USA > New Jersey > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, New Jersey, 1664-1920, Volume III > Part 5
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RICHARD CASPER STEPHENSON .- In business circles, civic work, or in club life, Richard Casper Stephenson is equally well known and popular. For most of his life he has been a resident of South Amboy, New Jersey, and his interests and pleasures are centered in that locality.
Born in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 21, 1870, he came to South Amboy when a child with his parents, Abraham Wilson and Sarah Elizabeth Stephenson. The former was born in Pennsylvania, but in his later life lived in South Amboy, where he died at the age of sixty-seven years. His business was that of car inspector; in his early life he served in the Civil War as a private. Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth Stephenson died in South Amboy when seventy-one years old.
The education of Richard Casper Stephenson was acquired in the public schools of South Amboy, later taking private lessons from a tutor. After reaching young manhood he became interested in several forms of business life and is now actively engaged in banking affairs. In 1888 he entered the employ of the First National Bank of South Amboy, later becoming a director of same, and since January, 1902, has been cashier. Mr. Stephenson is also a director of and treasurer in the South Amboy Lumber and Supply Company. In addition to these daily occupations he is vice-president of the Star Building and Loan Association of South Amboy, and is one of the Sinking Fund commis- sioners of the city.
Some years ago Mr. Stephenson was an enthusiastic yachtsman, but latterly, being greatly occupied in business, he has only indulged in his favorite diversion occasionally, whenever opportunity offers. He is, however, deeply interested in all fraternal matters, being a Free Mason in high standing ; a member of and past master in St. Stephen's Lodge, No. 63, Free and Accepted Masons, and of Amboy Chapter, No. 41, Royal Arch Masons; he is also a Knight Templar, connected with Temple Commandery, No. 18; and is a noble of Salaam Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Newark, New Jersey. Mr. Stephenson is a member of Good Samaritan Lodge, No. 52, Knights of Pythias, and of the Pennsylvania Railroad branch of the Young Men's Christian Association. He is one of the trustees of the South Amboy Hospital Association, and a worker in the Chamber of Commerce and one of the directors.
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In club circles Mr. Stephenson is equally to the fore ; he is a member of the Ashler Club, of Washington, D. C., also of the Middlesex Auto- mobile Club of New Brunswick, and of the South Amboy Yacht Club. Mr. Stephenson and his family are prominently engaged in the work of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of South Amboy.
On March 20, 1895, in South Amboy, Richard Casper Stephenson was united in marriage with Georgianna Emmons, daughter of George N. and Sarah Emmons, residents of South Amboy. Mr. and Mrs. Richard Casper Stephenson have two children: Harold Francis, born February 17, 1898, married Hazel M. Mason; and Mildred Emmons, born May 26, 1904. The family home is at No. 248 David street.
JOHN JAMES MONIGAN, numbered among the influential citizens of New Brunswick, New Jersey, is the owner and manager of a drug store at No. 376 George street. Since coming to this community, in 1898, Mr. Monigan has identified himself with the leading business interests of New Brunswick and is ever a zealous advocate and sup- porter of her most vital and essential interests.
John J. Monigan, father of John James Monigan, was born in Balti- more, Maryland, and died there, in 1890, at the age of forty-eight years. He was a civil engineer for many years. He married Anne Otis, who still survives him. To Mr. and Mrs. Monighan was born one child, John James, of further mention.
John James Monigan was born in Baltimore, Maryland, June 7. 1889, and was brought by his parents to Cortland, New York, when he was but five years of age. Here he attended the public schools, graduating from the Cortland High School, after which he attended the State Normal School. On May 1, 1895, having decided to become a pharma- cist, he commenced to study with this end in view, and four years later became a registered pharmacist in the State of New York, subsequently securing a position with Fitz Boynton & Company, and later with William Rust & Sons, of New Brunswick, where he remained until 1906, when he established himself in the drug business at his present location.
Mr. Monigan affiliates with the Knights of Columbus, is a member of the New Brunswick Board of Trade, the Rotary Club, and the New Brunswick Country Club. He is also a member of the New Jersey Pharmaceutical Association and the National Druggists' Association.
On June 27, 1906, Mr. Monigan was united in marriage with Agnes R. McCormick, a native of New Brunswick, and the daughter of Bar- tholomew and Catherine (Houghton) McCormick, both deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Monigan are the parents of two children : Louis C. and John J. Monigan.
