History of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Pt. 1, Part 54

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

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(Telegram.) "HARRISBURG, June 15, 1863.

"GOVERNOR JOEL PARKER-This State is threat- ened with invasion by a large force, and we are raising troops as rapidly as possible to resist them. I under-

stand there are three regiments of your troops at Bev- erly, waiting to be mustered out. Could an arrange- ment be made with you and the authorities at Wash- ington, by which the service of those regiments could be had for the present emergency ? Please advise immediately.

"A. G. CURTIN, Gov. Pa."

(Telegram.) "EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, " TRENTON N. J., "June 15, 1863. "His Excellency A. G. CURTIN, Governor of " Pennsylvania, Harrisburg.

" Your dispatch is received. One regiment has al- ready volunteered, and no doubt others can be sent. Where shall they report, and to whom? To whom shall they apply for transportation from Philadelphia ? Answer.

"JOEL PARKER." (Telegram.) "HARRISBURG, June 16, 1863. " HON. JOEL PARKER, Governor of New Jersey.

"Please instruct colonel of regiment to procure transportation by Pennsylvania Railroad, Phila- delphia to Harrisburg. The colonel's requisition and receipt to railroad company will be sufficient. Send all you can, immediately, to this point, and telegraph Superintendent Pennsylvania Railroad, Philadelphia, to provide transportation at the time you designate. Permit me to thank you for your prompt attention.

"A. G. CURTIN, Governor of Pennsylvania."

(Telegram.) "TRENTON, N. J., June 16, 1863. "His Excellency GOVERNOR CURTIN, Harrisburg, Pa. "The nine months' regiments now in the State awaiting discharge will be forwarded as fast as possi- ble. I issue proclamation to-morrow for the citizens to organize for the assistance of Pennsylvania, and I will send them to you for the present emergency as State troops. . . . I hope to be able to send some twelve thousand men.

" JOEL PARKER."

This last dispatch, received by the Governor of Pennsylvania within thirty-six hours from the time when he first sent to Governor Parker for assistance, called forth his thanks, as ex- pressed in the following telegram :

" HARRISBURG, June 10, 1863.

"His Excellency, GOVERNOR PARKER.

"The people of this State are under obligations to you for your promptness and energy in organizing and forwarding men to this place. General Couch will have the best possible care taken of them. The question of details of which you inquire will have to be determined by the War Department." . .

" A. G. CURTIN, Governor of Pennsylvania."

It is proper, in this connection, to note the manner in which Governor Parker so promptly

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accomplished this and the subsequent enlist- ments in New Jersey for the defense of Penn- sylvania. The time of the troops then at Beverly had already expired, and they had come back from the army to be mustered out and return to their homes. On hearing of the emergency in Pennsylvania, Governor Parker took a horse and wagon (the railway train hav- ing already left), and drove to the camp at Beverly, where he addressed the soldiers, telling them of the exigency and appealing to them to enlist. By this means, and by the stirring pro- clamation which he issued on the following day, he was enabled to send forward troops which marched through Philadelphia while the people of that city were yet in confusion, and before they had raised a single company for the defense of their own State. In a letter addressed by Governor Curtin to Governor Parker, dated June 24, 1863 (nine days after his first appeal for aid) the writer said: "I cannot close this com- munication without expressing to you the thanks of the people of Pennsylvania for your prompt- ness in responding to their calls, and to the peo- ple of New Jersey for the patriotic disposition they so truly manifest, and their willingness to take up arms for our defense." And on the 30th of the same month, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, said, in a letter to Governor Parker : "Please accept my sincere thanks for what you have done and are doing to get troops forward."

