USA > New Jersey > Monmouth County > History of Monmouth County, New Jersey, 1664-1920, Volume III > Part 27
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WILLIAM MEARS is a landscape gardener and florist of Rumson, New Jersey. He was born at Norfolk, England, on July 5, 1869, and is the son of Elijah and Elizabeth (Cullum) Mears. His father was a horticulturist of Norfolk, England. He has three brothers, Elijah, George, and Charles; and four sisters, Sarah, Anne, Eliza, and Elizabeth.
Mr. Mears received his early education in the schools of Norfolk, England, and later studied hor- ticulture and landscape gardening. In 1887 he de- cided to leave home and so came to the United States, going first to Hudson, New York, and in the following year, settling at Rumson, New Jersey. He was for some years a contractor in the vicinity of Rumson, eventually taking up his work as a landscape gardener. He owns and manages a num- ber of large flower houses, which are situated at Rumson, near the Rumson road. Mr. Mears is a Catholic, and a Knight of Columbus. He is also a member of the Red Men, Noroucunk Tribe, No. 148; and in politics is an Independent.
Mr. Mears married Mary Mclaughlin, on June 8, 1899, in New York City. Of their children, three died in infancy, and the others are: Daniel, Nellie G., and Charles.
MRS. LOUISA M. THOMPSON-Mrs. Thomp- son was born, Lawton, of one of the oldest fami- lies in New Castle, Staffordshire, England, second oldest borough in England. Mrs. Thompson's par- ents were Guy and Ann (Edge) Lawton, born at New Castle, where Mr. Lawton was fireman at the Minton Hollius Tile Factory for over fifty years. He was the father of five children. Mrs. Thompson, a brother and a sister, came to this country in 1884; another brother and sister live in England.
Louisa M. (Lawton) Thompson attended an Epis- copal school at New Castle, corresponding to an American public school, under the direction of the Episcopal church, and was a student in a private school. At the end of her schooling, she took charge of the work room of an upholstering establishment at New Castle. Three days after she landed here, in 1884, a bonny, rosy-cheeked English girl, she was married to Richard Thompson, in New York City. They had a prosperous and happy life for many years, or from November 19, 1884, their marriage day, until 1920, when Mr. Thompson died May 8th.
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Their first home together was at No. 111 Bank street, New York City, where they lived for ten years. Mr. Thompson was foreman of the Dela- verne Refrigerating Machine Company of New York. After coming to Red Bank, in 1894, where they started a grocery, they lived on Herbert street for ten years, in 1904 removing to the present ad- dress, Herbert street and Shrewsbury avenue.
Mrs. Thompson attends the Methodist Episcopal church, Red Bank, and is a member of the Shep- herds of Pocahontas Club, of which her husband was also a member, as well as a member of the Knights of Pythias. Mrs. Thompson's sister lives in Red Bank, and a brother in Rochester, New York, where he is pastor of a Methodist Episcopal church.
JACOB KRIDEL-When Mr. Kridel, born in Cracow, Austria, October 9, 1857, came to the United States, he was but a boy of twelve years. He arrived in 1869, on July 4, a good omen for a career in a land dedicated to equality and liberty.
Mr. Kridel came to Red Bank in 1888, after two years in Detroit, Michigan, and several years in Newark, New Jersey, where, with his brother, Mar- tin Kridel, as a partner, he conducted a clothing establishment for men and women. In Red Bank he started in business in a small way, opening a notion store on Front street, and later at No. 5 Broad street, where he added clothing to his line. As his business prospered he operated on an en- larged scale, which demanded more spacious quar- ters. He removed to No. 26 Broad street, there re- mining ten years, his business each year showing an increase. He then purchased from A. A. Pat- terson the large building a few doors from his first store, and there established a modern clothing store business of large proportions, continuing its head until his death, April 23, 1921. His brother und former partner, Martin Kridel, resides at Co- Imbus, Ohio. During the last ten years of his life, Jacob Kridel was senior partner of the firm of W. I. Woolley & Company, of Long Branch, New Jer- wy, and of the firm of W. S. Wallace and Company, dothiers, of Keyport, New Jersey. He was a di- netor of the New Jersey Retail Clothiers' Associa- tim; a member of the Royal Arcanum; the Benevo- let and Protective Order of Elks; and the Loyal League.