HAMPTON CUTTER .- Woodbridge, New Jersey, has long been the home of the Cutter family, Richard Cutter coming from New Eng- iand to Woodbridge, Middlesex county, in 1709, in company with John Pike. He built what is believed to have been the first mill in the town-
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ship, locating it on Woodbridge creek at what was later the Cutter and Prall dock. Richard Cutter was a son of William and Rebecca (Rolfe) Cutter, grandson of Richard and Elizabeth Cutter, he the brother of William Cutter, and son of Samuel and Elizabeth Cutter. Richard and William Cutter with their widowed mother came to New England about 1640. Richard Cutter, of the third generation, and the founder of the Woodbridge branch, married and had fourteen children, and was succeeded by his son, Richard Cutter, who married, August 20, 1706, Mary Pike, and they were the parents of Deacon William Cutter, who married Mary Kent. Kelsey Cutter, of the sixth generation, son of Deacon William and Mary (Kent) Cutter, married Hannah Marsh, and they were the parents of a large family, including a son, William Cutter, born October 6, 1778, died February 8, 1838. He married Sarah, daughter of Ephraim Harriot, of Woodbridge; she was born December 7, 1783, and died March 14, 1840. They were the parents of a large family including a son Hampton, of further mention.
Hampton Cutter was born in Woodbridge, New Jersey. December 25, 1811, fifth child of William and Sarah (Harriot) Cutter. He died in Woodbridge, February 22, 1882. He grew up at the homestead, obtained a good public school education, and until 1836 remained at home and cultivated the farm. In the year named he married and began the cultivation of his own farm. In 1846, a large deposit of a high grade of fire clay, also pottery clay, was discovered on his farm, which is used in ore for pottery, ornamental tile, terra cotta, electric and sanitary ware, also fire brick, and is used in carborundum. Mr. Cutter supplied these clays to the fire brick manufacturers of his section and shipped heavily to points of fire brick manufacture as far away as Portland, Maine, and Cleveland, Ohio, especially to the potteries of East Liver- pool, Ohio; Sebring, Ohio: Trenton, New Jersey, and many other plants ; also the terra cotta plants throughout the East. As his sons reached manhood they were admitted to the firm of Hampton Cutter & Sons, and that house became one of importance in the clay industry. The sons were Josiah C. and William Henry.
A man of strong character and deep convictions, Hampton Cutter not only was a factor of strength in the business world, but in public life also left a lasting impression. He was a justice of the peace for fifteen years, and the record reads that in that then very important office his "even handed justice won golden opinions from all sorts of people." He served the county of Middlesex on the Board of Freeholders and his township as committeeman. He was well qualified for leadership, and his unswerving Democracy was a tower of strength to his party. In religious faith he was a Presbyterian, and for about a quarter of a century he was one of the trustees of the Presbyterian church in Wood- bridge, he during seven of those years being a member of the board. In addition to his private enterprise, farming, and Hampton Cutter & Sons, he was a director of the Rahway National Bank, and the owner of valuable real estate. He was a man whose daily life inspired con- fidence and respect, and he closed his long and useful life honored and trusted by all who knew him.
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Hampton Cutter married, January 26, 1836, Mary Ross Crane, born in Craneville (now Cranford), New Jersey, daughter of Josiah Crane. They were the parents of four children: Josiah Crane, who died aged forty-one; William Henry, of further mention; Sarah Anna, married Freeman Rowland ; Emily, married James P. Prall.
William Henry Cutter was born in Woodbridge, New Jersey, June 22. 1840, and died September 24, 1918. He was educated in the public schools, and upon leaving school became associated with his father and elder brother in the firm, Hampton Cutter & Sons, dealers in fire and potteries clay, mined from the farm at Woodbridge owned by Hampton Cutter. This business, a most profitable one, was continued by the father and sons jointly, but death removed the founder and elder brother and William Henry Cutter was left with the entire management of the business which he still further developed. He worked over eighty acres of clay beds from which several different kinds of merchantable clay was mined. and from which fire brick, tile, terra cotta drain pipe and potters clay were manufactured, the clay shipped by Cutter & Sons going to all parts of the country to be converted into manufactured products. The clay beds were operated throughout the entire year and formed an important addition to the industrial importance of the town. Like his honored father, William H. Cutter was progressive and public- spirited and deeply interested in the welfare of the community. In politics he was independent, and in religious faith a Presbyterian, serv- ing the Woodbridge church as trustee. He was very charitable and proud of his clean record, honest in all his dealings to the extreme. and was one of the county's noblemen.
