USA > New Jersey > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, New Jersey, 1664-1920, Volume III > Part 24
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CHARLES SMITH EDGAR .- The Edgar family, of which the late Charles Smith Edgar was a descendant, came to the United States from Scotland, about 1680, and settled in Middlesex county, New Jersey. The members of this family were mostly men of business and farmers, and in each generation produced worthy men and women who trans- mitted to posterity the sterling traits of character which distinguished their early Scotch ancestors. Mr. Edgar's Grandfather Tappen's home at Bonhampton, New Jersey, was once the headquarters for the British army during the Revolution. Afterwards, a British cannon ball was found in the house and is yet kept by Mrs. Edgar as a souvenir. Mr. and Mrs. Edgar's great-grandfather, Thomas Edgar, served during the Revo- lution.
Charles Smith Edgar, a clay miner and manufacturer, was a son of Albert Edgar, born in New Jersey, who became a successful farmer of Bonhampton, New Jersey, where his wife, Susan Tappen, was born.
Charles S. Edgar was born in Bonhampton, New Jersey, September 22, 1848, and died in Metuchen, New Jersey, May 15, 1917. He obtained a good education in the district schools, and grew to manhood at the home farm, later becoming a landowner. A clay bed was found on his property, and he made the mining, washing and production of clays his life's business. The production of his mines was used in the pottery industry. He developed a very profitable enterprise, and secured a fortune through his initiative and executive ability. He continued in business until his passing away. He was a man of sterling character, and was held in high esteem by his townsmen and his business associ- ates. In politics he was a Republican, and in religion a member of the Metuchen Dutch Reformed Church.
Mr. Edgar married, in Metuchen, New Jersey, December 20, 1882, Frances Emily Edgar, born May 22, 1848, daughter of Freeman and Sarah Elizabeth (Martin) Edgar, both parents born in New York City, where her father was a merchant. One son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Edgar, Albert Charles Edgar, born May 27, 1898, who attended Rutgers
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College, New Brunswick, and is now (1921) a student at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York. During the World War he was with the Twenty- eighth Regiment, New Jersey Engineers, and served in France. Mrs. Edgar survives her husband, and continues her residence in Metuchen, her home, at No. 31 Graham avenue, a handsome residence built in 1889 by Mr. Edgar. Mrs. Edgar is a member of the Metuchen Dutch Re- formed Church, as was her husband. She is a lady highly esteemed in the community in which she has so long resided, and has been active in community affairs.
ANDREW KEYES .- A half century ago William and Mary (Irvine) Keyes came from Ireland to the United States, where William Keyes engaged as a farmer at Englishtown, New Jersey. Later they moved to Rahway, New Jersey, where their son Andrew was born, he now a successful contractor of Woodbridge, Middlesex county, New Jersey, and an esteemed citizen.
Andrew Keyes was born in Rahway, New Jersey, June 15, 1883, and there attended the public schools. Later he completed a course in the New Jersey Business College, Newark, New Jersey, entering the clerical employ of the Pennsylvania railroad immediately after graduation. He continued a clerk in the Newark freight office of the Pennsylvania until 1906, when he became a lineman with the Public Service Corporation at Perth Amboy, and six years later, in 1912, began business in Wood- bridge, New Jersey, as a contractor, and there continues a prosperous business.
In politics Mr. Keyes is a Republican, and since 1911 has been town- ship clerk, now serving his tenth consecutive year. He is a member of the Masonic order, the Knights of Pythias, Royal Arcanum, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He and his family are mem- bers of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church of Rahway, New Jersey.
Mr. Keyes married, in Rahway, in 1905, Mary A. Marson, daughter of John and Mary Ann Gordon (Bunch ) Marson, her parents of English birth, they coming to the United States a half century ago. Mr. and Mrs. Keyes are the parents of two children : John Andrew, and Behatta Alice.
The family home is in Woodbridge, where the family are highly esteemed. Mr. Keyes has proven a most efficient town clerk and has given to his office the same careful attention that he gives to his private affairs. In his business relations he is honorable and upright, holding public confidence to a remarkable degree.