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The business Mr. Kridel founded and built up to large proportions is continued by his daughters and son, who are most capably conducting it along the lines laid down by the founder. Included in the Kridel estate, accumulated by this self-made man, who began at the foot of the ladder, a stranger in a strange land, was much valuable Red Bank real estate, including a parcel at the corner of Monmouth and Broad streets, and the store property occupied by the firm of J. Kridel, at the corner of Broad and Front streets.
Jacob Kridel married Elizabeth Goodman, and to them three children were born: Bertha; Flor- ence R., and Abram Kridel, who is a veteran of the World War, 1917-18, who served for one year over-
seas in Company D, 309th Machine Gun Battalion. He saw hard service with the American Expedition- ary Forces, and during the St. Mihiel offensive was gassed.
Mr. Kridel was a man of great energy and pleas- ing personality, honorable in his dealings and very progressive. His success as a business man was fairly earned and his career should cause every boy who feels he has no opportunity to take courage, for Jacob Kridel succeeded against as great odds as can confront any man.
ADOLPHE GRAF-With extensive experience in the production branch of the automobile busi- ness, both here and abroad, Mr. Graf has for the past eighteen years conducted an automobile ma- chine shop and garage in Long Branch, giving the public expert service along repair lines and in the manufacture of parts.
Mr. Graf was born in Basel, Switzerland, July 31, 1860, and is a son of Bernard and Anne (Martin) Graf, his father having been a blacksmith by oc- cupation, and the family consisting of five sons and four daughters. Educated in the grammar and high schools of his native place, Mr. Graf learned the machinists' trade, serving an apprenticeship of four years. For three years he worked at his trade in different parts of Europe, then went to Paris in 1880, and followed his trade in that city for a num- ber of years, meanwhile attending evening college, going exhaustively into the subject of mechanical engineering. With the early development of the automobile in France, Mr. Graf did a great deal of work on automobile engines, and at the World's Fair in Paris, in 1900, he received a copper medal for superior workmanship in motor and chassis, while his employees received a gold medal for the exhibit. The name of the motor was the "Cy- clopes," from the one-eyed giants of old Greek le- gends, as the motor had a hot tube for ignition- one burner for two cylinders. From 1896 until 1901 Mr. Graf was engaged exclusively on automobile motors with Daniel Auger & Company, in Paris. While there he was sought by William Walters, of the American Chocolate Machine Company, who had bought the motor and chassis which he had seen on exhibition in Paris, and which he brought with him upon his return to America. He pre- vailed upon Mr. Graf to accompany him to this country and work for him in New York City. While thus associated, Mr. Graf designed and built the first Walters car, and further built for him three motors, one a two-cylinder type, and two four- cylinder. In 1903 Mr. Walters sold the foregoing to the Mercer Automobile Company, and this be- ginning became the foundation from which the present Mercer motor was developed. The Mercer people tried to persuade Mr. Graf to become asso- ciated with them, but he declined, preferring inde- pendence of action.
Coming to Long Branch in 1903, Mr. Graf estab- lished himself in a little shop in the West End, which he rented, and began doing repair work,
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specializing on foreign cars. He also made gears and all parts for foreign cars, meeting any special need or emergency. His reputation soon reached far, and his business expanded to a point where he was obliged to have more room. In 1907 he built a modern garage and repair shop, with a floor space of about 8,000 square feet, and has since kept step with the times in every branch of his work and equipment. He now has one of the finest equipped repair shops in Monmouth county, and is doing a very extensive business. With a group of skilled mechanics as his assistants, Mr. Graf personally supervises all the work that goes through his place. In connection with this, his principal interest, he acts as agent for the Lyons steel trailer. Mr. Graf is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, but has few other interests outside his business, the demands of which largely consume his time.
Mr. Graf married, in Angers, France, Bertha Arnaud, and they are the parents of two children: Emma and Wolfson. The son is a mechanical en- gineer, and is associated with the Packard Motor Company in their experimental department.
DR. JOHN EDWARD MAHER was born at Perth Amboy, New Jersey, on May 8, 1892, and is a son of Patrick and Catherine (Britt) Maher, neither of whom is now living. Dr. Maher was one of a family of five sons, his brothers being: Joseph Maher, who was an attorney and who is now dead; Peter Maher; Thomas Maher, who became a Cath- olie priest and who is now at New Brunswick, New Jersey; and Richard Maher. Dr. Maher's father was connected with the Lehigh Valley railroad.