He married Sarah R. Barron, daughter of Samuel and Eliza A. (Jacques) Barron, of Woodbridge. The old homestead, situated just south of Woodbridge, is a landmark, erected about 1840. This was theit home for a time, but in 1870 Mr. Cutter erected a suitable house on Green street. Woodbridge, which was ever afterward the family home. Mr. and Mrs. Cutter were the parents of two children, Hampton (2), of further mention, and Laura L.
Hampton Cutter (2) was educated in private schools, attending the Pingree Preparatory School of Elizabeth, graduating in the class of 1890, and the Packard Commercial School of New York City, gradu- ating in the year 1891. He immediately engaged in business with his father. this connection being uninterrupted until the death of his father, when he succeeded to the business, being now the sole owner, and he continues to operate the original clay mines on an extensive scale, using the latest improved methods. He is a director in the Alpine Cemetery Association, served on the Board of Education for over six years, is president of the board of the Barron Library Association, and is a mem- ber of the board of trustees of the Presbyterian church.
LUKE D. LINDLEY .- Since the inception of his business career. Mr. Lindley was connected with but one particular line of industry. the meat packing business, and in this he met with phenomenal success.
William Ho butter
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Luke D. Lindley was born February 10, 1871, at New Brunswick, New Jersey, and died October 18, 1920, the son of Samuel S. and Mary E. Lindley. Samuel S. Lindley was a jeweler by trade, but for the past twenty years has been retired from active business life. A young man at the outbreak of the Civil War, heartily in sympathy with the cause of the Union, and fired with the patriotism which swept the North at the news of the firing on Fort Sumter, he enlisted with the IIth New Jersey Volunteers, subsequently being promoted to the rank of sergeant. With his regiment he participated in many of the most stirring engagements of the war, and during the battle of Chancellors- ville was severely wounded.
The education of Luke D. Lindley was obtained in the public schools of his native place, and upon graduating from the New Brunswick High School, in 1892, he matriculated at Rutgers College, where he was a special student in the class of 1896. Immediately upon finishing his educational career, he entered into business life as bookkeeper for G. V. Bartlett & Company, a slaughtering and hog-shipping concern at Jersey City. Here he devoted all his available time to this work, and by this untiring devotion steadily gained in advancement until November, 1914, when he was able to purchase a half-interest in the concern. In October, 1918, he bought out the remainder of the business, the firm then becom- ing known as the Luke D. Lindley Packing Company. The enterprise steadily and consistently grew to its present large proportions, turning over more than a half million dollars annually, due in a large measure to the capable management of its executive head.
A man true to his friendships, honest and impeccable in all the rela- tions of life, Mr. Lindley was highly respected and honored in New Brunswick. He was a member of the New York Produce Exchange, the Alumni Association of Rutgers College, and the Young Men's Christian Association at New Brunswick. In religion he was a Presbyterian and attended the First Church of that denomination.
On June 12, 1906, Luke D. Lindley was united in marriage with Mary Ethel Franken, daughter of John and Ida M. (Martin) Franken, of Prattsville, Greene county, New York. No children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lindley. A man of dynamic and tireless energy, he gave the best that was in him to his business, and his success was essentially the result of hard toil, indomitable will power, and an unconquerable belief in his own ability.
LEROY JEROME BERGEN .- Thirteen generations of Bergens have lived in Chautauqua county, New York, counting the first comers from Holland down to the youngest of the present generations. The original home was New Amsterdam (now New York), but the overflow into New Jersey was early and constant. The early settlers gave name to the localities, and Bergen county, Bergen Hill, Bergen village, and Bergenfield show how Hudson county, New Jersey, attracted the Ber- gens, and how well they were appreciated.
Leroy Jerome Bergen is of the Middlesex county branch, his father,
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Addison Bergen, born on a farm on the outskirts of Cranbury, but now living in South Amboy, New Jersey, engaged in the real estate business. Addison Bergen married Cecilia Ada Roll, born in Perth Amboy in 1856, died in South Amboy, January 12, 1915. They were the parents of four children : Leroy Jerome, of further mention ; Albert R., a lumber dealer of South Amboy; Clymenda May, wife of Robert Greenleaf, of South Amboy ; Ada Dorothy, a teacher in Trenton, New Jersey, public schools.
Leroy Jerome Bergen was born in South Amboy, New Jersey, December 29, 1888, and there attended public schools until reaching the age of seventeen, graduating front the high school in 1905. He then spent a summer in the employ of Donnell & Miller, lumber dealers, but in the fall of 1905 he entered the Coleman Business College at Newark, where he finished the course and then returned to business life. On July 1, 1919. he became a member of the corporation, Miller, Bergen & Welsh, dealers in lumber, millwork and masons' supplies, located at Broadway and First street. South Amboy, New Jersey. The officers of the company are as follows: A. J. Miller, president ; O. W. Welsh, vice-president ; L. J. Bergen, secretary and treasurer.
