorage and navigable waterways' questions. He is a long time president of the Board of Health of South Amboy in addition to his other local activities, also president of the local " Chamber of Commerce. For several years he was president of the Maritime Reporter Publishing Company of New York City, publishers of the well known "Maritime Reporter."
In the Masonic order, Captain Chase is a past master of St. Stephen's Lodge, No. 63, Free and Accepted Masons, of South Amboy ; a com- panion of the Royal Arch Masons; a Knight Templar; and a noble of Salaam Temple. Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Order of United American Mechanics; the Im- proved Order of Red Men; Pennsylvania Railroad Benevolent Society ; Telegraphers' Benevolent Association ; Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation ; various automobile clubs; trustee and deacon of the Baptist church of South Amboy, and a member of Chase Lodge, Independent Order of Foresters, which was named in his honor.
Such in brief has been the career of a man now retired to the privacy of his beautiful home in South Amboy, and a man of extraordinary keenness of mind and good health for one of his years. He numbers among his friends everyone who knows him in the community in which
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he lives, and all over the State and country men of influence and wealth claim his friendship. A leader among men, he has not sought his own ends, but all organizations and enterprises with which he has been con- nected have been benefited, strengthened and advanced through his connection with them. Besides his leadership in many things, he has appeared upon many platforms, and has won more than local fame as a speaker. It can be truly said that Captain Chase is a citizen of the first rank, and his home town gladly claims him, Middlesex county is well represented by his presence, and New Jersey is benefited by such citizenship.
M. IRVING DEMAREST .- The family of Demarest, so influential in New Jersey, descends from Jean Des Marets, a French Huguenot, who with his family fled from France and sought refuge in Holland, settling at Middelburg, on the Island of Walcheren, in Zealand. His son, David Demarest, as the name became in this country, came to New Amsterdam on the ship "Bontecou" (Spotted Cow), April 16, 1663, and finally settled on the tract which he bought in Bergen county, on the Hackensack river, known as the French patent, where he hoped to establish a colony of French refugees. That land was originally bought from the Indians in 1677, but owing to the fact that it lay partly in New York and partly in New Jersey, David Demarest found difficulty in procuring a valid title, and it is said that before he did come into peaceful and undisputed pos- session he paid for his land four times the original purchase price. He moved with several other Huguenot families to the tract in 1686, and there died, in 1693. He married, at Middelburg, Island of Walcheren, Zealand, Marie Sohier, and they were the parents of two sons: David and Samuel, both of whom married. From David and Marie Demarest sprang the numerous ancient and honorable Demarest families.
M. Irving Demarest, of Woodbridge, New Jersey, is a son of William H. and Agnes (Van Derveer) Demarest, his mother of equally ancient and honorable family. William H. Demarest was born in Woodbridge, and there died, in 1903, after a long and useful life. He was for many years and until his death engaged in the coal business which he founded and which after his passing was sold to Thomas F. Dunigan. Mr. Dema- rest was active in town affairs, and was one of the organizers of the First Congregational Church of Woodbridge, and from its organiza- tion, in 1876, until his passing, in 1903, was a member of its board of trustees.
M. Irving Demarest was born in Woodbridge, Middlesex county, New Jersey, July 23, 1876, and there attended the public schools until he was sixteen years of age. He then became associated with his father in the coal business, continuing with him for two years, 1892-94, then formed a connection with E. J. Gillis & Company, dealers in teas and coffees, at No. 245 Washington street, New York City, as traveling salesman. He traveled for that company for two years, then in 1896 entered the employ of Gorham L. Boynton, a contractor of Sewaren, New Jersey. Mr. Boynton was also the agent for the owners of the Sewaren
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tract, and when in 1899 he retired from the business, Mr. Demarest suc- ceeded him and still fills the position. In 1907 he began taking contracts for road building and has since built roads all over the State of New Jersey. He is still active in the contracting field, and in that field has gained high reputation. He is vice-president of the First National Bank of Woodbridge, and a man universally respected and esteemed.
In 1903 Mr. Demarest was elected clerk of Woodbridge township, serving three years. In 1906 he was appointed clerk of the Middlesex county Board of Chosen Freeholders, holding that position four years. He is a member of the Masonic order, holding the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite ; is a noble of the Mystic Shrine ; a member of the Perth Amboy Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and the Royal Ar- canum. He is a member of the First Congregational Church of Wood- bridge, a society his father aided in organizing in the year his son was born, 1876.