ARTHUR EDWARD WARNER, president and manager of the Perth Amboy Printing Company, who in the last three years has become prominently identified with the business life of Middlesex county, and politics of New Jersey, particularly of Union county, is a member of a New England family and a native of East Providence, Rhode Island, where his birth occurred May 15, 1878. His father, Edward Pike
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Warner, was also born in that town, in 1843, and resided there during his entire life. The elder Mr. Warner was engaged in business at East Providence, and was connected with the Department of Roads for many years, being one of the prominent residents of the town. His death occurred there in 1919, at the age of seventy-five. He married Sarah Medbury, by whom he had two children : Alvah F., now a newspaper man of Schenectady, New York ; and Arthur Edward, of whom further. Arthur Edward Warner attended the local schools of East Providence as a lad, and was prepared for college at the high school, from which he graduated in 1898, at the age of twenty years. Later he matriculated at Dartmouth College, and was graduated from there with the class of 1904, having in the meantime done considerable work in connection with various Rhode Island newspapers. After completing his studies he did not, however, at once continue with his journalistic work, but accepted a position as vice-principal and instructor of mathematics and sciences at the Newport Academy, Newport, Vermont. He found that the more active life of the newspaper man made a stronger appeal to him, and after one year in the above position, became editor of the "Daily Eagle," of Lawrence, Massachusetts. His next post was as city editor of the "Telegram," of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and after six years in this position he became acting editor of the Hartford "Post." He was later associated with the New Haven "Register." This was Mr. Warner's last New England paper, and from New Haven he came to New Jersey to take the post of assistant editor of the "Daily Journal" of Elizabeth. From the latter place he went to Newark and became associated with the "Star-Eagle" of that city, remaining with that publication until 1917. In that year he severed his connection with the "Star-Eagle" and gave up direct newspaper work in order to estab- lish the Perth Amboy Printing Company, of Perth Amboy, his present concern, with himself as president and manager. This company is the successor of the job department of the Perth Amboy "Evening News," and its career as a separate organization under the directions of Mr. Warner has been eminently successful. The shop and offices are located at No. 70 Smith street, and there a large business is done in the printing of periodicals, catalogues, job work and stationery, the firstclass quality of the work and service recommending it highly to the community. The establishment is carried on in a most efficient and businesslike manner, the equipment being of the most modern type and adequate to care for every kind of highclass and fancy printing.
Since coming to Perth Amboy, Mr. Warner has interested himself actively in local and State politics, and his grasp of practical affairs has already carried him far. He is associated with the local organization of the Republican party and in 1918 was elected a member of the New Jersey State Legislature, a post in which he has served the best interests of his constituents and the community-at-large in a highly efficient manner. He was y pointed by Governor Edge, in 1919, as a member of the commission'to urge upon Congress a Federal appropriation for the Intra-State canal from Bordentown to Morgan, and was chairman
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of the House Commission on Domestic Relations and Juvenile Courts, besides serving on the Appropriations Committee of the State of New Jersey for three years.
Mr. Warner is also prominent in social and fraternal circles, and is a member of the Loyal Order of Moose; the Improved Order of Red Men ; and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. His clubs are the Dartmouth of New York City, and the University of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Mr. Warner is a Baptist in religious belief, and is a mem- ber of the Central Church of that denomination of Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Mr. Warner was united in marriage, September 4, 1901, at Riverside, Rhode Island, with Nellie Benning Allen, a daughter of Samuel and Helen (Reynolds) Allen, now both deceased.
JOSEPH JOHN KEENEN, proprietor of the successful boiler-mak- ing establishment at No. 396 Division street, Perth Amboy, New Jersey, one of the rapidly growing enterprises of the city, is a native of Cali- fornia, his birth having occurred in the city of San Francisco, December 8. 1865. He is of Irish parentage, his father, Jeremiah Matthew Keenen, having been born in Ireland, and there spent his childhood days.
The elder Mr. Keenen came to the United States in company with his parents when quite young, the family settling for a time at Hackensack, New Jersey. Later, however, the young man went to California, and, settling in San Francisco, there developed a boiler-making business, in which he continued successfully for a great number of years. He now resides in that city at the venerable age of eighty-two years. Jeremiah Matthew Keenen married Hannah Kennedy, in San Francisco, and they were the parents of seven children, as follows: James, who now occu- pies the position of chief engineer with the Pacific Mail Steamship Line Company ; William, who is a member of the City Fire Department of San Francisco; Thomas, who volunteered for service in the Spanish- American War, and met his death in action during that conflict in the Philippine Islands; Joseph Jolin, with whose career we are here espe- cially concerned ; Mary, who married John Howley, and they reside in San Francisco; Ellen, who married Robert James Kennedy, and they make their home in Seattle, Washington; and Catherine, who married John Douglass, and they make their home at Auckland, New Zealand.
