History of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Pt. 1, Part 53

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co.
Number of Pages: 974

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At the age of eighteen he married a Miss

John Hull

House" prison, where scores of strong men | died daily from starvation, foul air and ill treatment.

While John Hull was yet but a youth he lost his father by death, and, under the opera- tion of a law then in force, the large estate was inherited by an older brother of John, leaving the latter almost penniless. Under these dis- heartening circumstances he, with a noble self- reliance that did him honor, apprenticed himself to learn the trade of blacksmith, and that trade

Vanarsdalen, who died early and was soon after followed to the grave by her infant son, their only child. His second wife was Miss Cressen, of New Brunswick, with whom he removed to Monmouth County in 1790, and settled in what is now Marlborough township, on a farm which he occupied as a homestead for about forty-nine years. He was greatly interested in the success and prosperity of the old Holmdel Baptist Church, then under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Benjamin Bennett. Shortly after his

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THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY.

settlement in Monmouth County the united Dutch Reformed Congregation of Freehold and Middletown was organized, under the pastoral care of the venerable Benjamin Dubois. Mr. Hull was among those who favored the estab- lishment of that church, and he became inter- ested in the building of their house of worship, the site of which was but a short distance from his residence. In its burial-ground were in- terred the remains of his second wife, who died several years after their removal to Monmouth County. Subsequently he married Ann Bowne, daughter of David Bowne, an old-time citizen of Freehold (now Marlborough) township. With her he continued to reside on the homestead farm, actively engaged in agriculture, until 1839, when they removed to Freehold village, which from that time was their home during the remainder of their lives.

The appointment of Mr. Hull as justice of the peace was made by the Legislature in 1808, and in 1813 he was appointed a judge of the County Courts of Monmouth. These united offices he held until 1838-a period of twenty- five years,-during which time, in the terms of Judge Hull and his colleagues, Henderson, Patterson and Hoppin, the reputation of the Monmouth court became firmly established as one of the most judicious, upright and impartial tribunals of the State.

Jadge Hull was one of the three founders of the Young Ladies' Seminary at Freehold, in 1845, the other two being the Rev. D. V. Mc- Lean, of Freehold, and the Hon. Thomas G. Haight, of Colt's Neck. He always manifested great pride and satisfaction with regard to the agency he had exerted in founding this semi- nary, and freely gave his time and attention in ornamenting its grounds and attending to all its material interests.

He was entirely a self-made man and the architect of his own fortune and reputation. He was a very remarkable man for one of his position and with his opportunities. He found time to read much, had an unusually discrim- inating mind and treasured up everything valu- able which he read. He was always remarkable for his punctuality, and strict and prompt · attention to all the public business to which it

was his duty to attend. He was exceedingly entertaining in social intercourse, was very domestic in his habits, and large and liberal in his hospitality. During the last fourteen years of his life (the time of his residence in Freehold) he was chiefly occupied in attending to the interests of his large property in Mon- mouth County, which consisted principally of valuable farms (among them being the home- stead farm in Marlborough, which is still owned by one of his daughters). Until within a few months of his death he retained extraordinary vigor for one of his age, appearing many years younger than he really was. He died on the 8th of November, 1853, aged ninety-one years, five months and ten days. Throughout all that long life he possessed the respect and entire confidence of his fellow-citizens. His wife survived nearly twenty-four years longer, and died March 19, 1877, aged eighty-six. Their children were two daughters, one of whom is the wife of the Hon. Amzi C. McLean, of Free- hold; the other, Mrs. Mitchell, of White Plains, N. Y.

From the close of the Revolution to the present time some one of the justices of the Supreme Court of New Jersey has presided in the courts of Monmouth County. Among those whose names are found mentioned as having held court at Freehold prior to the year 1839 were Andrew Kirkpatrick, William Rossell, George K. Drake, Thomas C. Ryerson and John M. White. It is also found that Chief Justice Hornblower presided in the Monmouth court. Few persons now living in the county, however, recollect farther back than the time of Judge James S. Nevius, who first came to the Monmouth courts about forty-five years ago, and continued to preside in them through two successive official terms, after which the courts of Monmouth were presided over by Justice Stacy G. Potts, and on several occasions by Chief Justice Green, during the time that intervened before the appointment to the Su- preme Bench of Judge - Peter Vredenburgh, who presided here for many years, and was succeeded by Judge Edward W. Scudder, who has presided continuously from that time to the present.