During the World War period, 1917-18, Mr. Bergen was in the service, serving at Camp Dix, and on local draft board duty. He is a Presbyterian in religious preference ; a member of the Young Men's Christian Association ; and the American Legion. He is fond of out- of-door sports, particularly power boating. He has won honorable place in the business life of his community, and is one of the young business men of Southi Amboy whose career has been most creditable.
HENRY CHRISTIAN AXEN .-- From the time he left school in 1907 until the present, Henry C. Axen has been connected with the printing business in Perth Amboy, and since 1912 has been proprietor of his own shop, The Axen Press, No. 145 Fayette street. He is a son of John Henry Axen, born in Flensborg, Denmark, who married Annie Christine Sorensen, born in Denmark, and he came to the United States with his wife and three children, settling in Perth Amboy, where he died March 13, 1913, aged sixty-one years. His wife died December 13, 1912, aged fifty-six. They were the parents of the following children, the youngest born in the United States: 1. John Peter. a painter of Perth Amboy. 2. Mary, married Alfred P. Thompson, a chemist of Perth Amboy; they are the parents of eight children. 3. Carolina Serena, married Jens Olson, an employee of the Lehigh Valley Railroad ; they are the parents of five children. 4. Henry C., of further mention.
Henry C. Axen, youngest and only American born child of John Henry and Annie Christine (Sorensen) Axen, was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. September 27, 1883. He attended the public schools until he graduated from the grammar grades, then began learning the printer's trade in the office of the "Evening News." He served a full term of apprenticeship at his trade and continued with the "News" until 1912, when he established the Axen Press, a modern print shop at No. 174
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New Brunswick avenue, moving later to No. 145 Fayette street. His job printing shop is well patronized and is a well known Perth Amboy institution. Mr. Axen is a Republican in politics, and for the past three years (1918-1920), has been president of the Fourth Ward Republican Club. As a boy he was fond of bicycle racing, and at the age of sixteen won his novice race. He attended meets at the nearby towns and met with a fair amount of success in carrying away winners' prizes. His fav- ored recreation now is automobiling. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, Improved Order of Red Men, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Owls, D. B. S., Haymakers, Perth Amboy Typographical Union, No. 658, and Western Improvement Association.
Mr. Axen married (first) in New York City, February 22, 1906, Min- nie K. Swendsen, who died in 1914, leaving four children : Mary Eliza- beth, born September 15, 1907; Clara Henrietta, born April 11, 1909; Anita Christina, born March 15, 1911; John Henry, born November 7, 1914. He married (second) Meta Marie Sandholdt, born in Woodbridge, New Jersey, her parents Jens and Mary Sandholdt, now residing in Perth Amboy. One child was born of this marriage, Myrtle Meta, born Sep- tember 29, 1920.
PETER HARRY STOVER HENDRICKS .- Well known in the administration circles of New Brunswick, Peter Harry Stover Hen- dricks, postmaster, has lived most of his life in this community which he is serving. He was born in Neshanic, New Jersey, November 30, 1872. His parents were John and Cornelia (Bennett) Hendricks. John Hendricks was born in New Brunswick, and died here, March 30, 1918. He was a brick mason here for many years. He and his wife had eight children : John, deceased : Louis, deceased ; Katherine, deceased; Mary, deceased, formerly the wife of George McMullin; Emma Loblein, de- ceased ; William H., brick mason of New Brunswick; Peter Harry Stover, of further mention ; Cora May, wife of William H. Colburn.
Peter Harry Stover Hendricks was brought by his parents to New Brunswick, New Jersey, when he was an infant, and here he attended school until he was fourteen years of age, when he entered upon his business career, securing a position as office boy with the Norfolk & New Brunswick Hosiery Company. Later he served an apprenticeship to the mason's trade and was associated with his father for twenty-five years in this particular occupation. A Democrat in politics, Mr. Hen- dricks has always taken an active part in the affairs of the organization. In 1910 he was elected a member of the Board of Freeholders and resigned in 1913, when he received his appointment as postmaster of New Brunswick, a post which he is still ( 1920) filling with untiring faithfulness and devotion to duty, which are characteristic of the man. He occupies a high place in the opinion of those who know him, a place which he has won by his own energy and upright character. He fraternizes with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and with the Senior Order of United American Mechanics. Mr. Hendricks also holds membership in the Union Club of New Brunswick.