In the summer of the following year another heavy body of the Confederate army crossed the Potomac to the invasion of Maryland. In the campaign which followed, the battle of Monocacy was fought, and from that field the invaders marched upon Washington, and cut the railroad and telegraph communications be- tween the national capital and the North. In the absence of any definite information, and anticipating the necessity that appeared to be imminent, Governor Parker, without hearing from the military authorities at Washington, immediately issued his proclamation calling for troops to be ready at a moment's notice. Of this proclamation the Philadelphia Inquirer, a newspaper of opposite politics, said: "Joel . Parker, Governor of New Jersey, deserves the

thanks of the loyal people of the United States. His proclamation, published yesterday, is con- ceived in the genuine spirit of patriotism, and has a ring that will gladden every loyal heart. He expected a call from the Governor of Mary- land. Not having received it, he assumes that those officers believe they have troops enough to meet the emergency. But he thinks the rebel expedition more than an ordinary raid. He sees that the national forces were driven back near Baltimore, and that railway communica- tion has been destroyed between that city and the North. He does not wait, in the cold- blooded, red-tape style, for official notice of these grave events, but acts upon them at once. He finds that, whatever the government believes on the subject, more men may be wanted, and he therefore calls on the citizens of New Jersey to organize immediately in companies, and to report to the adjutant-general for service,-for service, not in New Jersey, mark, but 'for ser- vice in Pennsylvania, Maryland and the Dis- trict of Columbia.'"

Governor Parker's administration continued until after the close of the War of the Rebellion. During that time he made hundreds of appoint- ments and promotions in the New Jersey regi- ments in the field, but not one of them was ever made by him for political reasons only. And in his last message to the Legislature in that administration he was able to say with truth : "Not a single right of the State of New Jersey has been yielded, and not one of her citi- zens, during my administration, has been de- prived of his liberty without due process of law." In the same time not a single bond of the State of New Jersey was sold below par. The premiums on State bonds sold during his administration amounted to more than one hun- dred thousand dollars, and at its close the State did not owe a dollar on civil account, and had in its treasury an actual cash balance of nearly two hundred thousand dollars.

At the close of his first gubernatorial term Governor Parker at once actively resumed his professional practice, refusing to re-enter the political arena. In 1868, in the National Democratic Convention at New York, he re- ceived the unanimous vote of his State delega-

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

tion for the Democratic nomination for Pres- ident of the United States on every ballot. In 1876, at St. Louis, he again received the eigh- teen votes of the New Jersey delegation. In that year he was placed at the head of the electoral ticket, and voted for Samuel J. Tilden in the Electoral College. In 1884 he was again strongly urged as the Democratic Pres- idential candidate.

In 1871 prior to the assembling of the Democratic State Convention at Trenton, he positively declined to be a candidate for nomi- nation for Governor, but the enthusiasm of that convention compelled him to yield, and he was nominated by acclamation, all the other candi- dates for nomination having been withdrawn by their friends. At the election which followed, he was successful by about six thousand majority, which, although less than his majority in 1862, was yet a more decisive victory for him, in consideration of all the circumstances. At no time had the Republican party been so powerful in the country as in that year, carrying every other Northern State by strong majorities. In that year, for the first time, colored men voted in New Jersey, and that vote (about seven thousand strong) was cast solidly against Governor Parker, who ran some nine thousand votes ahead of his ticket, the other Democratic candidates being beaten by about three thousand votes .-

His second term as Governor was conspicu- ously successful. The exciting questions which presented themselves during his first term did not exist, but there were many topics of legisla- tion which were important and excited much interest. The statute books show that more laws were passed in 1872, 1873 and 1874 than ever before or since, in the same length of time. It was under his administration that the General Railroad Law (of which he was an advocate) was passed and the constitutional amendments which brought about important reforms were adopted. The National Guard of the State was brought to a high degree of efficiency under this administration.

Governor Parker, while a consistent Demo- crat, was not an extreme partisan. In the various boards to which were committed the

educational and other business interests of the State, he appointed members of each political party. Believing in a non-partisan judiciary, he appointed during his last term three Re- publican justices of the Supreme Court, and two Republican judges of the Court of Errors and Appeals, still leaving a majority of each court Democratic. His course in regard to these non-partisan appointments gave universal satisfaction, and secured for him a popularity second only to that which he gained as " War Governor" during his first administration. The present chancellor and chief justice of New Jersey were among the appointments of Gover- nor Parker's second gubernatorial term. When he retired from office, in 1875 the Court of Errors and Appeals consisted of fourteen mem- bers, of whom ten had received their appoint- ments from him.