Joseph John Keenen passed his childhood in his native city of San Francisco, and attended the parochial school of St. Francis Xavier's Church until he had reached the age of seventeen years. He then entered his father's boiler-making shop and there learned the trade that he has followed ever since. After serving an apprenticeship of several years, he came to Perth Amboy, New Jersey, in 1902, to take the posi- tion of foreman in the boiler-works of P. White & Sons, and continued to hold the same for a period of twelve years, during which time he not only perfected his knowledge of every detail of the work, but also gained considerable familiarity with the business side of the establishment. In 1914, having amassed a sufficient capital, he terminated his associa- tion with that firm and engaged in the same line of business on his
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own account. Mr. Keenen met with success from the outset of his venture, and now owns a large and developing business, with shop and office at No. 396 Division street, Perth Amboy. The scrupulous honesty with which he has always conducted his affairs, together with the quality of his work and the materials which he uses, have gained for him the well-merited esteem of the business and industrial world, and a reputa- tion which is the basis of his success.
Mr. Keenen has always interested himself in the questions and issues of the day, as well as in local affairs, but although his fitness for public office is apparent, and he has had several opportunities to become a can- didate, he has consistently refused all offers of the kind and confined himself to the conduct of his business affairs. He is a Democrat in politics, and is well known in local social circles, being a member of the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Columbus, and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. In his religious belief Mr. Keenen is a Roman Catholic and attends St. Mary's Church of that denomination at Perth Amboy. He is an active member of the parish and belongs to the Holy Name Society connected with his church. Mr. Keenen has always taken keen pleasure in open air sports and pastimes, especially in hunting and fishing, his favorite hunting ground being his native State of California, where he delights to stalk the big game of the region, making occasional trips to that section.
Mr. Keenen was united in marriage, June 18, 1908, at Perth Amboy, with Mary F. Smith, a native of that city. She is a daughter of James Smith, a proprietor of one of the oldest blacksmith shops of the city, situated on King street. He served at his trade when Perth Amboy was but a village, for some sixty years. He died July 3, 1920.
JOSEPH BRUCK .- In the retail distribution of fine footwear, one of the most complex of any one line of merchandising, Joseph Bruck, of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, meets an everyday need of the people.
The name of Bruck is an old one in Hungary. Maurice Samuel Bruck. Mr. Bruck's father, owned a large jewelry store in the city of Unghvar, Hungary. He was a prosperous and highly respected citizen, and besides this mercantile establishment he handled extensive government contracts. He lived and died in Hungary, reaching the age of fifty-five years. He married Mary Weinburg, also a native of that country. She survived her husband for a long time, and died at the age of seventy- three, in Hungary. They had ten children : Johanna, deceased ; Sigmund, deceased ; Cecilia, now a resident of New York City, and the widow of Max Blau ; Caeser. deceased ; Antonia, married and lives in the city of Rosenau, Hungary ; Rosalia, a widow, resides in Budapest, Hungary ; Isador, a resident of Brooklyn, New York: Joseph, of further mention ; Louis, deceased ; and Samuel, now living in Brooklyn, New York.
Joseph Bruck was born in Hungary, January 1, 1863. He attended school there until 1879, when his ambition leaped ahead of the oppor- tunities he saw in that environment and he came to the younger country across the seas. He located in New York City, where he obtained work
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in a book bindery. Realizing the importance of practical education in the struggle of life, he was a regular attendant at evening school, making the most of this opportunity to become thoroughly familiar with the language and customs of the country. With mental equipment won by diligent application, he secured a position on the road in the employ of a grocery house, holding same for two years. At the end of that time he was ambitious to branch out for himself, so started a store and auction room in New York City. He followed this successfully for two years, then removed to Perth Amboy and started a wholesale and retail grocery store on State street. This was in 1893, and he continued in that busi- ness for ten years. Then, in 1903, hie established the present business on Smith street. For the past fifteen years he has been at his present location at No. 140 Smith street, and this has come to be recognized as the largest shoe store in Middlesex county.