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

JAMES S. NEVIUS was born near New Bruns- wick in 1786,, and graduated at Princeton in 1816. He at once entered the office of Fred- erick Frelinghuysen as a law student, and was licensed as an attorney in 1819 and as coun- selor in 1823. He was appointed a justice of the Supreme Court of the State in 1838 and again in 1845, serving fourteen years in that office. Dur- ing his entire term he presided at the courts in Monmouth County. He was very popular as . a judge and as a man, especially among the younger members of the bar. He had an acute and logical mind and possessed high talent as a judicial officer. He had a fund of information, which made him an agreeable companion. His conversation sparkled with wit and anecdote. Almost the last cause tried before him was the indictment against Charles Johnson for the murder of Maria Lewis, which murder was done in a lonely spot on the Highlands of Navesink. The murder was committed for the purpose of robbery, and a large amount of money, principally in gold, was taken. The counsel in this case were Peter Vredenburgh and Joel Parker for the State, and Jehu Patterson, David B. Ryall and William L. Dayton for the defendant. The evidence was circumstantial ; the defendant was convicted, but obtained a new trial because the jury did not, in the verdict, specify the degree. The jury were out the greater part of the night, and came in about an hour before daylight. The lawyers, not expecting the jury to agree before the convening of the court in the morn- ing, had retired to their homes. Neither of the counsel for the State was called and neither of them was present when the verdict was rendered. It was an extraordinary proceeding to take a verdict in a case so important without the State being represented, but it was not the fault of the State's counsel. At the next trial, before Judge Haines, Johnson was acquitted.

Upon retiring from the bench, Judge Nevius opened an office in Jersey City, where he died in 1859.

JUDGE PETER VREDENBURGH was a son of Dr. Peter Vredenburgh, of Somerville, N. J., a physician of long standing and high repute in the county of Somerset. The first genera- "tion of the family on this side of the Atlantic,

as appears from ancient records,1 sprang from William I. Vredenburgh, who came to New Netherlands from the Hague in May, 1658, in the ship "Gilded Beaver." An old Dutch Bible, bound in wooden covers, with brass hinges, pre- serves the family record continuously from Octo- ber, 1743, to March, 1776, in the Dutch lan- guage, and after the latter date in English. The same old record states that on the 24th of August, 1823, Peter Vredenburgh died at New Brunswick, N. J., " in the seventy-ninth year of his age, with his faculties but little impaired, and executing the duties of County Treasurer, an office he had filled without in- terruption for forty-two years," This was the father of Dr. Peter Vredenburgh, of Somer- ville, before mentioned. His son, Peter, after- wards Judge Vredenburgh, was born at Read- ington, Hunterdon County, N. J., in 1805.

About the year 1829 he came to Monmouth County, and commenced the practice of the law at Eatontown, where he remained about a year, and then removed to Freehold, where he continued to reside during the remainder of his life. He took a leading part in politics, identi- fying himself with the Whig party. He held the office of prosecutor of the pleas for fif- teen years. He represented the county of Monmouth one term in the upper branch of the Legislature, then called the Council, now the Senate of New Jersey. In 1855 he was ap- pointed one of the associate justices of the Supreme Court by Governor Price, though opposed to him in politics. In 1862 he was re- appointed to the office by Governor Olden, thus holding the position for fourteen years, dis- charging the duties of the office ably and acceptably, and sustaining a reputation second to no one on the bench. Many of his decisions are regarded as the ablest reported. At the close of his second term of office he resumed the practice of law, but his health soon began to fail. This was increased by the death of his son, Major Peter Vredenburgh, Jr., who was killed in the battle of Opequan, or Winchester,

1 Col. Hist. N. Y., MSS. Dutch, page 225. Also, "N. Y. General and Biographical Record," published in 1878. vol. ix. pp. 62, 151.

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Eng & by A. H Ruchue

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THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY.