Dr. Maher received his preliminary education in the public schools of New Jersey. He proceeded to Fordham University in New York City for his academic training after having graduated from high school. Having completed his studies at Fordham University, he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, now known as the University of Mary- land, at Baltimore, Maryland, from which he gradu- ated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1914, then spent two years at the Monmouth County Memorial Hospital, serving as interne during the first year and as resident physician during the sec- ond. In June, 1916, Dr. Maher passed the exami- nations of the New Jersey State Board of Medi- cal Examiners, and in August of the same year, established himself as a general practitioner at Long Branch, New Jersey. In the same year he was appointed anæsthetist at the Monmouth County Memorial Hospital, and in 1921 was appointed assist- ant visiting surgeon at that institution. Dr. Maher holds both of these positions at the present time, besides attending to his general practice.
Dr. Maher is a Catholic, and belongs to the Star of the Sea Catholic Church at Long Branch. In politics he is an Independent Democrat. He is a member of the American Medical Association; the New Jersey State Medical Society; the Monmouth County Medical Society; and the Practitioners' As- sociation of Eastern Monmouth County, of which
he is at present secretary. Dr. Maher is also a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Phi Beta Pi fraternity, and the Lion International Club.
Mr. Maher married Madlyn Driscoll, of New York City, and they have one daughter, Madlyn Catherine Maher.
ALBERT S. TILLOTSON-One of the business men of Long Branch is Mr. Tillotson, who has been active as a business executive in this section for a number of years. He was born in Red Bank, New Jersey, July 5, 1879, a son of Freeman H. and Mary Agnes (Cook) Tillotson.
The removal of the family to Washington, Dis- trict of Columbia, when he was five years of age placed him in the public schools of that city for his early education. Their return to Monmouth county, locating at Oceanport, occurred when he was twelve years of age, and he attended the Long Branch High School, later completing his preparation for his career at Coleman's Business College, Newark, New Jersey. Mr. Tillotson's first business was with Chandler & Maps, in a clerical capacity, but he later rose to the carrying of executive responsibil- ity, remaining with that concern in all for about twelve years. He has since been active in the lum- ber business in this city, becoming identified with the concern of which he is now the head. This enterprise was first established as a retail lumber yard by A. Taylor Truax and Isaac H. Cranmer, later changing to Gifford, Lacour, Cranmer & Com- pany, who absorbed the interests of Mr. Truax and Mr. Cranmer, July 19, 1909. Not long afterward Mr. Gifford withdrew from the firm, which con- tinued as Lacour, Cranmer & Company, until March 1920, when Mr. Lacour withdrew also. Meanwhile Mr. Tillotson had for some years been identified with the firm as the company end of the concern, and with its incorporation, which was coincident with this change, became the president of the com- pany. The officers now associated with him are vice-president, Ralph H. Cranmer; secretary and treasurer, Alvin B. Cranmer. The concern handles a retail lumber business, having a very complete and up-to-date plant, including planing mill, where they turn out everything in the way of woodwork which is now in demand for the interior of the modern residence. The corporation has built a commodious and substantial brick building which now houses the office of the concern, and their re- tail store, where they handle all kinds of builders' supplies, paints, etc. They have also built a large lumber warehouse, where they have a layout of nar- row gauge tracks to facilitate the handling of their stock. They do mill work and furnish lumber for contractors throughout Long Branch and for a wide territory in this vicinity.
Fraternally Mr. Tillotson is well known, being a member of Long Branch Lodge, No. 78, Free and Accepted Masons; Standard Chapter, No. 35, Royal Arch Masons; the Masonic Club of Long Branch; Junior Order of United American Mechanics, River-
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view Council, No. 268, of Oceanport, of which he is now treasurer. He is a member and treasurer of the Hook and Ladder Fire Company, of Ocean- port.
Mr. Tillotson married Harriet E. Smith, of Oceanport.
JAMES ATCHESON, tax collector of West Long Branch, New Jersey, has been a resident of the borough for over nineteen years and is well known in business and social circles. For the past thirteen years he has been treasurer of the Old First Meth- odist Episcopal Church.
James Atcheson is the son of James and Sarah W. (Cooper) Atcheson, and was born on May 18, 1883, at Jersey City, Hudson county, New Jersey. His paternal grandfather, James Atcheson, was a well known road contractor, and built approximately fifty per cent. of the roads in Jersey City. On his mother's side, Mr. Atcheson's grandparents were Britton and Deborah Cooper.