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On April 11, 1902, Mr. Hendricks was united in marriage with Fay Farmer, daughter of John V. and Mary Farmer. Her father owns a farm just outside of New Brunswick. To Mr. and Mrs. Hendricks have been born two children : Eldon L., born January 6, 1904; Robert Ross, born March 30, 1911.
LOUIS YALE SOSIN, independent candidate for the office of county clerk for Middlesex county, New Jersey, a member of the famous "Lightning." or 78th Division, with which he saw active service in France during the closing campaigns of the World War, and one of the prominent among the younger attorneys of Perth Amboy, is a native of New York City, born July 23, 1891.
Mr. Sosin is a son of Jacob and Rachel (Sosin) Sosin, the former named having been born in Bohemia, where he spent the first years of his childhood. Bohemia, it will be remembered, is the home of the Czecho-Slovaks who did such heroic service for the allied cause, and which has now won its independence from Hapsburg rule and the Aus- trian Empire, so that it has something of poetic justice in that the descendant of one of its sons should have played his part, though in the armies of a new world, to secure its hard won freedom. The elder Mr. Sosin came to the United States with his parents while a young man and located in New York City, where he became engaged in a mercantile line of business and prospered. He later came to Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and here established himself in the crockery and glass business in which he continues active at the present time. He married, in New York City, Rachel Sosin, a distant cousin, and they were the parents of four children, as follows: Louis Yale; Jennie, now the wife of Herman Sloan, a druggist of Perth Amboy ; Maxwell, now a law student in Perth Amboy; and Sadie, who attends the Perth Amboy High School.
Until he had reached the age of ten years, Louis Yale Sosin lived in his native city of New York, but in 1901 came to Perth Amboy with his parents. and has ever since made this place his home. He attended the local public schools, and although the educational advantages to be had therein were somewhat meagre in comparison to what they are today, yet he was of an ambitious nature, and took advantage of every oppor- tunity to the full. He was a student in the local schools at the time of the opening of the Public Library, and was one of the first to avail himself of the extended field of study and reading that it offered to the community. After passing through the grammar grades, Mr. Sosin entered the High School, where he remained four years and was gradu- ated with the class of 1909. Ambitious of a professional career, the young man determined to take up the law and with this end in view matriculated in the New York University Law School. He also attended the Law School of Columbia University, and at these two institutions pursued his studies to such good purpose that in 1915 he was admitted to the New Jersey bar. He had already, however, gained considerable experience in the practical side of legal work, having served while a
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Norman It Smith.
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student for three years in the office of Joseph E. Stricker, public prose- cutor, so that he was far from unknown when he finally established him- self in Perth Amboy as an attorney. This he did in association with City Solicitor Francis P. Coan, of South Amboy, and it was not long before his really unusual abilities as a lawyer, coupled to an engaging personality and a character that imposed trust upon all who came in contact with him, brought him to a position among the leading members of the Middlesex county bar. He speedily made his personality felt in his home community, and gained for himself many warm friends, not only there but throughout the State, who are now enthusiastically sup- porting him in his candidacy. Mr. Sosin's war record is a fine one and has added greatly to his reputation and popularity in Middlesex county. In February, 1918, he enlisted in the 311th Regiment of Infantry, which became a part of the 78th Division, known as the "Lightning" Division, and after less than three months training in this country was sent to France. He saw much of the most bitter fighting in which the American troops took part and was present in the St. Mihiel and Argonne-Meuse battles, it being his fortune to "go over the top" no less than four times. It was also his most extraordinarily good fortune, considering the fact that his regiment lost about two-thirds of its effectives in the last of these actions, to come through unhurt, although he had many hair- breadth escapes. Since the signing of the armistice, Mr. Sosin has given much of his time to educational work among the foreign elements in his regiment. He is a figure in fraternal circles in Perth Amboy, and is a member of the Masonic order, having attained the thirty-second degree. He is affiliated with Prudence Lodge, No. 204, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons; Amboy Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Jersey City Council, Royal and Select Masters ; - Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; and New Jersey Consistory, Sov- ereign Princes of the Royal Secret. He is also a member of the Order of the Sons of Zion, and Perth Amboy Lodge, No. 784, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He was one of the principal organizers of Perth Amboy Post, No. 45, American Legion, and has since held the office of treasurer ; he is also vice-commander of the post, and vice-com- mander of the Middlesex County American Legion executive committee. He attends the Bnei Zion Temple in Perth Amboy.
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