Va., in 1864,-the sacrifice he laid upon the altar of his country to maintain the right and to pre- serve the Union. From this sad stroke Judge Vredenburgh never recovered. The vivacity for which he was before distinguished never returned. His heart was broken. His grief was like that of Jacob when he refused to be comforted, and said, "I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning." It was not long before his health gave way so entirely that he was obliged to retire from active life. For a time he found partial solace and comfort in reading ; but his sight failed, and that source of enjoyment to a cultivated mind was denied him. At length, in the hope of prolonging life, he was induced to seek a more genial elime; but all was unavail- ing. The hand of death was upon him, and in a strange land, though surrounded by loving hearts, his spirit took its flight. He died at St. Augustine, Fla., on the 24th of March, 1873. Among the many eulogistic notices of Judge Vredenburgh, published in the news- papers of the State and elsewhere soon after his death, those of the Monmouth Inquirer and the Monmouth Democrat are here given. The Inquirer said :

" It is rarely, even in the highest positions man is called upon to fill, that one passes away who is so sincerely and highly esteemed in life and so deeply mourned in death. He was truly a good man, kind and generous in his nature, with no austere or repelling demeanor even to the humblest. We never met him but we received such a greeting as made us feel glad that we knew him."

" No man in this country," said the Democrat, " was more generally beloved and respected than Judge Vredenburgh, and his death will be sincerely deplored by the entire community. In this town, where he has resided during the whole period of his active life, no member of the community will be more missed. During the last few years he was fond of promenading Main Street during the day, and always had a pleasant word for old and young alike. He always noticed children, and not a boy, perhaps, in the town, but has many kindly reminis- cences of pleasant chats with Judge Vreden- burgh. His genial flow of spirits, and his

kindness of heart, and his polished demeanor towards all, will cause his memory long to be cherished in the community."

"Judge Vredenburgh," said the State Gazette, "was an ornament and honor to the bar and bench of New Jersey. He was one of those great and pure minds who have given the judi- ciary of this State such honorable pre-eminence in the nation. He was a lawyer of no ordinary ability, and while at the bar was eminently successful as an advocate. The high opinion of his friends who urged his appoint- ment as justice of the Supreme Court was fully realized by the reputation gained by Judge Vredenburgh while on the bench."

Among the resolutions adopted in the Supreme Court on the occasion of the death of Judge Vredenburgh were the following :

" Resolved, That as a Judge he was remarkable for patience in hearing, sincerity in his search for right and its application to each case before him, minute analysis, and fearlessness of responsibility.

" Resolved, That the general simplicity of his man- ner, the ready sympathies of his heart, the noble frank- ness, candor and plainness which characterized his intercourse with the Bar, and his bearing upon the Bench, endeared his person to all of us; and though dead, he lives in our memories as one by whose life and example we have been instructed, improved and served; and whose virtues deserve to be recorded, that they may be emulated and perpetuated."

Judge Vredenburgh was, as a lawyer, re- markable for his powers of minute analysis,- a trait especially referred to in the foregoing resolutions by the Supreme Court. This power he brought to bear in the important questions of fact tried before him at the circuits, and which led him so unerringly to the truth. In the ex- citing murder trials of Donnelly, Slocum, Fox, Bridget Durgan and others, the smallest threads of evidence, sometimes overlooked by counsel, were woven by him into nets from which the guilty could not escape. It was remarked by an astute lawyer at the meeting of the bench and bar that " Law as administered by Judge Vredenburgh was no 'spider's web to catch flies, while hornets escaped.'" His concern in the settling of rules of law and in the decision of questions and cases before him was not so much what the action of the appellate courts

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

might ultimately be, as what was right and ustice in the matters he was called on to decide.

In 1836, Mr. Vredenburgh was married to Eleanor Brinkerhoff. They had three children, all sons and all of whom became lawyers, viz .: Peter Vredenburgh, Jr., born February 12, 1837, admitted as an attorney in February, 1859, and as counsellor February, 1862, entered the United States military service in the War of the Rebellion as major of the Fourteenth New Jersey Volunteers, and was killed September 19, 1864, in the battle of Opequan, Va .; Wil- liam H. Vredenburgh, now a member of the Monmouth bar, as more fully mentioned below, and James B. Vredenburgh, born October 1, 1844, studied law with Honorable Aaron R. Throckmorton, at Freehold, was admitted as an attorney in June, 1866, as counsellor in June, 1869, and is now a prominent lawyer of Jersey City.