Mr. Atcheson received his early education in the public schools of New Jersey. He then took up the study of architectural drafting at the Cooper In- stitute of New York City, and after completing a four years' course, entered the architectural offices of Mowbray & Uffinger, specialists in bank design- ing. About three years later, however, he was obliged on account of ill health to abandon his career as an architect, and accompanied by his mother, he moved to West Long Branch, New Jer- sey, where he purchased a poultry farm. He was successful in this enterprise from the beginning, and from time to time enlarged the business. After twelve years of steady application he became the owner of one of the finest and best-equipped poultry farms in the State. When the World War began, in 1914, the cost of operating a poultry farm in- creased out of all proportion to the market value of the products, and Mr. Atcheson reluctantly enough decided to give up his business. He entered the service of the United States Government, being subsequently assigned to a clerical position at the Sandy Hook Proving Grounds. There he had charge of the ammunition section during the years 1915 to 1918. He then became a munition account- ' ant in the Raritan Arsenal, and acted as instructor in the Ordnance Maintenance and Repair School. Later resigning from the position he occupied at Raritan, he entered the service of the Consolidated Gas Company at Long Branch. In August, 1920, Mr. Atcheson was appointed tax collector to fill out the unexpired term of George L. Gibbs, and in the following November was elected to the same office for a term of three years.
Mr. Atcheson is an active member of the Old First Methodist Episcopal Church, of which, as be- fore stated, he has been the treasurer for the past thirteen years. In politics, he is a Republican. He is a member of the Masonic order, affiliating with Long Branch Lodge, No. 78, Free and Accepted Masons; and Standard Chapter, No. 35, Royal Arch Masons; he also belongs to the Masonic Club, and
is a member of the Tall Cedars of Lebanon, and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics.
Mr. Atcheson married Grace M. Clayton, of West Long Branch, daughter of Charles E. and Clara W. (Woolley) Clayton. The Atchesons have no children.
HENRY B. ALDAY, M. D .- Scientific research has broadened to a remarkable extent in recent years. Research has resulted in marvelous dis- coveries, and in no line has greater advancement been made than in the science of medicine. Today its followers who win success and renown are men of strong mentality, accurate of comprehension, of wide reading and broad sympathy. A representa- tive of this class is Dr. Henry B. Alday, who has been established in the active practice of his chosen profession in Ocean Grove since 1889.
Rev. John H. Alday, father of Dr. Alday, was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1829, and died in Ocean Grove in 1911. He studied for the ministry at Baltimore Theological Seminary and later took a course in medicine in the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania. He served in the Civil War as surgeon with the Sanitary Commission from 1863 to the close of the war. He then returned to Philadelphia, where he continued in the min- istry until 1874. Having the previous year become a member of the Ocean Grove Association, he came to Ocean Grove and practiced medicine for many years, and was active in the management of the affairs of the association. He was a member of the Philadelphia Conference from 1853 to 1874, and of the Ocean Grove Association from 1873 up to the time of his death. He married Elizabeth Bates, who died in 1904, at the age of seventy-five years.
Dr. Henry B. Alday was born in Reading, Penn- sylvania, March 21, 1857. He attended school in Philadelphia and prepared himself for college at Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsylvania, from which institution he was graduated in 1877. Having in the meantime determined to study and practice medicine, he entered the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1882 received the degree of Doctor of Medicine from here. The following year he spent at Hahnemann College, where he still pursued the study of his chosen pro- fession, after which he established himself in pri- vate practice in Philadelphia, remaining there for five years. In 1889, having in the meantime de- cided to remove to Ocean Grove, he came to this community and here he has since resided and prac- ticed. He has been a member of the local board of health for twenty-five years, and is on the visiting staff of the Ann May Memorial Hospital at Spring Lake, New Jersey. He is a member of the New Jersey State Medical Association, the Monmouth County Medical Society, and the Asbury Park Medical Society. In everything pertaining to the welfare and advancement of the community, Dr. Alday has always taken an active interest, and no good work done in the name of charity or religion appeals to him in vain. He is a member of St.
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Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church and has been on its official board for twelve years. Dr. Alday en- joys travelling, and his winters are spent in this manner, for in recent years he has given only his summers to his profession.
JOHN FRANKLIN TILTON-The name we have just written is so familiar to the inhabitants of Asbury Park and its vicinity as that of the business manager of Tilton's Dairy as to call for no introductory phrases. Mr. Tilton is active in the political circles of his home town, filling with credit more than one local office of trust and responsibil- ity.