Apart from the shoe business, Mr. Bruck has extensive real estate interests, and takes great interest in the building up of unimproved districts. He is a keenly enthusiastic motorist, and few people have a greater familiarity with the topography of the surrounding country. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and of the Knights of Pythias.
Mr. Bruck married, March 7, 1893, Stella Eisner, daughter of Emanuel and Barbara (Gottlieb ) Eisner, of Bohemia, she born in that country, June 19, 1864. Her father died in Bohemia, after which her mother joined her in Perth Amboy, and there her mother died. Mr. and Mrs. Bruck are the parents of three children: Mary, who died in infancy; Irene Agnes Sarah, who was born May 2, 1895; and Maurice Samuel, born July 29, 1896. The family worship at Temple Beth Mordecai.
WILLARD PAYNE MELICK .- The Melicks of Woodbridge, New Jersey, were early interested in the clay industry, and there, engaged in that industry, Joel Melick spent his life. He was born in Woodbridge, September 5, 1838, and there died, August 31, 1890. He married Anne E. Payne, born in Woodbridge, October 7, 1841, and they were the parents of Willard Payne Melick, secretary of Powell's, Inc., No. 411-415 Canal street, New York City.
Willard Payne Melick was born in Woodbridge, New Jersey, October 2, 1870, and there completed the grade and high school courses of study, finishing with high school graduation. class of 1888. He then increased his educational advantages by a full course at the Coleman Business College, Newark, New Jersey. After graduation, in 1889, he was vari- ously employed, and in November, 1890, entered the employ of A. M. Powell, at No. 154 Chambers street, New York City. He began as a bookkeeper and cashier, and has never severed his connection with the business that first claimed him in 1890. In 1910 the business was incor- porated as Powell's, Inc., with the following officers: Alexander M. Powell, president ; Joseph B. Powell, vice-president ; Robert J. Powell, vice-president ; Willard P. Melick, secretary ; and Alexander W. Powell, treasurer. The business of the house is wholesale confectionery, and they are also proprietors of Powell's Chocolate Mills.
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Mr. Melick is a Republican in politics, and a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Woodbridge.
Mr. Melick married, in Woodbridge, May 18, 1892, Edith Jeannette Lawson, daughter of Peter and Rachel (Lyons) Lawson. Mr. and Mrs. Melick are the parents of a son, Edwin W., and a daughter, Jeannette.
Edwin W. Melick enlisted in the United States army during the World War, 1917-18, serving with the Motor Section Headquarters Troops, First Army of the American Expeditionary Forces, attaining the rank of sergeant. He was honorably discharged and mustered out in June, 1919. The family home is at No. 204 Green street, Woodbridge, New Jersey.
COLONEL J. BLANCHARD EDGAR .- The Edgars, since coming from Scotland to Middlesex county, New Jersey, about 1720, have varied farming with business operations, the heads of each generation having been either men of large affairs or substantial farmers. Thomas Edgar was the first of the family in Woodbridge, and he received a large tract of land, upon which a homestead was erected, which in its day was one of the handsomest and most substantial in the county. The land adjoining and surrounding the homestead was extensive, and a con- siderable portion descended to William Edgar, the great-grandfather of Colonel J. B. Edgar, and to his son, Major William Edgar, one of the leading men of his day, a member of the New Jersey Legislature, a founder and first president of the Farmers' and Merchants' Bank of Rahway. He married Phoebe S. Baker, and they were the parents of thirteen children, one of these being John B. Edgar, father of Colonel J. Blanchard Edgar, who built the home in which his son was born, and, where the family resides.
John B. Edgar was born at the old Edgar homestead, in 1809, and died at his farm in April, 1882. He attended the district school, and from youth was employed about the farm, later adopting agriculture as his life work ; he became one of the successful, substantial farmers of Wood- bridge. He bought his own farm when quite young, and built a com- fortable residence thereon. He made a specialty of blooded cattle, sheep and swine, and was a large exhibitor at the fair held at Trenton by the New Jersey State Fair Association, of which he was a charter member. He was a man well read and well informed, public-spirited and energetic, particularly interested in road improvement, a subject upon which he was far in advance of his neighbors. He could never be prevailed upon to accept any other office than that of overseer of roads, and that he was always willing to take, as it enabled him to accomplish needed improve- ments. He was a Presbyterian in his religious belief, a Whig and later a Republican in politics. He loved his farm not as a farm, but as his home, and there hospitality abounded.