William H. Vredenburgh, second son of Judge Peter Vredenburgh, was born August 19, 1840; was graduated at Rutgers College in 1859; studied law in the office of Honorable Joseph D. Bedle; was admitted to practice as an at- terney in June, 1862, and as counsellor in June, 1865. On his first admission he commenced the business of his profession at Freehold, where he has remained in practice until the present time, with the exception of between one and two years, when he was located at Eaton- town, to continue the business of his brother, Major Peter Vredenburgh, Jr., who was ab- sent in the military service.

During the period of his practice, extending through more than twenty years, he has been engaged in most of the important cases tried in the counties of Monmouth and Ocean. The investigation and trial of real estate contro- versies has been the subject of his especial at- tention in the law courts, and the various forms of equitable relief and jurisdiction in compli- cated cases have taken a large proportion of his labor and practice in the Courts of Equity. The Cox Cabin cases of Emson rs. Campbell, Oliphant vs. Hazleton and Hill rs. Stetson from Ocean County, and the cases of Allaire vs. Allaire; the sureties of Patterson vs. Inhab- 'itants of Frechold, and Hughes rs. Prior,

from Monmouth County, are fair instances of his practice in the law courts, while in the Chancery and appellate courts, the reported cases of Romaine vs. Hendrickson, Morris, Tasker & Co. rs. Sprague & Stokes, Havens rs. Thompson, Rue and Emson vs. Monmouth County Agricultural Railroad Company, Gol- den vs. Knapp, Meirs vs. Waln, and Williams vs. Vreeland, settled questions of moment in themselves, and principles of interest to the profession. The last-mentioned case was the first instance in the New Jersey courts of en- grafting on a will a legacy not mentioned in it, on the strength of a parol declaration of a trust by the testator, coupled with the verbal acceptance of the trust by the defendant, and the result is a noteworthy example of the effects of hard work and discriminating study.

In the exciting general election of 1884, Mr. Vredenburgh was nominated by the Republi- cans of Monmouth County for State Senator against Honorable Henry S. Little, the Demo- cratic candidate, and Dr. T. G. Chattle, Pro- hibitionist. About one week before the election the unexpected withdrawal of Mr. Little, and the concentration of the Democratic vote on Dr. Chattle, snatched the anticipated victory from the Republicans. In the election, Mr. Vredenburgh received nearly seven thousand votes, running far ahead of the regular Repub- lican ticket, which in itself was very much larger than had ever been polled by that party at any previous election in the county.

In 1865, Mr. Vredenburgh formed a law partnership with Philip J. Ryall, which con- tinued for about five years, until Mr. Ryall's failing health compelled his retirement from practice. In 1882 he formed a partnership- with Frederick Parker, which is now existing, under the name and style of Vredenburgh & Parker.

JOEL PARKER, ex-Governor of New Jersey, (to which office he was twice elected), and now a justice of the Supreme Court of the State, has been for forty-three years a member of the bar of his native county, Monmouth. He was born on the 24th of November, 1816, in what was then Freehold township, now Millstone,. about four miles from the town of Freehold,

THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY.

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of parents both of whom were natives of the county. His father, Charles Parker (of whom a biographical sketch is given in another part of this work), was a self-taught man, but the possessor of a natural financial and executive ability which placed him in many public posi- tions of trust and emolument, among them being that of State treasurer, which office he held for thirteen years, under different party administrations. On his election as treasurer, in 1821, he removed to Trenton, where his son, Joel, received his primary education in the best schools of the city, at the same time gaining much practical experience in his father's office, and storing his mind with valuable knowledge from the volumes of the State Library, which at that time was under charge of his father. It had been the intention of Mr. Charles Parker, on retiring from his office, to return to Mon- mouth County and spend his remaining years on a farm which he had purchased in the vicinity of Colt's Neck ; but this plan failed of accomplishment, for the reason that in 1833 he was re-elected treasurer, and was soon afterwards induced to accept the office of cashier of the Mechanics' and Manufacturers' Bank of Tren- ton, which obliged him to continue his residence in that city. Under these circumstances, Joel Parker (then about eighteen years of age) was sent to manage the farm in Monmouth County, where 'he remained until it was sold, two or three years later. He then attended the Law- renceville High School, and after a course of preparatory study at that institution entered Princeton College, where he was graduated in 1839, and immediately commenced the study of law in Trenton with the Hon. Henry W. Green (afterwards chief justice, and also chancellor of New Jersey). In 1842 he was admitted to the bar, and in the same year located in practice at Freehold, which has been his home from that time to the present. In the year following his commencement of practice at Freehold he was married to Maria M., eldest daughter of Samuel R. Gummere, who had been principal of a Friends' School at Burlington, N. J., but then the clerk in Chancery of New Jersey.