After the expiration of his second term as Governor he resumed his professional business at Freehold, and soon acquired a large practice. In the same year (1875) his successor, Governor Joseph D. Bedle, nominated him as Attorney- General of the State, which nomination was confirmed by the Senate without reference. In 1880, he was nominated by Governor McClel- lan, and confirmed by the Senate, as a justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, which office he now holds.

JOSEPH DORSETT BEDLE was born at Mid- .dletown Point (now Matawan), in the county of Monmouth, N. J., January 5, 1831. He is the older of two sons of Thomas I. Bedle and Hannah Dorsett, both of whom are still living at Matawan. The ancestors of his par- ents were of old Monmouth County families, those on the maternal side extending back for a century and a half. Four or five generations of the Dorsetts lie buried in the Dorsett burying- ground, on the Dorsett farm (lately owned by John Stilwell, deceased), about three miles from Matawan. From this family came the Hon. Garret Dorsett Wall, the well-known statesman and United States Senator from New Jersey. The father of Joseph D. Bedle early became identified with the prosperity and growth of Middletown Point, whither he moved imme- diately after his marriage, and where he has

Galaxy Può. OG Philad"

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ever since resided. The son was prepared for college at the academy in Middletown Point, then kept by Philetus Phillips, a distinguished instructor of that day; but by reason of a de- sire on the part of his father that he should eventually engage in business and also from an apparent delicacy of health, he was induced to forego the college course and to enter the store · of Garret P. Conover, in his native town, where he spent two years. That was a general coun- try store, and the experience there obtained, as well as in his father's store (who was also a merchant), did much to shape his practical business habits, which were always character- istic of him. The desire to study law was, however, always uppermost in his mind, and at the age of seventeen years he entered as a student in the law-office of Hon. William L. Dayton, at Trenton, then United States Senator from New Jersey, where he remained about three and a half years, having in the mean time spent one winter at the law school at Ballston Spa. He afterwards passed one winter in the office of Thompson & Weeks, large practition- ers at Poughkeepsie, and was admitted in New York State as an attorney and counselor, Jan- uary 5, 1852,-on the very day that he reached twenty-one years of age.

Immediately thereafter he returned to New Jersey, and pursued his studies with Hon. Henry S. Little, at Matawan, and was admitted to practice in New Jersey at the June term, 1853, of the Supreme Court. He studied law about five years previous to being admitted in this State, during which time he confined him- self closely to acquiring a knowledge of the law and its kindred literature.

Upon being licensed, he commenced practice at Middletown Point, remaining there until the spring of 1855, when he moved to Freehold. Here he soon made his presence felt and early won a place among the leaders of the bar. His practice became large and lucrative, and there was scarcely a case of any importance in the county in which he was not engaged. His in- dustry was great, and his thoroughness of prep- aration and judgment in the trial of cases were most prominent characteristics.

Randolph, the eldest daughter of Hon. Ben- nington F. Randolph, who then resided at Freehold, doing a very extensive law business. Their children are Bennington Randolph, Jo- seph Dorsett, Thomas Francis, Althea Ran- dolph and Mary (deceased).

At the age of thirty-four years, Governor Joel Parker, who knew his qualities well (both having practiced in Freehold), appointed him a justice of the Supreme Court in the place of Hon. E. B. D. Ogden, he having died, and who held the circuit in the counties of Hudson, Passaic and Bergen, those counties forming one judicial district and being the largest in the State. The commission of Judge Bedle bears date March 23, 1865. The labors of that dis- triet were very heavy, and he moved soon after this appointment to Jersey City, where he could be convenient to each of the county-seats. Al- though young, his untiring energy and abil- ity, and the knowledge of the law made him at once equal to the full discharge of his duties, and he served the public so faithfully and satis- factorily that in March, 1872, he was re-ap- pointed by Governor Parker, who had been a second time elected. Judge Bedle remained upon the bench nearly ten years, when, in Jan- uary, 1875, he resigned his office of judge to accept that of Governor, to which he had been elected in the fall of 1874 over his compet- itor, a very popular man, by a majority of nearly 14,000.