Mr. Edgar married (first) Anna Louise Ross, who died in 1863, daughter of William M. Ross, a merchant of New York City, and later in life lived at Metuchen, New Jersey, where he was an elder of the Presbyterian church. A sister of Mrs. Edgar married Amos Robins, a
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leading Middlesex county Democrat, who sat in both houses of the Legislature, and for several terms was president of the Senate. Mr. and Mrs. Edgar were the parents of six children : Eugene R .; Rufus N .; J. Blanchard, of further mention; Margaret, Josephine, and Catherine. Mr. Edgar married (second) Catherine Bevier, of Ulster county, New York, who with her infant child passed away.
J. Blanchard Edgar, the last survivor of the children of John B. and Anna Louise (Ross) Edgar, was born at the homestead built by his father at Woodbridge, New Jersey, May 7, 1843, and died December 28, 1920. After preparation at Rev. David H. Pierson's School, at Elizabeth, New Jersey, he entered Rutgers College, whence he was graduated in the class of '66. He decided to become a lawyer, and so entered the offices of Parker & Keasby, of Newark, New Jersey, as a student, but pressing calls were made for his help in the management of the home farm, and he gave up his own ambition to become his father's assistant. Some years later he was appointed to a position in the United States Custom House, New York City, a position he held several years. He then spent ten years in charge of the lumber interests of the Domes- tic Sewing Machine Company of Newark, New Jersey, then operated on his own account in West Virginia and other timber sections. The lure of the land then proved the stronger, and he became owner of the homestead upon which he was born, and there resided until his death. He operated the farm as a dairying proposition largely, maintaining a herd of seventy-five cows, and serving a choice class of customers in Rahway with the products of his dairy.
Colonel Edgar was a member of the State militia for over twenty years, serving at one time as a member of the general staff of the gov- ernor's, with the rank of colonel, and for several years was a member of the Woodbridge Board of Education. His college fraternity was Zeta Psi, and he was a member of the Masonic order. Politically he was a Republican.
Colonel Edgar married Harriett B. Collins, of New Britain, Connec- ticut, and they were the parents of five children: Anna Louise, who is the wife of Willard C. Freeman, of Rahway, New Jersey ; Blanchard Collins, who resides at Nashville, Tennessee, and is vice-president and general manager of the Tennessee Power Company; Gertrude, the wife of Cornelius T. Myers, of Avenel, New Jersey ; Marguerite, the wife of Henry D. Tucker, of Rahway, New Jersey ; and Natalie, who is now (1921) at home. Colonel Edgar was interred in the cemetery at Rahway, New Jersey.
JOHN ELLIOT BRECKENRIDGE .- From the time he received his degree from Yale University more than a quarter of a century ago, Mr. Breckenridge has been engaged in the chemical industry, being now chief chemist of the American Agricultural Chemical Company, and an authority on many matters connected with his department. He has written extensively on chemical topics, his articles appearing in current chemical journals.
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John Elliot Breckenridge, son of John Albert and Harriet (Kellogg) Breckenridge, was born at Palmer, Massachusetts, May 4, 1873. He completed public school education with graduation from Palmer High School, class of 1891, then entered Yale University, whence he was graduated with honors in chemistry, class of 1896. Immediately after graduation from Yale University, he began professional work with the Liebig Manufacturing Company, continuing with that company as chem- ist until accepting his present position, chief chemist of the American Agricultural Chemical Company, at No. 2 Rector street. New York City. The company is an important one, Mr. Breckenridge having seventeen laboratories under his charge and direction. He is a member of the American Chemical Society; Association for the Advancement of Sci- ence ; Society of Chemical Industry, and was for several years chairman of the fertilizer division of the American Chemical Society.
In politics Mr. Breckenridge is a Republican, and was chairman of the township committee of Woodbridge township, Middlesex county, New Jersey, for two years, 1918-19. He is an elder of the First Presby- terian Church of Woodbridge; member of the Independent Order of Foresters ; and Yale Alumni Association.
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