Richard Tilton, grandfather of John Franklin Til- ton, was born in Hamilton, Wall township, Mon- mouth county, New Jersey, and was by trade a blacksmith, also conducting a general store at Glen- dola. He was a Republican in politics, but never sought nor held any position of public trust. He married Charlotte Ganandt, and their children were: Archibald A., mentioned below; Sheldon A .; and Gertrude, widow of Walter T. Hubbard, assistant postmaster of Asbury Park. Mr. Tilton died twenty-five years ago, at Glendola, being then sixty- five years of age, and the death of his wife occurred at the same place when she had reached the age of sixty-three. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Glendola. Walter T. Hub- bard, their son-in-law, was captain of Company A, of the local militia.
Archibald A. Tilton, son of Richard and Char- lotte (Ganandt) Tilton, was born in May, 1865, at Glendola, Wall township, New Jersey, and received his education in the public schools of his birth- place and at the normal school, Trenton, New Jer- sey. During a large portion of his life he was an instructor in the schools, but for the last fifteen years he has been head of a department in the New York custom house. He is a Republican, and at one time served as town clerk of Wall township, Monmouth county. He married Ruhanna A. Pyle, born at Jerseyville, New Jersey, daughter of Simon F. Pyle, who was a civil engineer, and died about thirty years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Tilton are the parents of the following children: John Franklin, mentioned below; Irma, Mabel, and Walter. The Methodist Episcopal church of Red Bank, New Jer- sey, is the one with which Mr. and Mrs. Tilton are connected.
John Franklin Tilton, son of Archibald A. and Ruhanna A. (Pyle) Tilton, was born November 7, 1888, at Glendola, Wall township, Monmouth county, New Jersey, where he attended the public schools, afterward graduating from the Neptune High School, Ocean Grove. For five years Mr. Tilton held a position in the National City Bank, No. 55 Wall street, New York City, and was afterward associated for one year with the C. W. Wright Piano Company in the capacity of salesman. His next position was that of head bookkeeper for the Atlantic Coast Electric Light Company, and in 1916 he became business manager for Tilton's Dairy,
Asbury Park. This position he has since continu- ously retained. In the interests of Republican prin- ciples Mr. Tilton is politically active, and has served as inspector of the election board of the Allenhurst district in addition to filling the offices of secre- tary of the Allenhurst Board of Education and the Allenhurst Fire Company. He affiliates with Lodge No. 142, Free and Accepted Masons, of Asbury Park; Lodge No. 128, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, also of Asbury Park; and Tecumseh Tribe, Improved Order of Red Men. He and his wife are members of the First Methodist Epis- copal church.
Mr. Tilton married, October 22, 1908, Matilda Marie Keim, daughter of Samuel and Mary Keim, and they are the parents of one child, Irma Marie, born December 9, 1910.
To say that John Franklin Tilton is an energetic business man and a useful citizen would be to give a description of him which he well merits and which would be instantly endorsed by his friends and neighbors.
HERBERT PEARCE BROWN, a member of the firm of Durand & Brown, real estate and insurance agents at No. 1215 Third avenue, Spring Lake, New Jersey, is reckoned among the younger generation of successful business men of this community. A native of this place, he is well and favorably known, being ever ready to give his earnest support to all measures calculated to advance the public welfare.
Herbert Pearce Brown was born in Spring Lake, New Jersey, March 9, 1895, the son of Herbert Pearce and Alice (Hardy) Brown. Mr. Brown, Sr., was born in Manasquan, New Jersey, October 12, 1845, and died June 25, 1919. He was employed first by Havens Morris, a contractor and builder of Wall township, but later removed to Spring Lake and was employed by the Spring Lake Land Com- pany, in 1875. He was the only contractor and builder here for many years, and until his retire- ment from active business life in 1917, had built many of the prominent public buildings and resi- dences of the town, among them being the old Maloney residence at the southwest corner of First street and Morris avenue, and the First National Bank of Spring Lake, both wonderful monuments to his exceptional ability, which helped greatly to beautify Spring Lake. Mr. Brown married (first) Rachael Ludlow, daughter of Captain Samuel and Sarah (Smith) Ludlow. Mr. and Mrs. Brown had children: Samuel Ludlow, of Fort Worth, Texas, credit manager with the Armour Packing Company; Elizabeth, wife of Walter Reed, of Philadelphia; Garrett Ludlow, contractor mason of Washington, D. C .; Susan Minevra, deceased; Rachael, wife of William D. Deuchar, a resident of Philadelphia. Mr. Brown married (second) Alice Victoria Hardy, daughter of William Henry Hardy, of Farmingdale, and to them was born one child, Herbert Pearce, of further mention.
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