Democratic party, of which he has always been a member and a steadfast supporter. He first entered the political arena in 1844, when he distinguished himself by public speeches in support of James K. Polk, in the Presidential campaign of that year. In 1847 he was elected to the Assembly from Monmouth, which then also included all that is now embraced in the county of Ocean,-a territory which has since been divided into five districts. He was then the youngest member of the House, but being the only lawyer on the Democratic side, he became the party leader, especially on all ques- tions of legal bearing. Among the first bills offered by him was one to equalize taxation, by taxing personal as well as real property. The Whigs had a majority in the House, but many of the members on that side, while really desir- ing the defeat of the bill, wished to avoid placing themselves on record as opposing it. The farmer members of both parties generally favored the measure. This resulted in the bill being laid over and ordered to be published in all the papers of the State, together with the speech of Mr. Parker, whose connection with it gave him a State-wide reputation. In the fol- lowing year he declined becoming a candidate for the State Senate, for the reason that his large and increasing practice required all his time and attention. Soon afterwards he received the appointment of prosecutor of the pleas for Monmouth County, and served five years in that office. In 1860 he was elected a Presi- dential elector by more than five thousand majority, and was one of the three electors in the Northern States who voted for Stephen A. Douglas in the Electoral College. At that time he was the brigadier-general commanding the Monmouth and Ocean County brigade of militia, taking great interest in military affairs. In 1861 he was nominated by Governor Olden, and unanimously confirmed by the Senate, as major-general of the militia division in the counties of Monmouth, Ocean, Mercer, Union and Middlesex. The appointment was made with a view to promote volunteering, and the organization of forces for the suppression of the Rebellion in the South ; and it was largely due

In 1840, Mr. Parker cast his first Presidential ' vote for Martin Van Buren, the nominee of the | to his influence and energy that several regi -.

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

ments of good fighting men were promptly formed and sent forward to the field.

In 1862 the Monmouth County delegates in the Democratic Convention presented the name of Joel Parker for Governor of New Jersey. He finally received the nomination, and was elected by a majority of fourteen thousand six hundred over the opposing candidate, the Hon. Marcus L. Ward,-a majority three times as great as had ever before that time been received by any candidate for Governor of the State. He was inaugurated in January, 1863, for three years. His administration was a successful one, distinguished for its efficiency in promoting en- listments to aid the general government in the suppression of the Rebellion, and in keeping up volunteering for one year after all other States had commenced drafting to fill their regiments. Through his executive and financial ability, the debt of the State on civil account was paid and its war bonds maintained at a large premium.

The promptness of Governor Parker in rais- ing and sending forward troops for the Union armies was well known throughout the country ; it elicited the acknowledgment and commenda- tion of President Lincoln, and won for him the proud title of " War Governor of New Jersey."

During the first year of Governor Parker's administration the Confederate army, under General Lee, crossed the Potomac and made the campaign which resulted in the great Union victory at Gettysburg. In the mean time they had invaded Pennsylvania with the evident in- tention of capturing Harrisburg, if not the city of Philadelphia. Governor Curtin, of that State, had but few troops at his command to repel the Confederate invasion, and in that time of immi- nent peril he called on Governor Parker for as- sistance. The alacrity and promptness with which New Jersey's War Governor responded to the appeal, and the gratitude which his ener- getic action elicited from the people of Pennsyl- vania, as expressed by their Governor, is shown by the following brief extracts from the corre- spondence which then passed between them :

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History of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Pt. 1, Part 53

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co. Number of Pages: 974

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co.
Number of Pages: 974