Mr. Demarest married, in Sewaren, New Jersey, June 25, 1901, Elizabeth B. Voorhees, of ancient New Jersey family, daughter of J. Van Cleef and Isabel (Voorhees) Voorhees. Mr. and Mrs. Demarest are the parents of a son, Irving Voorhees Demarest, born May I, 1904, now a student at Blair Academy, Blairstown, New Jersey. The family home is in Sewaren, New Jersey.
MORGAN FOSTER LARSON, a well known civil engineer of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, in spite of his years, has already earned a distinction in his particular line of work which might be the envy of a much older man. His efforts have been so discerningly directed along well defined lines that his may already be called a successful life in the true sense of the word.
Peter Larson, father of Morgan F. Larson, was born in Denmark, July 4, 1849, and came to this country at the age of twenty-two years, settling in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, where he has ever since resided and where he is the owner of a blacksmith shop and wagon factory located on Prospect street. He is a staunch Republican in politics, and takes a keen and lively interest in the principles of his party. He married Regina Knudsen, a native of Denmark, having been born there, October 31, 1848; she came to Perth Amboy when a young woman and has since resided in this city. Mr. and Mrs. Larson are the parents of five children : George T., born August 6, 1878, a member of the city fire department of Perth Amboy, is married, and has four children ; Louisa, born April II, 1880, wife of Thomas Jensen, and has one child ; Morgan Foster, of further mention; Peter, born October 3, 1884, a blacksmith by trade, is married, and has one child ; Edward, died in infancy.
Morgan Foster Larson was born in Perth Amboy, June 15, 1882, a son of Peter and Regina (Knudsen) Larson. He received his prelimi- nary education in the local public schools, later matriculating in Cooper Union University, from which he was . duated B. C. in 1907, and immediately established himself as an eng .. er in his native city, receiv-
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ing that same year the appointment of county engineer, which position he held for three years. In 1911, he received his degree of Civil Engi- neer, and the year previous he formed a partnership with Alvin B. Fox and this still exists under the name of Larson & Fox. In 1917, Mr. Larson was appointed city engineer of Perth Amboy, and township engineer of Woodbridge, which offices he still holds.
A Republican in politics, he is peculiarly popular in the organization and has for the past four years been president of the Perth Amboy Republican Club. He has ever identified himself with the interests of the community in which he resides, and his executive ability is well recognized, in consequence of which he is a director of the Perth Amboy Trust Company and also director and one of the organizers of the Perth Amboy Building and Loan Association. In religion he is a Lutheran and a member of Grace Lutheran Church. He is prominent in many of the fraternal organizations. being a member of Lodge No. 61, Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Lodge No. 784.
Mr. Larson married, January 7, 1914. Jennie Brogger, a daughter of L. C. N. and Karen (Larson) Brogger. Mr. and Mrs. Larson have no children.
No citizen of the community is more highly respected than he, his fellow-citizens recognizing his merit and rejoicing in his advancement and the honors which he has attained. Honorable in business, loyal in citizenship, charitable in thought, kindly in action. true to every trust confided to his care, his life is worthy of emulation, and gives promise of future success.
CHARLES R. SIMMEN, son of Theodore and Marie (Lecker ) Sim- men, was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, November 12, 1881, but two years later his parents moved to Perth Amboy, where Theodore Simmen engaged first in the pottery business, but later was engaged in the management of a bakery.
Charles R. Simmen was educated in Perth Amboy public schools. Since leaving school he has been principally employed as a baker, having been taught that trade by his father. He continued with his father so long as the latter was in the business, then joined forces with his brother, and with him is now associated in the Simmen's Model Bakery, at Perth Amboy.
Mr. Simmen is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, being past sachem of the former, and at present (1921) exalted ruler of the latter. He is a Repub- lican in politics.
Mr. Simmen married, at Perth Amboy, New Jersey, in June, 1907, Ella Hughes, daughter of Henry and Mary (Ryan) Hughes, of Perth Amboy. Mr. and Mrs. Simmen are the parents of two daughters : Marie and Eugenia. The family home is at No. 122 Lewis street, Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
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Louis AVoorhees.
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LOUIS A. VOORHEES-The surname Voorhees is of early Dutch origin and traces to an ancestor known as Albert of Voorhees, who resided before (voor) the village of Hees, in the Province of Drenthe, Holland.