As a judge he was industrious, quick and accurate in his judgment, and administered the law with firmness and wisdom.

With reference to his Governorship, the fol- lowing extract is taken from the "History of Essex and Hudson Counties:" "Just prior to the close of his first term, in 1871, he was prom- inently named as a candidate for Governor, though he himself took no steps to secure the nomination, rather discouraging the movement in his favor. Notwithstanding this fact, his name was again brought forward in 1874, and a unanimous nomination tendered him by the Democratic State Convention.

"He accepted this nomination only at the per- sistent appeal of the party, declaring that as he : July 10, 1861, he was married to Althea F. had been nominated without any effort on his

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· HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

part, so he must be elected, if at all. This course he was constrained to adopt, not from any lack of disposition to serve the political organization with which he affiliated, or unwil- lingness to assume the dignity and responsibility of administering the government of his State, but simply from a high sense of the impropriety of any action having a political bearing by one holding judicial office. This high-minded de- termination was appreciated by the people, who elected him by one of the largest votes ever cast for Governor in the State, though opposed by a candidate of great personal popularity. Most unmistakably was he called to his honor- able post by the popular voice, whose expec- tations were in no sense disappointed. His administration from the first was marked by ability, prudence and a patriotism inspired by desire for the public welfare. By his states- man-like views and noble aims he firmly in- trenched himself in the respect and regard of the community. Governor Bedle, on the ter- mination of his official career, resumed the practice of his profession, and has since been identified with many important causes, being still engaged in active practice."

The College of New Jersey, at Princeton, in 1875, conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. . He has always been a thorough student in his profession, and is now in the full vigor of mature life. Although a resident of Hudson County for the last twenty years, he belongs to Monmouth County, and is identified with its history.

[UP AARON RHEA THROCKMORTON, who, for more than forty years next preceding his death, in 1883, had been a member of the Monmouth bar, and who, during that period, had honorably filled various important public positions of trust and responsibility in Monmouth County and in the State government, was a son of the Hon. Thomas C. Throckmorton, a native of Middle- sex County, who came thence to Monmouth and settled in Freehold in 1803. He was an officer in the War of 1812, subsequently a justice of the peace for forty-two years, and judge of the Monmouth Pleas twenty-seven years. In 1808 he was married to Elizabeth, daughter of `Major James Craig, of Freehold, who was an |

officer in the Continental army, under Washing- ton. Upon their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas C. Throckmorton took up their resi- dence in the house which afterwards became known as the Throckmorton Mansion, in Free- hold, standing on the north side of Main Street a short distance above the court-house. In that house their children were born, and there they lived together more than a half-century, until separated by death. She died in 1863, he in 1868. They had three sons, of whom Aaron R., the subject of this biographical sketch, was the second, born March 21, 1818. The two others were Barbarie, born in 1813, died in 1870, and Charles D., born in 1822, and died in 1875.

The education of Aaron R. Throckmorton was obtained in the common schools and at the old Freehold Academy. At an early age he became an assistant in his father's office, but about 1835 he went to New York, where he remained two years as a clerk in a mercantile house. He then returned to Freehold and began the study of law in the office of William L. Dayton (afterwards United States Senator and minister to France). After Mr. Dayton removed to Trenton he completed his studies in the office of Peter Vredenburgh (afterwards justice of the Supreme Court). He was ad- mitted as an attorney in May, 1841, and as counselor in May, 1846. Immediately upon his first admission he commenced the practice of his profession at Freehold. In 1853 he formed a law partnership with Judge James S. Nevius, and removed to Jersey City, where he remained only about one year. At the organization of the State Senate in 1854 he was elected secretary under the presidency of William C. Alexander, and held the position for three years.

In the fall of 1867, Mr. Throckmorton re- ceived the unanimous nomination of the Demo- cratic Convention for surrogate of Monmouth County, and was elected without opposition, receiving 2558 votes, which was the highest number cast. In 1873 he was renominated, receiving nearly three to one of the party vote in the primaries, carrying every township except one. He was re-elected without opposition in his party, receiving 7777 votes in a total poll of

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9182. In 1877 he was again renominated, carrying every township but one, and was again elected, receiving 6131 votes in a total poll of 9938.

Having been thrice elected surrogate almost without opposition, and having held the position for more than fourteen years in a manner which made him universally popular among the people, he, on the 8th of February, 1882, resigned the office to accept that of president of the Free- hold National Banking Company, to which he had been elected. He was one of the first directors of the bank at its organization, in 1855, and he continued a member of the board con- tinuously during the remainder of his life. The office of president he held from February, 1882, until his death, which occurred at Freehold on the 3d of March, 1883.

Mr. Throckmorton was married, December 14, 1848, to Elizabeth H. Ellis, oldest daughter of Hon. Daniel H. Ellis, then of Manalapan township. They had three sons, the eldest of whom died in infancy. Mrs. Throckmorton and her two surviving sons (Charles E. and William S. Throckmorton) are now residents of Freehold.

From the earliest years of his manhood Mr. Throckmorton took an active interest in public affairs, and he became widely and most favora- bly known as a public man. The most impor- tant positions which he held have already been mentioned. In public meetings and celebrations he was always a leader. In the preliminary measures taken to procure the incorporation of Freehold he took a prominent part, and drafted the bill, which was afterwards passed by the Legislature, creating the incorporated district. Prior to the first election under the charter, a public meeting was held for the purpose of nominating a "citizens' ticket " for officers, ignoring all partisanship. At this meeting Mr. Throckmorton presided, and the ticket there nominated was elected. The citizens' organiza- tion thus formed was maintained, and each year Mr. Throckmorton was called on to preside at its meetings until the time of his death, and it was largely due to his energetic leadership, perseverance and steadiness of purpose that the ' citizens' movement, having for its object the

securing of honesty and economy in the ad- ministration of the local affairs of the town, was maintained, and its nominees (with but few exceptions) elected.

In the formation of the Fire Department of Freehold Mr. Throckmorton was a leader, and he was until his death an active member. In 1860 he became a member of Olive Branch Lodge of Freemasons at Freehold, and filled in succession the several higher positions in it, including that of Master for the years 1865-66 and 1873. He was also elected Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey for the year 1869. In 1873, having been appointed by Governor. Parker commissioner to represent the State of New Jersey at the Vienna Exposi- tion, he, in connection with the business of that commission, made the tour of Europe, in com- pany with Dr. Vought, Hon. H. S. Little and other gentlemen of his acquaintance. On the death of Dr. Vought, who was a manager of the State Lunatic Asylum, Governor Ludlow appointed Mr. Throckmorton to the position, which is one of honor and great responsibility.

Aaron Rhea Throckmorton was a man re- markable for the many admirable qualities which he exhibited, both in public and in social life. The difficult duties of the important and responsible office of surrogate, which he filled so long and so honorably, were performed by him with a perfect fidelity, justice and honesty of purpose, which received their most emphatic recognition in the remarkable majorities by which he was re-elected for his second and third terms. "He was," said Judge Walling; " an excellent type of a good public officer. In the first place, he had that peculiar and very rare disposition which enabled him to discharge trying duties with an evenness of temper which was remarkable. His industry and methodical habits enabled him to perform a vast amount of labor, and his careful and precise ways enabled him to do that labor well; but above all, he was a man of the strictest integrity. . He left behind him a name which is a proud : inheritance, an example worthy of emulation."

He was a genial, courteous and friendly man, full of benevolence and a kindly regard for the feelings of others. For the young practitioners

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with whom he came in contact he had always a word of encouragement. From those who filled positions with or under him, and who were with him daily for years, his uniform ; kindness, consideration and forbearance won for him a love which outlived its object, and still elings. to his memory. To the poor his sym- pathy and his purse were always open. Needy families were shielded from cold and hunger by his liberality, yet his benevolence was wholly free from ostentation, and many of his charita- ble acts remained hidden until after his death.

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History of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Pt. 1, Part 54

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