(I) The American progenitor of this branch is Steven Coerte Van Voorhees, who emigrated from "before the village of Hees," Holland, in April, 1660, in the ship "Bontekoe" (spotted cow), whose captain was Pieter Lucassen. He purchased, November 29, 1660, from Cornelius Dircksen Hoogland, nine morgens of cornland, seven morgens of wood- land, ten morgens of plainland, and five morgens of salt meadow in Flatlands, Long Island, for three thousand guilders, also the house and houseplot lying in the village of "Amesfoort en Bergen" (Flatlands), with the brewery and all the brewery apparatus, kettle house and casks, with the appurtenances. He had seven children.
(II) Lucus Stevense Van Voorhees, son of Steven Coerte Van Voorhees, was born at Flatlands, Long Island, and married Catherine Hansen Van Noortstrand. They had seven children.
(I11) Jan Lucasse Van Voorhees, son of Lucas Stevense and Cather- ine Hansen (Van Noortstrand) Van Voorhees, married Mayke R. Schenck, and removed in 1717 to Six Mile Run, Somerset county, New Jersey.
(IV) Isaac Voorhees, son of Jan Lucasse and Mayke R. (Schenck ) Van Voorhees, married Helena, daughter of Derrick Barkaloo, and resided in the vicinity of New Brunswick.
(V) David Voorhees, son of Isaac and Helena (Barkaloo) Voor- hees, married Eve Oakey, and resided in New Brunswick. They had seven children. Mr. Voorhees partcipated in the Revolutionary War, and in 1781 was a lieutenant of the New Jersey Militia.
(VI) Ira Condict Voorhees, son of David and Eve (Oakey) Voor- hees, married Ann Rolfe Holbert, and they had three children.
(VII) Charles Holbert Voorhees, son of Ira Condict and Ann Rolfe (Holbert) Voorhees, and father of Louis A. Voorhees, was a physician for many years in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and also served as county physician. During the Civil War, he took an active part in the medical corps. He married Charlotte Bournonville, and to them were born four children: Ira Condict (2), a resident of New Brunswick ; Vanderbilt Spader, a resident of New Brunswick; Anthony Bournon- ville, of Belmar, New Jersey ; and Louis A., of further mention.
(VIII) Louis A. Voorhees, son of Charles Holbert and Charlotte (Bournonville) Voorhees, was born March 6, 1865, in the old home- stead in which he now resides, at No. III Carroll place, New Bruns- wick, New Jersey. His education was obtained at the private school of Miss Ten-Broeck, Rutgers College Grammar School, from which he was graduated in ISSI, and Rutgers College, where he obtained the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1885, and Master of Arts in 1888. In 1885, after completing his studies, he secured a position as assistant chemist with the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, subsequently being promoted to chief chemist in 1895, which office he held for ten Mid-15
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years. As such, he prepared many of the bulletins that went out from that office for the instruction and edification of the agricultural con- munities. At present (1920), he is chemist in the Department of Health of the city of New Brunswick. In 1899, he formed an association in company with E. N. Bedford and George Kuhn, which instigated the plan of purchasing what had been the Remsen Avenue Baptist Church and converting it into the Masonic Temple of New Brunswick, of which association he became its first secretary and is still holding that office.
Mr. Voorhees has delved deep into the technicalities and intricacies of his profession, and, in consequence, is a member of many of its lead- ing societies, among them being: The American Chemical Society ; the American Electro-Chemical Society ; the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the New Jersey Chemical Society; and the Society of Chemical Industry, of London, England. He is also prominent in Masonic circles, being past master of Union Lodge, No. 19, Free and Accepted Masons : formerly high priest of Scott Chapter, No. 4, Royal Arch Masons ; past thrice illustrious master of Scott Coun- cil, No. I. Royal and Select Masters ; a member of Temple Commandery, No. 18, Knights Templar ; New Jersey Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, and Mecca Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, New Brunswick Lodge, No. 324, and is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. His clubs are: The Chemist Club, of New York City; the Middlesex Automobile Club, of which he is secretary ; the New Jersey Automobile and Motor Club of Newark ; and he also holds the office of secretary of the State Automobile Associa- tion known as the Associated Automobile Clubs of New Jersey. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa fraternity, and Delta Upsilon.
On October 24, 1900, Mr. Voorhees was united in marriage with May Wilcox, daughter of Theodore and Annie (Stroud) Wilcox. of New Brunswick. Mr. and Mrs. Voorhees have no children.
FRANK NEER .- For many years Frank Neer was a well known figure in the social, business and political circles of Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The Neers were an old and highly respected family in Hol- land, and came to this country in the very early history of the American colonies.
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